Interview A Pastor

1. How does the pastor help the church?
2. How does the parish become faithful to the 5 marks of the Catholic church ( one, holy, apostolic, catholic and marian devotion)
3. How does the parish help the church as people of God grow?
4. How can the youth help the parish?

Reply…

1. Pastors are considered shepherd of God’s flock (the church). Pastors nurture his flock with God’s Word, God’s ways and the Gospel.

They uses God’s Word to continue to reveal God’s specific revelation to His people. Some even uses Reformed Catechisms to teach the flock systematically the doctrine that we confess.

Pastors also have to lead the flock by example; living in this world to identified as “the people of God”, we must heed the challenge of James, the brother of Jesus, to prove our faith with our works. Pastors are to instruct the flock to live a righteous life (even social works) not because it is a requirement for salvation but a way of life of a saved man, who was redeemed by the blood of Christ.

It is also a must for a pastor to help remind the flock to where our faith all began, that is the Gospel. That Jesus Christ lived a perfect life as man, died a miserable death yet without sin but become sin for the sake of the children of God; rose to life after three days and declared victory over sin and death; wherein His main purpose of doing so is to glorify His Father, Yahweh.

2. Our church believed in the universal church in which we are included. The Church that we are in remain faithful in the Catholic Church as we faithfully believe in the 5 Pillars of Christianity. We who are evangelical protestant remain faithful to God, to Christ and to the Holy Spirit as we confess that (1) Scriptures alone is our standard in living, that (2) by Christ’s work alone are we saved, that (3) our salvation is by grace alone, (4) justified by faith alone to (5) the glory of God alone.

3. This question as been answered already in #1. I was just too detailed in answering number 1.

4. The youth can help the church in participating in learning the Word of God, sharing the Gospel, helping in some ways to assist Sunday School teachers or Bible Study leaders, maintaining the cleanliness of the church surroundings and taking care of church property, participating in outreach programs of the church and a lot more. The help youth can give will always be limitless.

To God be the glory!!!

2010
08/05
CATEGORY
personal
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Christianity vs Evangelicalism

There is a huge difference between Christianity and much of Evangelicalism.

Christianity defines the gospel as “Jesus Christ is God who assumed our flesh, lived a perfect life in our place under the law, fulfilled it perfectly, bore our debt for having broken the law, and then was raised the third day for our justification.” The whole gospel is completely about Jesus Christ and everything contained in that gospel happened between the years 1 to 33 AD [sic]. That gospel was finished in 33 AD and then it was proclaimed and it is still being proclaimed to the ends of the earth.

The Evangelical version of that is: no, the gospel really is, not just includes, but the gospel really is Jesus in my heart; my being born-again (it is not that the gospel brings about my new-birth), but the gospel is my new-birth. And therefore, the gospel is my moral transformation.

Brothers and sisters, if you hold that second view there is no reason at all for you to criticize the Medieval [Roman Catholic] church because the doctrine of justification for the Medieval church was, “What happens inside of you. Your sanctification.”

This is what the whole Reformation was about, and why we need a second reformation.

(Adapted from Mike Horton, “God’s Story vs. Our Stories,” The White Horse Inn, June 14, 2009.)

2010
08/04
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Justification

“Those whom God effectually calls He also freely justifies, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting them as righteous, not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone. They are not justified because God reckons as their righteousness either their faith, their believing, or any other act of evangelical obedience. They are justified wholly and solely because God imputes to them Christ’s righteousness. He imputes to them Christ’s active obedience to the whole law and His passive obedience in death. They receive Christ’s righteousness by faith, and rest on Him. They do not possess or produce this faith themselves, it is the gift of God.”

(Taken from the 1689 London Baptist Confession, Chapter 11, Section 1)
2010
08/04
CATEGORY
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Imputation

Simply, to credit or reckon. Through Adam, the guilt of sin is imputed to all men; through Christ, righteousness is imputed to believers (Rom 5:12-21). On the cross, Christ exchanged his righteousness for man’s sinfulness (2 Cor 5:21) by means of imputation. The sins of believers were imputed (credited) to Christ on the cross, and the righteousness that belonged to Jesus Christ was imputed (credited) to believers. Thus, believers possess an “alien” righteousness and can stand before a righteous God.

(Source: WHI terms-to-learn “Imputation”)

2010
08/04
CATEGORY
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How to Study the Bible

The study of the Bible must be done with the recognition that Jesus Christ, His life, death, and resurrection, is the key to the understanding of the whole Scripture. In Christ, God’s redeeming love is preeminently revealed, the testimony to which is the heart of Scriptural revelation. This is to say that the Bible alone tells us about a God who loved the world so much that He determined to save it through His Son Jesus. We can learn much about God’s power and greatness by studying the natural world around us because He made it and His glory is reflected in it. But God’s grace, His saving mercy toward a lost world is revealed to us only in the Holy Scriptures. In fact, the knowledge of God as revealed in the Christ of the Scriptures is an absolute necessity for the understanding of God as revealed in the natural order.

(Taken from Derke Bergsma’s Redemption: The Triumph of God’s Great Plan, p. 3)

2010
07/27
CATEGORY
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The Active Obedience of Christ

Christ as Mediator entered the federal relation in which Adam stood in the state of integrity, in order to merit eternal life for the sinner. This constitutes the active obedience of Christ, consisting in all that Christ did to observe the law in its federal aspect, as the condition for obtaining eternal life…. Christ merits more for sinners than the forgiveness of sins. According to Gal. 4:4,5 they are through Christ set free from the law as the condition of life, are adopted to be sons of God, and as sons are also heirs of eternal life, Gal. 4:7. All this is conditioned primarily on the active obedience of Christ. Through Christ the righteousness of faith is substituted for the righteousness of the law, Rom. 10:3,4.

[I]f Christ suffered only the penalty imposed on man, those who shared in the fruits of His work would have been left exactly where Adam was before he fell… still confronted with the task of obtaining eternal life in the way of obedience.

(Adapted from Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology, 380-381)



2010
07/22
CATEGORY
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Already / Not Yet

The coming of Jesus Christ at his incarnation marked the beginning of a glorious new redemptive age with a corresponding set of blessings (the already). Yet this new age is not fully consummated and will be fulfilled in the future (the not yet). Christians today can experience a measure of the blessings and promises of heaven while still living in a fallen world that is groaning for the consummation.

The already / not yet concept is expressed in the New Testament’s distinct and pronounced tension between what God has already done in fulfilling the promised of the Old Testament and what God will do yet in the future. It can be said that the already / not yet structure gives the New Testament a strong forward-looking focus.

(Adapted from A Case for Amillennialism by Kim Riddlebarger)
2010
07/20
CATEGORY
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What We Do in Secret

Author: Bob Kauflin, Categories: Devotions, —Leading a Congregation, —Worship and Life, Tags: Hypocrisy

via What We Do in Secret.

2010
07/08
CATEGORY
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A Fascinating Quote – Martin Lloyd-Jones

If I am asked which sermons I wrote, I have already said that I used to divide my ministry, as I still do, into edification of the saints in the morning and a more evangelistic sermon in the evening. Well, my practice was to write my evangelistic sermon. I did so because I felt that in speaking to the saints, to the believers, one could feel more relaxed. There, one was speaking in the realm of the family. In other words, I believe that one should be unusually careful in evangelistic sermons. That is why the idea that a fellow who is merely gifted with a certain amount of glibness of speech and self-confidence, not to say cheek, can make an evangelist is all wrong. The greatest men should always be the evangelists, and generally have been; and the idea that Tom, Dick and Harry can be put up to speak on a street corner, but you must have a great preacher in a pulpit in a church is, to me, the reversing of the right order. It is when addressing the unbelieving world that we need to be most careful; and therefore I used to write my evangelistic sermon and not the other…

2010
07/08
CATEGORY
Reflection
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Leading an Effective Bible Study

I. Personal Preparation:

  1. Pray: Ask God to help you understand the passage.
  2. Know what you are teaching: Always begin studying the passage on your own.
    1. Read the whole paragraph, chapter or the entire book at least 3 times. Use different versions of the Bible. [Compare and contrast] (e.g. NASB (literal), NIV (dynamic), NLT (free))
    2. Read the background of the book is a MUST. (You may use the “Study Bible” book’s  introduction)
      1. i.      Identify the author and the audience
      2. ii.      Identify socio-cultural background
      3. iii.      Identify the purpose of the book
      4. iv.      Identify how the passage’s idea relates to the purpose of the book
      5. Identifying the main idea of the passage.
      6. Use Bible Dictionary: Biblical terms, names, places and ideas.
  3. Know your materials: Read the BS material and guide questions. Interact with it based on your own study of the passage. Conflicting thoughts may arise, therefore study the passage further or ask your pastor to resolve the issue. (Principle: Make sure you are convinced on what you are teaching.)
  4. Personalize it: Carefully study the guide questions. Spend time in meditation and reflection as you consider how to respond.
  5. Expect the unexpected queries: Write your thoughts and responses in each question; this will help you express your understanding of the passage clearly.
  6. Application: Consider how you can apply the Scripture to our present day living. (What does this have to do with me?)
  7. Teaching is learning: You may consider the week’s lesson to be part of your devotion for the entire week. Personalizing the lesson will give more impact to leading your group. You are hitting two birds in one stone.

II. Leading the Study:

  1. Begin with a prayer.
  2. Be creative in starting a Bible Study. The first minute will set the tone of your group’s interest.
  3. Open the group for discussion, but be discerning in entertaining questions.  Be reminded of the following:
    1. Focus on the topic
    2. Maintain confidentiality within the group
    3. Listen attentively, maintain eye-contact and give everyone a chance to talk.
    4. Pray for each other.
  4. Avoid answering the guide questions yourself; instead lead them to the answer.
  5. Do not be uncomfortable in silence. Silence help people think and digest thoughts.
  6. Acknowledge all contributions.
  7. Don’t be afraid of hard questions. If you do not know the answer, tell them honestly that you need to check it out and give a reply the following meeting. Make sure to do your homework. (Common Temptation: Giving an unsure answer)
  8. At the end of the Bible discussion you may want to allow the group members to meditate or challenge them with applications.
  9. Conclude your time together with conversational prayer, praying for your group’s struggles and their families. Pray for them individually. (If group is small, it is encouraged that you pray for them by name.)

This material is adopted from “A Life Guide Bible Study” notes for leaders by Vineyard Books with some additional personal inputs.

2010
07/07
CATEGORY
favorites
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