Priorities for Growing Leadership

We're walking through the book of Acts. The church is on a roll. Despite the Ananias and Sapphira scandal, the growth of this Jesus movement continued! Acts 5: ¹⁴And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. Next, the apostles were jailed and beaten by the Jewish religious elite. But they rejoiced they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus. They didn’t shrink away or retreat, they kept the foot on the gas. Chapter 5 ends, ⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. Which resulted in growth. Chapter 6 begins: ¹Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, That’s a good thing! Notice Luke did NOT say “converts” or “attendees" were increasing. He said “disciples.” What’s a disciple? Someone who has followed Jesus, who is being changed by Jesus, and is on mission with Jesus. By use of the term disciple, Luke is making clear that their primary concern is not the quantity of followers, it is the quality. But it's obvious they do want to increase in number! 

I want to clarify something. At Providence, we have said our goal is not to be a megachurch. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to increase in number! We do! We are actually going for world conquest! If we are the kind of church God wants us to be, we WILL grow. The question is HOW do we want to grow? Our strategy is to make disciples and plant churches that make disciples. We just planted Bridge Church, we are already looking to plant another. We’re praying for a planter and for God to show us where the next plant will be. 

As we pick up in Acts, there is only ONE church, and it’s in Jerusalem. They will be planting churches soon, but God has to push them out of the nest with persecution as we shall see. But for now there is only one huge megachurch. And with size comes problems! Look: "...a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution (Luke 6:1b)." Here’s what’s happening: Widows in that patriarchal culture were in a vulnerable place. Without a husband they often couldn’t get a decent job, had very few rights, and many times they suffered. There was no government welfare and as Jesus pointed out, those in the religious establishment took advantage of them. So, as has almost always been the case, the church stepped in to meet the need—it was a great way to be the hands and feet of Jesus. But by addressing this need a faction that had formed in the church was revealed: the Greek-speaking, popular-culture-embracing “worldly” Jews who are now Christians (the Hellenists), are feeling like the more traditional, Hebrew speaking, Bible-thumping Jews are apparently getting more of the benevolence help! What is it about money and stuff?! I’ll say it again, money is a great tool for God, but it is such a temptation for problems. And fallen human beings are as they always have been: given to envy and jealousy, tempted to team up and divide, tend to get their feelings hurt—especially when stuff is being given away. Suddenly there’s a problem that could really divide the church. It’s a terrible thing when a church—a family of believers—choose sides and stop trusting each other. It’s hard to recover. It’s important for the leadership to deal with it openly and swiftly, and that’s exactly what they do:  ²And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve [where we get the word “deacon”] tables." The apostles, who were essentially the elders of this first church, were wise in seeing the temptation of being distracted from their primary responsibility—proclaiming God’s Word. I must say, the Devil works really hard to get pastors to do just that—be distracted by doing everything else! Is there any wonder why there is such a lack of transformational preaching today and why so many Christians and churches are so weak? Hear what Paul said to the young pastor, Timothy:

2 Timothy 4:1-5 

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (Note: I don’t think there has ever been a generation that better fit this description than ours!) 
As for you, always be sober-minded, (note: that means to be aware of what’s going on, but be steady and not sucked in to fads and trends. The NIV renders it, “Keep your head,” and the HCSB, “be serious.” Be disciplined.) endure suffering, (note: because there is suffering involved, trust me!) do the work of an evangelist, (note: that means share the gospel and plead for people to believe and surrender to Christ) fulfill your ministry.”

As awkward as it is for me to say it, my job is important! It must be fought for. For me, proclaiming his Word to the folks at Providence accurately, transformationally, evangelistically, and contagiously is at the top of the list. I admit there have been times when other things have taken precedent—good things—and God was not pleased. At risk of sounding self-serving, I make an appeal to any church members (at Providence or any other): allow your teaching pastor to do what God has called him to do for the church and to keep the priority high. Help him by hiring staff that can do other duties that are also important and allow them to do that. Help him by not having unreasonable expectations. Help him by also sharing with him the ministry needs of people in your church. That’s what the first church did. 

The apostles continued: Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty (Acts 6:3). That is a great description of what is required for leadership in ministry. Notice it’s all character-related, not skill-, experience-, personality-, or knowledge-related. We MUST select leaders—particularly elders and deacons—with the same criteria. Other criteria might be helpful, but these are essential: 

1. They must have a good reputation. Their past—their good name—matters. 

2. They must be full of the Holy Spirit. Their spirituality—their daily walk with the Lord and the visibility of the fruit of the Spirit—matters. 

3. They must be wise. The practical outworking of their faith in wise living matters. You can have knowledge and intelligence without having wisdom. 

These things matter most. The apostles continued: But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). They said this because it takes time to pray. And it takes time to preach. I speak from experience. I know some aren’t going to understand and it sounds self-serving for me to say it, but it’s important that the primary teacher/preacher of any church dedicate much time for prayer and preparation for preaching. I am thankful that I had a pastor that took these priorities seriously, and I am here because of him. I have seen many pastors who didn’t take ample time for these most important duties and their churches suffered: they were weakened and sometimes divided as the Gospel was not pre-eminent. I have also seen churches drift away from sound doctrine when the Word was not central. It is a shame, and both the pastors and their churches are to blame. My doctoral dissertation makes the case that sincere and relevant biblical proclamation is the hope for the church in postmodern America. All churches need praying, Word-preaching pastors.

So the Jerusalem church affirmed the idea, and chose seven men who all had Greek (rather than Hebrew) names, indicating they were probably Hellenists, and Luke wants us to know that one of them was not even racially Jewish! That brought some diversity to the leadership. What was the result of this organizational move? "And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7). Wow! We've seen "added," and "multiplied," and now "multiplied greatly!" Christ’s church just keeps reaching more people—including some Jewish priests! God’s Word is powerful! Don’t you want to be a part of a church like that? 

I think we can if our churches recognize three priorities:

1. The ministry of the Word is important. 

For my part (and any pastors who preach), it takes dedicated prayer and preparation. This takes time (and discipline to set aside ample time) for these purposes. I have seen various surveys that show that the average pastor spends as little as 6 minutes a week in prayer. There’s your answer to the question, “Why are so many churches dying?” A prayerless pastor is powerless. I have also known pastors who brag that they need only two or three hours to prepare a sermon. I had a pastor friend who told me proudly that he only needed to prepare for 30 minutes! I would rue the day I stood to proclaim God's Word so unprepared. I actually have nightmares of standing up and not being prepared! Seriously, I ask the people of Providence to hold me accountable to do my job well. I ask them to pray for me, and to never let me (or anyone else who may have my job) take this lightly by cutting corners, compromising doctrinally, diminishing the Gospel, or being out-of-touch. If I do, they should replace me. 

For your part, make hearing the Word a priority, hear with your heart what God is saying to you (not some preacher), and apply what you hear (James 1:22). Even if the sermon isn't as polished or interesting or inspiring or in-depth or even accurate as you would like, God can still speak. I visited about 10 churches this past summer and got something out of every sermon I heard. Sometimes the problem is the receiver not the quarterback.

2. Choosing good leaders is important. Five tips from the passage we just read: 

• We must organize to meet people’s needs and ministry priorities. 
• We must insist on character qualifications first. 
• We should choose leaders with a process that includes every member’s voice. 
• We must encourage diversity in leadership (e.g. race, age, and religious background).
• We must intentionally grow disciples to lead God’s growing church.

3. Quantitative growth is important, but quality is more! 

In fact, quantitative growth won’t happen (or happen sustainably) if we are not growing people spiritually. Yes, quality is more important than quantity BECAUSE QUALITY (making disciples) RESULTS IN QUANTITY. A church might be able to grow numerically for a while, but without quality, it will not last. That’s the main reason the bigger-is-better, numerical-growth-at-all-costs, mega-church model often fails. The charismatic lead pastor will leave or die or fail morally. The big show on Sunday services will eventually lose it’s wow factor. Eventually the breadth will require depth. So let’s make disciples. That starts with you. Are you a disciple? Have you followed Jesus? Are you being changed by Jesus (that means growing—are you closer to Jesus—more like Jesus than you were a year ago)? Are you on mission with Jesus? That means you’re praying and seeking to be used by God to influence others. IS THAT YOU? If that’s not you, it can be. I pray it will be. Will you ask God to make you a disciple? See, Disciples make disciples. Disciple-making churches plant churches. Don’t be an attender. Don’t be a fan. Be a DISCIPLE. World conquest will be the result!

Worthy to Suffer

Are you worthy to suffer? 

That sounds weird, huh? I mean, my knee-jerk reaction to suffering is, “Lord, why me? What wrong did I do to deserve this?” But (apparently) the opposite is true. When suffering, we should rather ask, “What good thing have I done to be so fortunate?”

You’re not convinced, I can tell.

In our study of Acts, we’ve witnessed an exciting start to this new Jesus movement called the church. Even after the first scandal—the deaths of hypocrites Ananias and Sapphira—the purified and passionate church is growing wildly. Luke tells us, “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (Acts 5:14). Because of the love they showed to one another, the care for others’ physical needs, and the good news of God’s grace, “the people held them in high esteem” (v. 13). Times were good. But the devil was not going to stand by and let this growing movement go unopposed. Satan knows his end is coming, and the sooner the church accomplishes her mission to take the Good News to all nations, the sooner his time is over. 

Having failed to establish hypocrisy in the church, Satan went to his favorite friends, the hypocritical leaders of Judaism at that time, the Sanhedrin. 

But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and [they were] filled with jealousy (v. 17).

We know from the Gospels that these leaders, most of whom were Sadducees, were liberal (they didn’t believe much of the Bible was inspired, and didn’t believe in miracles, or resurrection, or heaven), and they were corrupt, having twisted the religious system to enrich themselves. Jesus had called them out—and they killed him for it. Now Jesus’ followers are the biggest thing in Jerusalem! If someone wants to be vehemently hated, just take the spotlight away from the who’s who. What’s worse? They accused these establishment elitists of killing Jesus! How dare they! So the leaders “arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison” (Acts 5:18). 

The devil is behind all this. He is turning up the heat on these apostles who just a couple of months earlier had fled in fear when Jesus was arrested. “This will scare them and stop their enthusiasm,” he must have thought.

Where God is at work, Satan gets to work. But God is greater. As Luther said, “The devil is still God’s devil.”

The Apostles Delivered from Prison by an Angel. 

An engraving by Philip Galle and Maerten van Heemskerck 

in the 1560s. National Gallery of Art.

What happens next is great. “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out” (v. 19) There’s nothing God can’t do. He sets captives free. Literally and figuratively. Bars and chains can’t stop him. Neither can drugs and sex (or whatever holds you captive). The angel said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life” (v. 20). "What?!" I can sense them thinking, "you want us to go right back into the lion’s den?" I think it is so awesome. I think God wants us to do the same. Persecution shouldn’t stop us. It should steel our resolve. And that’s what they did: Verse 21, “And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.” I love this! Meanwhile, the pompous Sanhedrin convenes that very morning and called to have the apostles brought before them, expecting them to be humbled. Imagine the shock when they were told the disciples weren’t there! Right after getting that news, someone else yelled, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people” (v. 25). They were brought in and grilled: “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us” (v.28). The apostles were unwavering. “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32)

This enraged the elitists and they wanted to kill them. But a respected member of the Sanhedrin warned that they should let them alone. He told them that if this movement “is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:38-39)

As you may know, it WAS of God. 

After agreeing to let them go, the Sanhedrin called them in and blessed them and bid them a kind farewell. Umm...not quite. "When they had called in the apostles, they beat them” (v. 40). Think about this for a second! What did that entail? Did they let the temple guards stand around them with sticks and cane them? Did they chain them to a post and whip them? Did they ask some Roman soldiers to punch them and slap them around? All of those scenarios are real possibilities. It's hard for us to picture because not many American Christians have experienced literal blows because of their faith.

After beating them Luke says the Sanhedrin “charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go” (v.40).

I've had the privilege to meet people who face violent
persecution every day for Jesus. This is a group of
Christians forced to flee China. When I took this picture,
they were singing, "This is the day that the Lord has made
let us rejoice and be glad in it." Not a sad face among them.

The apostles' reaction? “They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (v. 41). Wow, it’s true. Suffering dishonor is honor. 

Jesus said it like this (in Matthew 5:10-12), “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” That's relatable even to us American Christians. We do know insults and all kinds of evil being said falsely about us. 

Is it relatable to you?

As crazy as it seems, it’s true. When you suffer persecution for Jesus’ sake, you’re doing something right. You can count it all joy. So rejoice! You were counted worthy to suffer.

2016: Worst Year Ever!?

Whew, what a year. While we can probably say that about any year, this one was one for the books. Of course I am specifically thinking about the unsavory presidential campaign that commandeered the headlines all year, but that's not all. The economy has continued to struggle—for the eighth straight year. It seems culture continues to lurch toward negativity and licentiousness. Many notable people died. Racial tension seemed to creep near to a boiling point. International tragedies and natural disasters were not uncommon: Isis, Syria, refugees, terrorism attempts (and incidents), severe drought and fires, Zika...I could go on.
But was it that much worse than other years? I'm old enough now to remember many bad years that contained terrible events and trying times. My grandparents told me of the Great Depression and the years of World War II. Those seem much worse by comparison! As I think about it, I'd trade 2016 for many others in memory. In fact, 2016 was quite good for me in many ways! Health-wise, financially (despite giving more than ever and having two kids in college), family life, experiences, good movies and sports events, lessons learned, relationships with others, spiritual growth, progress regarding our church's mission...there are so many ways 2016 was quite good!
Let me take our church's mission for example. This time last year we were over 1.7 million dollars in debt (which has been an albatross hanging around our collective necks). We don't have the final tally, but in our year of "decrease to increase" (d2i) we have paid more than 1 million dollars toward that debt ALL WHILE giving 100% of what was needed for our budget! Pretty great. Meanwhile, two of our church plants became official, independent churches during 2016! What's more, some of the churches we planted in previous years planted churches this year! That's cool!
So, we should be careful about joining the chorus of negativity. Remember, celebrities (and others) will die every year, disasters will happen, there will be wars and rumors of wars, there will be other election years. I think we would be wise to focus on victories rather than losses, feel determined rather than defeated! God is still in charge! In this I take much comfort!

Disciple-Makers or Demon Deacons?

I'm writing this post knowing that it's not an exciting issue for most people. But it actually is, if you love God's church, think it should be conformed to the instructions God gave us for church in the New Testament, and love seeing more people leading in his church (which equals growth of his church). 

First, it is not the goal of Providence Church to be a megachurch or to have bragging rights because we are the largest church in town. That's just vain. Our goal is to utilize our time and resources in order that through us God will make disciples of as many people as possible and have the largest impact on this world. That means it's more about quality (disciple-making) than quantity (converts or attendees). That's because real disciples are on mission and reproduce themselves. That said, we have for 10 years struggled to break the 1000-attendee barrier. It's not an uncommon thing, and it's not necessarily a bad thing (if we are planting churches and making, growing, and unleashing disciples). I am convinced that there is a correlation between the size of a disciple-making church and the impact it can have in this world. For many reasons (that I will not expound upon here) and in our context, I think that the "sweet spot" number is 1500 to 2000 people. There are some practical factors that can determine whether we grow that large, like: our building's size, our lack of parking space, our leadership structure, as well as our culture of inviting and welcoming and encouraging new people, and caring for those already in the family. These factors, and to a greater degree our struggle to grow, has caused our elders to pray and think and read and discuss solutions. 

Several things are obvious: 

1. We need more space. This can be accomplished in several ways: multiple services, different campuses, larger facilities (either by constructing more or moving to another location), or getting rid of people by planting new churches. NONE of these are easy. 

2. We need more, capable leaders. After all, we are in the people business. An essential ingredient to making disciples is disciple-makers. These should be raised up IN THE CHURCH, or we are not accomplishing our mission.

3. We need more resources. Specifically, money. Because there are many practical necessities for disciple-making and church planting. 

Let me deal with the first and last of these quickly: 

1) The space problem is real, especially regarding parking and children's ministry space. Yes, the auditorium is tight at times, but that's not our primary problem. We have and are trying to accommodate for this until we're able to plant a church and build more space.

3) As people grow more mature spiritually, they are obedient to God and give more. We have started classes to help people manage their money better, and we have significantly paid down our debt (I have not given up hope that we will retire it). This frees up significant amounts of money each month.

Also, growth in members also results in more giving.

That leaves number 2. How do we raise up leaders who are capable and accountable to, and passionate about making disciples and planting churches? We must be intentional about this. We recognized (again) the need for our current staff and leaders to raise up "replacements" for themselves and recruit and train more who will "own" the ministries of Providence. These leaders must be identified as equals to the staff (much the same way as our non-staff elders are equals to Jesse and me).

About a year ago, I read a book entitled, RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Faith by Michael J. Svigel. Unbeknownst to me, Jesse was reading it for a class about the same time. In the book, Svigel accurately describes the simple structure of the early church, consisting of elders AND deacons, that remained basically the same and allowed the church to grow exponentially for the first few centuries. That is, until the Roman Emperor became a Christian and the church exchanged the simple structure it began with for a much more complex structure that more resembled Roman society. Corruption and stunted growth followed, ushering in the dark ages.

Jesse wrote me an email early in 2016 dropping the idea of calling this new categorization of leaders, deacons. My first reaction to this suggestion was not positive. I've dealt with "demon" deacons before (and not the Wake Forest University variety)! It usually wasn't pleasant. Deacons tend to be winners of a church popularity contest vote who, instead of serving, become the Mayberry town council-type complainers and troublemakers—dividers, not disciple-makers. I re-read the scriptural passages about deacons, and read germane sections of RetroChristianity again. I realized that what Jesse had said was true: the only biblical name for the type of leaders we were wanting to establish is "deacon." 

After much discussion, Jesse and I made the case to the elders so that we could all pray together about this. After much more deliberation, we decided to put it before the church. Here is the white paper we wrote about the new (to us) office.

After much prayer, we presented to the church that we wanted to establish the office of deacon at Providence. Of course there was some pushback. We totally expected it. In fact, it was not as much or as fierce as we expected. And all was lovingly delivered. All those who struggled with establishing deacons at Providence had churched backgrounds where deacons were not defined and determined biblically. This had resulted in problems for the church. 

In addition to the white paper (which answers most questions), I answered a few emails and had additional conversations with people. For example, here is part of one email reply to a member who is (like me and many others in our church and area) from a Baptist background (I've hidden the name of the recipient). In addition to having some bad personal experiences with deacons in a traditional church, he was struggling with the idea of women deacons.

Hey brother,
I appreciate your email so much. I love you and I LOVE your commitment to the Bible. I assure you there will never be a day while our current elders are alive where we compromise the clear teaching of Scripture, and I hope we put measures in place for the future leaders of Providence to have the same commitment. I am thankful for you for lots of reasons, including because you are a convicted conservative, evangelical, protestant, Christian. SO AM I. Even though we are not affiliated with a denomination, we are certainly "baptistic" regarding doctrine. I'm proud of my Baptist heritage (well, most of it anyway :) )! Truth is, we from Baptist backgrounds must forget some of what we have been taught about deacons, and look to the Scriptures alone for the definition. While baptists get most things right, many of them miss the biblical role for deacons. That has everything to do with Baptist history in the United States.
In Baptist churches, deacons have over the centuries become "rulers" rather than "servants" as they were intended to be in the New Testament. Baptist churches in the USA usually began in small communities, in rural areas, or on the frontier, and hardly EVER had a full-time pastor when they began. Most of them had itinerate or "circuit" preachers who would alternate between 2 to 4 different small churches! Because there was a shortage of pastors/preachers/elders (they considered these terms to be synonymous) and didn't have a plurality of elders, the deacons operated as the ruling "board" of the church. If a church was able to grow enough, they would eventually celebrate the day that they could hire a full-time pastor. But the power vested in the deacon board never changed. That's why virtually all Baptist pastors have stories of having trouble with "the Deacon board" of their churches (I know you have experienced this!). The deacons had become a ruling board, rather than what the NT intended: a group of leading servants who served under the authority of the elders. Most conservative scholars agree that the word sometimes translated "wives" in 1Tim.3:11 should be translated "women" and refers to women deacons. I quoted John MacArthur in the "white paper" and I could bore you to tears with the many conservative commentaries and early church fathers who were convinced of this interpretation. Here's just one more from the great conservative Baptist Charles Haddon Spurgeon's favorite scholarly resource: Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible:"their wives" — rather, “the women,” that is, the deaconesses. For there is no reason that special rules should be laid down as to the wives of the deacons, and not also as to the wives of the bishops or overseers. Moreover, if the wives of the deacons were meant, there seems no reason for the omission of “their” (not in the Greek). Also the Greek for “even so” (the same as for “likewise,” 1 Timothy 3:8, and “in like manner,” 1 Timothy 2:9), denotes a transition to another class of persons. Further, there were doubtless deaconesses at Ephesus, such as Phoebe was at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1, “servant,” Greek, “deaconess”), yet no mention is made of them in this Epistle if not here; whereas, supposing them to be meant here, the third chapter embraces in due proportion all the persons in the service of the Church. Naturally after specifying the qualifications of the deacon, Paul passes to those of the kindred office, the deaconess. 

Trust me, there is not a single early church father of the first five centuries that disagrees with this interpretation. It was not until much later when it was translated or interpreted "wives of deacons." I know what you're thinking. "No conservative believes women can be deacons." I know! I have felt the same way! And I still do regarding churches where deacons [unbiblically] are rulers! Again, we want the office of deacon to be what the New Testament intends: servants. I think it is more important to bring our church in line with what the Bible really teaches than to hold to man-made tradition. Please know that there is no biblical case for women elders (who ARE the ruling body of the church) and that Providence will not compromise regarding the Bible's teaching. I give you my word on this. So unless we see something in the Bible that suggests that we should change our practice to conform better to the Bible, we will not change it. I am thankful that we have a men-led church. In most churches I know, most volunteer and leadership positions are filled by women. However, we actually have more men involved in all aspects of leadership (including traditionally woman-dominated positions, like children's ministry and worship) than any other church I know percentage-wise. That's due in part to our focus on men being the leaders God has called them to be. This is in no wise a put-down for women! God loves strong women and we want them to serve in the church in myriad ways.
Brother, the decision is not made yet. The elders are presenting the idea to the whole church so that we can all pray about it, study what God's Word says, and then vote on it. 
Sincerely,
Chad

There it is. Exciting stuff, right? I actually think so. We MUST raise up new leaders if we want to make more disciples and plant churches. I think God is trustworthy to build HIS church. As we conform it to the description given in the New Testament, we are trusting HIM to do so.

Parenting Leaders

My kids and my godly and active 98-year-old grandmother. She still
plays the organ for her church. Talk about a woman who has made a
 difference! I am so thankful for her example and faithfulness to God.

I want to do everything I can to grow a strong family. This is my number one responsibility. If you're in a family, it's yours too. As a believer, I live to bring glory to God by making disciples. If I don't do that at home, what does this mean? I don't want to waste my life and I want my family to make a difference. Darla and I are raising our kids to be world-changers in their own ways, however God wants them to do that. Parenting is a huge challenge and we're not out of the woods yet! I recently told a friend that one probably shouldn't write a book about parenting until one's own kids are adults in order to be able to prove the strategy works. Ultimately, as with all other things, "it is God who works in us..." (Phil. 2:13), so we can't take any credit at all. It is with prayer and fear that I write (and preach) this! God please have mercy and provide grace to lead my family to walk in your ways.

We're currently walking through the gospel of Luke as a church. Of course, Jesus is the subject; and Luke's perspective on him is unique. Among other reasons, he's the only gentile Bible writer. He's also a keenly observant doctor, and a great story teller to boot.

Luke chapter 2 gives us the only inspired look at Jesus' childhood. That's it! Yeah, there are some apocryphal legends written much later…but none are reliable. And yeah, we can make some assumptions (some do)…but it’s conjecture. Here's everything we know about Jesus' childhood:

Luke 2:41-52 (ESV)

⁴¹Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. ⁴³And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, ⁴⁴but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, ⁴⁵and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” ⁴⁹And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” ⁵⁰And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. ⁵¹And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

This passage isn’t so much overlooked, as it is missed in it’s intent. So many times growing up, I heard this story in Sunday school, along with the aid of felt boards and coloring pages. The focus was usually on the point that someone made a mistake. Must have been Mary and Joseph 'cause Jesus didn’t sin. Well, that’s not what it’s about. 

The PRIMARY reason the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to record was to show that Jesus–from age 12–understood who he actually was: the unique, begotten, Son of God. To claim to be God’s Son is to claim to be God. Throughout Jesus' life on earth he insisted he was the Son of God. The Jews understood that this meant Jesus was equating himself with God: "He was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (Jn 5:17-18).  This often made the Jews try to kill him, and that’s ultimately why they did. Luke records this in chapter 22 (NASB): 

^66…the Council of elders of the people assembled…saying, ⁶⁷“If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; ^…& they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” & He said to them, “Yes, I am.” ⁷¹Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”

That's the main thing Luke wanted us to know. Jesus claimed to be God. Because he was. He knew it from at least age 12. When he told Mary that she should've known he'd be in HIS Father's house, he wasn't using a metaphor, as in "God the Father of us all." He used a first-person singular possessive pronoun. "MY Father's house" (emphasis mine). "God really is my very Father and I am his literal Son."

There is a SECONDARY reason we have this story: 

The Temple is significant to God. This is a big deal and it is something that we don’t “get” today. Jesus was drawn to the temple, because the temple was, is (during Jesus' day), and will be important in God’s plan. When Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem, he went to the most logical place—God’s house—the central place of Jerusalem and the very reason they journeyed there for the Passover in the first place. Even more the temple was the center of earth for activity related to God. If one wanted to worship, seek, learn about or interact with God, this was the place to be. The temple pointed forward to Christ, it was the center of much of his ministry activity, and it's where he will return one day. There's more that I mentioned in the sermon and you can hear it here if you want. We will see more of the temple's role as we continue in Luke.

There is a TERTIARY (a third priority) reason I believe God revealed this story, and it happens to be the point that many feel is the most practical–and that's why I'm posting about it. It's what got the most discussion after the services. Several people asked for me to make it available. Here it is.

The home is key in the formation of a leader. We get a very honest snapshot of the family in which Jesus grew up. There are seven observations I made from Jesus’ family that I want to incorporate in my own family, and I encourage you to do so too. 

1. Devotion. Jesus was a part of a devout family that didn’t miss the passover and other customs of the faith. They made worship & religious observance a priority.

• Is your family marked by spiritual devotion? Is this your priority/identity? 

2. Community. Jesus’ family was well connected in their community of family, friends, and neighbors. All of this was faith-centric. So much so that Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus was in the band of them traveling together back to Nazareth. 

• Are you committed to building deep friendships and relationships with people who are positive influences? Where do you go for that? This doesn’t just happen. Relationships must be pursued. This is hard for Americans—we must see the importance of community and take initiative. Small groups, MANday Night, Engage, and many more opportunities exist at Providence.

3. Trust. There was apparently a lot of trust and freedom. Jesus was probably always in the right place and they didn’t become alarmed until a day after leaving Jerusalem. Now, all ended up ok, no one was at fault. If anyone, the parents should have made sure to check on him! He did the right thing by going to the one place they should known he’d be. Observation: they had a trust in him that resulted in freedom. 

• Trust begets freedom which begets more trust… This goes both ways. Kids, show yourselves honest and trustworthy, and parents will give more freedom. Parents, trust but verify and reward with freedom. Your job is to make disciples of your kids, unleashing them into the world to make a difference. That means parenting is in many ways the act of releasing. Catch them doing good. Sometimes let them fail. Point it out in love. Give them the privilege of consequences. Praise like crazy when they show character, honesty, trustworthiness. We brag & nag way too much about performance, not character!

4. Understanding Scripture. He was amazingly well-versed spiritually and engaging even as a pre-teen. No doubt his home was Bible-CENTERED. This is something a kid must have a hunger for themselves. And you can kindle the fire.

• Demonstrate a sincere love for the Bible. 

-Let them see you read it. -Let them hear you quote it -Let them see you live it out.

-When they’re young, read it to them. Discuss its meaning. (Jesus Storybook Bible)

-When they’re older take them to get their OWN Bible. (We spend hundreds on phones/games/clothes, let’s spend dozens on the greatest book..that changes lives.) 

-Encourage time alone with God. But NEVER force-feed or make this negative. 

-Don’t let someone else be the primary source for their Bible training. If they go to private school, let them teach you—you learn with them!

-Always talk about having a biblical worldview. And demonstrate having it. 

5. Learn from Mistakes. His parents didn’t communicate or check on him as they should have. They panicked, worried, and fretted as most parents do. They seem to shift the blame on him a bit. But Mary obviously “got it” later. She told Luke about it. She treasured it!

• You’re going to make mistakes. Utilize them! Don’t over-react or think you’ve doomed your kids. God has grace! He used imperfect parents to sharpen his Son, he will use you. Get over your mistakes and laugh about them later!

6. Obedience. After this episode, Jesus was submissive to his earthly parents. And his parents (Mary at least) told Luke about his full and complete obedience, in spite of the fact that he was God's son (read: "God in the flesh"). Imagine parenting THAT kid! 

• Like Jesus, submit to your parents! Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. " Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land" (Eph 6:1–2). Until you’re independent, you’re under God’s command to submit. Unless they ask you to do something that God has forbidden, you only need to obey. You never get too old for this principle. The kind of submission may change, but you are always their child. Honor them! There are exceptions, but in virtually all cases, no one loves you more! This principle of obedience to parents has been ignored by our culture. 
Parents, it is important for you to be strong early. Kids need parents! You’ll have opportunities to be friends later (and much more so if your kids learn obedience).

7. Continued growth. You never finish growing. You never arrive. You can always be a better parent, just as you can be a better person. Your family isn't static. It's either getting healthier or growing toward dysfunction. Your kids aren't stuck in place, they're growing closer to Christ or running from him. 

• Never stop learning! Never quit. Never take a break. Always make things better. Always ask God to help you do your best. He will. Even the bad times will be used for his glory and your good.

The home is totally under attack in so many ways big and small. Fight for it. This is where leaders are made. Once again, there are no accidents with God. He wanted his Son raised in a spiritually-devout, community-connected, trust-based, Bible-centered-and-literate, authority-honoring, continually challenging/improving family, preferably with a mom & a dad. He went to great lengths to make this happen. Mary & Joseph were normal people who had challenges but had to make it work. You are too. You can too. Don’t buy the world’s lies about today’s new definition of family. In Jesus’ home there were important supports for spiritual growth. These are things that you can have in your home. This is how leaders are formed. This is how world-changers are forged.

Hear the whole message here from January 3, 2016 entitled, The Truth of Jesus' Childhood.

He Restores My Soul

Another feeble attempt at poetry. Don't make fun! I'm just trying to exercise the right (read: creative) side of my brain, and express my heart as well. I've been dwelling on Psalm 23:3 this week. It's rich.

He Restores My Soul
by Chad Sparks

My soul, you need restoring!

My life is dry, forlorn. 

The thought of mere enduring

A dreadful, painful thorn.

The “re-” in restoration

Says something once was fresh,

Alive with foliation;

A vibrant, healthy flesh.

But now my leaves have fallen,

My skin is pale and cracked.

My sin like ragweed pollen

Has now my soul ransacked.

Do I possess the power

To change this weary soul;

Rise up like Babel’s tower

And wrest from God control?

No! I stand as helpless.

Frustration is my cell.

Useless, conquered, feckless,

Condemned to earth-bound hell.

Regardless of my straining,

No matter how I try,

There waits beyond my feigning

A higher Rock than I.

He is Righteous Creator!

Incomprehensible!

How can he love this traitor?

I’m indefensible.

His Grace is my salvation

Oh how I love him so!

Beyond justification

He now restores my soul!

By grace I was forgiven;

New birth from spirit death.

By grace I am now given

New thirst, new strength, new breath!

My Shepherd is my rescue!

He stands me on my feet

So I can eat green fescue
And find delight replete!

Brave the Blizzard. Ready for Romans.

Everybody knows that a little snow in East Tennessee gives everyone the notion to hunker down in their homes--especially when it's Super Bowl Sunday! But if you're a part of the Providence family, you don't want to miss the beginning of something this important. Come tomorrow and see what I mean.

Check out this short video:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152468870320357&set=o.17492541884&type=2&theater

The Journey 2012 was awesome. In fact, I've been excited about every series we've done. But I'm convinced that Romans has the potential to be the most impactful series ever.

Final Journey Post!

Whew.

It was awesome. And it was (for me anyway) really, really challenging. In fact, I feel like I’ve graduated or something. Many months before 2012 began (23 in fact) I heard of a church in another state that went through the whole Bible in a year together. I was so impressed and thought, “That would be so good for us!” But my next thought was, “But I’m not sure I can preach through the Bible in a year.” Frankly, I was flat out scared. It would be an epic challenge. I know...people don’t want to hear pastors talk about how hard it is to preach; so I’ll keep my whining to a minimum. But I’m telling you, about September, I was feeling as close to burnout as I’ve ever felt (as evidenced by the lack of posts since then!). I love to study God’s Word. Love it. I love to share its riches and wisdom and truth with others. This Journey was so different, however. The 30,000-foot perspective was a great discipline for me as a reader and a teacher for many reasons:

• It forced me to focus on the big themes: who God is and how he works, his plan and his providence.
• It helped me see and communicate how well the Old and New Testaments fit together.
• It solidified in me certain doctrinal beliefs I’ve held:
• God’s sovereignty in all matters.
• The reason for pain and evil, and the necessity of our own suffering.
• The wonder of God’s grace, and our unworthiness of it.
• The meaning and supremacy of the atonement of Christ.
• The exceeding goodness of the Good News.
• The way all things will end, and how to better interpret apocalyptic passages.
• The uniqueness and wonder and mystery and inerrancy of God’s Word.

The discipline of reading (and for me, studying) large swaths of the Bible each week was hugely beneficial.

• It kept my thoughts on God and his thoughts. I’m amazed by him and love him more.
• It served as a constant positive “pressure” to be disciplined.
• It gave so many great opportunities to have spiritual conversations with my family and others.

But I’ve got to say, I’m so glad it’s over.

• I’ll have much more time. My study time was ridiculous during 2012. Probably 35 hours a week on average (I know, but I’m not as smart as others). It just took that much time to read and digest the passages, then outline them and determine main themes & applications, then see what scholars/commentaries say (to make sure I wasn’t off base), and then reduce the content to manageable size and make it understandable. I’ve gained 12 lbs. this year because I virtually stopped running (it’s the first thing to go when I get short on time) and I’m grossly out-of-shape. I’m going to be much more pleasant to my kids on the weekends and will get back to enjoying some things I didn’t do much of (fishing, hunting, hiking, going to ballgames, working in the garden, working on our cars, house, etc.). The staff at church will see me more. My small group will get their leader back. I’ll be a better pastor. I’ll be a better son, friend, husband, dad, and neighbor. (Man, I’m a whiner!)
• You’ll get out of church on time. Believe me, nobody was more stressed than me about going 50 (or sometimes more!) minutes. On many weeks I would be up Saturday night until 2:00am trying to cut content, and then be hoarse from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday from talking too long. It was exhausting, and I hated myself for going too long. I would promise the staff that I would be shorter...only to make myself a liar.
• I’m looking forward to putting away the telescope and getting out the microscope.
  Bite-sizes are so much more enjoyable, and perhaps more beneficial. We’ll get back to this “proper portion” size the first week of February when we start Romans. And there’s not a better time for Romans—after grasping the whole Bible! I can't wait!

So many people have said that God used the Journey to deepen them in 2012. I’m thankful. I definitely think we did right by attempting this crazy thing! But I’m glad it’s over. Now I pray that God will move all of us forward as we become more conformed to his image.

Thanks, Lord, for how you’ve worked. Please grow us more. Please grow me more.