New Testament Description of Church Leadership This article is the second in a mini-series on church leadership. The intent of this series is to present the biblical basis for church leadership portrayed in the New Testament. Part 1 of this series described various church leadership models that exist in churches today and gave a brief summary of…
Overview of Common Forms of Church Government Most churches agree with the following statement: “With Christ as our Chief Shepherd, we desire the leadership in our church family to be under the direction of the Holy Spirit and in conformity to the Word of God.” With the above statement in view, this series will review…
Characteristics of Church Leaders Thus far, this series has presented several biblical insights about church leaders and leadership plans. This study highlights characteristics of church leaders and does not review the specific leadership qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. As a point of clarification, “characteristic” is defined as a distinguishing trait, while “qualification” is defined…
The REAL Christmas Story How long have you been making plans for your funeral? As far as your life on this earth is concerned, your birth started the countdown to your death. Yet, if you are like most people with good health, you don’t think about the physical end of your life. Hardly anyone plans…
The greatest personal challenge a Christian will face is to become a Christ-like servant. It is the low road to a believer’s high calling. It is a challenge because it goes against our natural desire for popularity, power, and prominence. Not surprisingly, Jesus was the perfect example of a servant when He lived on the…
A Symbol Not of Our Worthiness, but Our Unworthiness by Randy Alcorn, Director of Eternal Perspective Ministries Years ago I spoke at a Christian event where the vocalist got up to sing one of my favorite songs, “Amazing Grace.” But I was taken aback when I heard the first line: “Amazing Grace, how sweet the…
Doing good works—often defined as being obedient to religious tenets and/or moral practices—is the most commonly supposed qualification for a person to go to heaven, or “to enjoy the afterlife” as some religions state. You may not know it, but Christianity is the only spiritual belief that says it is impossible to qualify for heaven…
False teachers have distorted or disregarded biblical truth for almost 2,000 years. Over this time, false teaching has been used in an attempt to undermine truth on two fronts: Jesus, God’s Son, and the Bible, God’s Word. Followers of Christ were warned in Scripture about this assault (2 Peter 2:1). The most obvious characteristic of false teaching is its…
The New Testament Method for Evangelism and Discipleship* This is an excerpt from The Stewardship of God’s Truth Through Evangelism (Part 2) by J. Hampton Keathley III. The titles and links for each part of the 5-part series are listed at the conclusion. The Lord gave us the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of…
Do you know Jesus, the resurrected Lord, through a personal relationship with Him; OR do you merely know facts about Him? The difference is as profound as living with a person you love versus relating to that person only through a photograph. When people are spiritually born into the family of God (John 3:3), they receive eternal life (John…