HOW TO BEGIN TO PRAY FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA...let the Scriptures guide our thoughts

Proverbs 11:
11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
but a just weight is his delight.

2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with the humble is wisdom.

3 The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.

5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,
but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

7 When the wicked dies, his hope will perish,
and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,
and the wicked walks into it instead.

9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,
but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.

11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.

12 Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.

13 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

15 Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm,
but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.

16 A gracious woman gets honor,
and violent men get riches.

17 A man who is kind benefits himself,
but a cruel man hurts himself.

18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

19 Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.

20 Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.

21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

22 Like a gold ring in a pig's snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion.

23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good;
the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.

26 The people curse him who holds back grain,
but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.

27 Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,
but evil comes to him who searches for it.

28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

29 Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and whoever captures souls is wise.

31 If the righteous is repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF LEADERSHIP...by A.W. Tozer

In light of some of our recent “blogversations” and those I have been privileged to read or participate in at other at sites, these words by Tozer are a needed encouragement and exhortation to what godly, biblical leadership really entails.

His words are strong and unadulterated. Tozer preceded the postmodern sea change in our culture by a few decades; so don’t expect him to be politically correct or accommodating to present leadership pragmatics.

He is refreshingly direct; he speaks the truth in love, and is unapologetic in his views. He speaks not as a religious promoter, but as a prophet. I so miss today men of his candor, biblical conviction, tenacity of spirit, and lucid speech. Tozer was not for sale by the religious handlers and profiteers of his day. He was not consumed with his own ministerial standing or station in life. He could not be manipulated nor seduced by the promise of greater fame. He was not preoccupied with maintaining his place within evangelicalism through religious bartering or careful cultivated protected alliances. Today, Tozer has no contemporary rivals... In many respects, the pedestals are empty in evangelicalism and biblical leadership within the church is steadily becoming a mirage.

May it be, beloved, our daily prayer that the Lord would raise up Christian servant-leaders who would be delivered from religious posturing for selfish gain or personal advancement; but with humility of mind and contrition of heart, be able to say with fear and trembling, "follow me, as I follow Christ."

By His grace and for His glory,
2 Timothy 2


By Tozer
The history of Israel and Judah points up a truth taught clearly enough by all history, viz., that the masses are or soon will be what their leaders are. The kings set the moral pace for the people. The public is never capable of acting en masse. Without a leader it is headless and a headless body is powerless. Always someone must lead. Even the mob engaged in pillage and murder is not the disorganized thing it appears to be. Somewhere behind the violence is a leader whose ideas it is simply putting into effect.

Israel sometimes rebelled against her leaders, it is true, but the rebellions were not spontaneous. The people merely switched to a new leader and followed him. The point is, they always had to have a leader. Whatever sort of man the king turned out to be, the people were soon following his leadership. They followed David in the worship of Jehovah, Solomon in the building of the Temple, Jeroboam in the making of a calf and Hezekiah in the restoration of the temple worship.

It is not complimentary to the masses that they are so easily led, but we are not interested in praising or blaming; we are concerned for truth, and the truth is that for better or for worse religious people follow leaders. A good man may change the moral complexion of a whole nation; or a corrupt and worldly clergy may lead a nation into bondage. The transposed proverb, "Like priest, like people," sums up in four words a truth taught plainly in the Scriptures and demonstrated again and again in religious history.

Today, Christianity in the Western world is what its leaders were in the recent past and is becoming what its present leaders are. The local church soon becomes like its pastor, and this is true even of those groups who do not believe in pastors. The true pastor of such a group is not hard to identify; he is usually the one who can present the strongest argument against any church having a pastor. The strong-minded leader of the local group who succeeds in influencing the flock through Bible teaching or frequent impromptu talks in the public gatherings is the pastor, no matter how earnestly he may deny it.

The poor condition of the churches today may be traced straight to their leaders. When, as sometimes happens, the members of a local church rise up and turn their pastor out for preaching the truth, they are still following a leader. Behind their act is sure to be found a carnal (and often well-to-do) deacon or elder who usurps the right to determine who the pastor shall be and what he shall say twice each Sunday. In such cases the pastor is unable to lead the flock. He merely works for the leader; a pitiful situation indeed.

A number of factors that contribute 

to bad spiritual leadership. Here are a few:

1. Fear.
The wish to be liked and admired is strong even among the clergy, so rather than risk public disapproval the pastor is tempted simply to sit on his hands and smile ingratiatingly at the people. "Fear of man will prove to be a snare" (Proverbs 29:25), says the Holy Spirit, and nowhere more than in the ministry.

2. The economic squeeze.
The Protestant ministry is notoriously underpaid and the pastor's family is often large. Put these two facts together and you have a situation ready-made to bring trouble and temptation to the man of God. The ability of the congregation to turn off the flow of money to the church when the man in the pulpit gets on their toes is well known. The average Pastor lives from year to year barely making ends meet. To give vigorous moral leadership to the church is often to invite economic strangulation, so such leadership is withheld. But the evil thing is that leadership withheld is in fact a kind of inverted leadership. The man who will not lead his flock up the mountainside leads it down without knowing it.

3. Ambition.
When Christ is not all in all to the minister he is tempted to seek place for himself, and pleasing the crowds is a time-proved way to get on in church circles. Instead of leading his people where they ought to go, he skillfully leads them where he knows they want to go. In this way he gives the appearance of being a bold leader of men, but avoids offending anyone, and thus assures ecclesiastical preferment when the big church or the high office is open.

4. Intellectual pride.
Unfortunately there is in religious circles a cult of the intelligentsia, which, in my opinion, is merely beatnikism, turned wrong side out. As the beatnik, in spite of his loud protestations of individualism, is in reality one of the most slavish of conformists, so the young intellectual in the pulpit shakes in his carefully polished Oxfords lest he be guilty of saying something trite or common. The people look to him to lead them into green pastures but instead he leads them in circles over a sandy desert.

5. Absence of true spiritual experience.
No one can lead another farther than he himself has gone. For many ministers this explains their failure to lead. They simply do not know where to go.

6. Inadequate preparation.
The churches are cluttered with religious amateurs culturally unfit to minister at the altar, and the people suffer as a consequence. They are led astray and are not aware of it.

The rewards of godly leadership are so great and the responsibilities of the leader so heavy that no one can afford to take the matter lightly.

-this has been an encore presentation-

Smokin' In The Boys Room...is it a sin, a bad habit, or has the church just been plain legalistic?

Smoking can be a bad habit. Nicotine is proven addictive, proposes a real health risk over time, and can be very hard to quit once a significant habit has begun.

But is smoking a sin? Does it damage a witness? Is all matters of smoking wrong whether it be cigarettes, cigars or pipes? How should we address those that may smoke publicly outside in our church parking lots? Has the church at large been too legalistic in this area?

This was the subject that I and some friends were discussing this past week. Let me share with you a hypothetical scenario to illustrate this issue. A few 18+ year old young men and women (who are part of a local church) were found smoking in the parking lot of the church. A "greeter" from the church went to them and asked them to stop smoking or possibly leave the parking lot. Take this to a more broad picture of anyone smoking outside on church property (member or visitor) and how that would look "image wise" for any church.

What say you?
I realize that this is a relatively small issue with all that is going on in the world around us. But as you know, the devil is in the details and it is these little things that can divide Christian fellowship quicker than anything.

Here is a common concern of smoking to help ignite your thoughts:

Because smoking is often perceived as a sin (at worst) or a casual pastime (at best), should we be concerned with the impression that it might leave upon those who come to our church or who are new visitors to the church, if they were to see people smoking in the parking lot of our church? Or should it even matter?

Here are some initial thoughts in response to the above:
Is this 1957 we’re talking about here? Were they wearing leisure suits too? :-).

Horrors!

Can you imagine... some people actually smoking in the hallowed area of the parking lot of a church? Oh my... Did they inhale? Sounds like an immediate Matthew 18:15-20 situation to me. Can you imagine such a thing? Sinners, real life sinners that lite up are in our church parking lot enjoying "a drag" before or after the service. They’re definitely going to hell — no question about it — smokers all end up there. No smoker could possibly be elect — no way. And if they profess to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, they’re definitely carnal,... backslidden at best.

Can you believe it, there are smokers who even twist the words of praise songs to support their "evil practice" by singing: “it only takes a spark, to get my cig a going...” They just can’t be trusted; we should get rid of them all. You can almost imagine the headline on the church kiosk next week would say:

NO SMOKERS ALLOWED ON OUR CHURCH PARKING LOT
TAKE YOUR "BUTTS" SOMEWHERE ELSE...

Can't you just hear The Church Lady from SNL say about now, "what does that "S" on your shirt stand for... Smoker?

Time to Wake Up and Smell the Ministry
This is not an issue.

Smoking is not a sin (btw, I don’t smoke cigarettes). John MacArthur really put this in perspective when he once humorously said, “Smoking is not a sin; but if you like putting dried leaves in your mouth and setting them on fire that’s your business.” :-).

Precisely! Scripture nowhere prohibits smoking anywhere; it is a preference issue at best.

Does it smack of legalism to actually say things like: “is this the first impression you want to make on people coming to the church...” People that come to our churches come with serious problems and needs—and smoking in the parking lot is not one of them. Spurgeon smoked cigars (so do I on occasion) - would it have been better if they were smoking cigars? How about pipes? Pipes are good too — they smell really good especially on a cool autumn evening (I smoke a pipe on occasion too). Football season is here and it’s a great time to bring your favorite cigar or pipe to a ball game and have at it.

I think here’s a great first impression to make on people coming to our churches:
that everyone would be warmly welcomed whether they are smoking or not in the parking lot and never asked to leave because a “greeter” sees someone enjoying a Camel before or after the service.

BTW, that person in the parking lot who confronted the young people smoking should never be allowed to serve as a greeter. Put that man in charge of something really important like... straightening all the hymnals in the backs of the pews before the service begins :-). It will better serve the Lord and His people to keep him as far away from those coming to the church as possible—especially the visitors.

From Tobacco Road...
Campi

Let me know your thoughts...