Brothers,
Please review these "We Are Nots" extracted from the "Acts 29"
doctrine site. While knowing who we are and what we believe is primary,
being able to articulate who we are not and what we do not believe is just
as essential in today's church culture.
Full explanation of each statement is explained on the site below.
rgh
•We are not liberals
•We are not fundamentalists
•We are not isolationists
•We are not hyper-Calvinists
•We are not Dispensationalists
•We are not egalitarians
•We are not Open Theists
•We are not religious relativists
•We are not nationalists
•We are not moralists.
•We are not relativists
•We are not Universalists
•We are not naturalists
•We are not rationalists
•We are not evangelical feminists
•We are not embarrassed
•We are not ashamed
•We are not polemicists
http://www.acts29network.org/about/doctrine/
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
New Identity: Reformata Family of Ministers
While we bless the inauguration of the Redeemed Community site that solely
seeks to bridge relational connection of former friends and members,
we wisely see the potential for confusion since it does so void of the foundational,
historical, doctrinal,and covenantal identity that was the DNA of the ministry and
which RFM continues to model today.
That being the concern, we are making a slight but substantive name change so as
to maintain clarity for our ministerial identity while minimizing possible secondary
connectivity through name recognition.
"Reformata" simply means the church reformed and was used as the battle cry during
the Reformational era. Thus, the term intentionally maintains covenantal continuity
with our original "agents of change" ethos while communicating the covenantal,
doctrinal and missional substance of our relational identity as a Family of Ministers.
Therefore, our "Antiochian Identity" is now Reformata Family of Ministers
and will continue to be abbreviated as "RFM". Shout!
For The Kings Honor!
richard g. hanner
seeks to bridge relational connection of former friends and members,
we wisely see the potential for confusion since it does so void of the foundational,
historical, doctrinal,and covenantal identity that was the DNA of the ministry and
which RFM continues to model today.
That being the concern, we are making a slight but substantive name change so as
to maintain clarity for our ministerial identity while minimizing possible secondary
connectivity through name recognition.
"Reformata" simply means the church reformed and was used as the battle cry during
the Reformational era. Thus, the term intentionally maintains covenantal continuity
with our original "agents of change" ethos while communicating the covenantal,
doctrinal and missional substance of our relational identity as a Family of Ministers.
Therefore, our "Antiochian Identity" is now Reformata Family of Ministers
and will continue to be abbreviated as "RFM". Shout!
For The Kings Honor!
richard g. hanner
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Kind Of Leaders We Want Around Us!
Perry Noble points out a strategic truth RFM ministers should embrace,
emulate, and advocate. In other words, "we" must "be" this kind of leader
to one another.
rgh
Proverbs 16:13
Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
they value a man who speaks the truth.
Leaders MUST value people that are honest and speak the truth.
However, one of the things I always say is that a leader cannot listen to everybody…but the “somebody’s” that he/she does listen to MUST be willing to speak unfiltered truth in love.
With that in mind here are the qualities I believe a leader should always be looking for…someone who is…
Trustworthy – Can you trust the person who is speaking truth to you? Have they, over time, demonstrated a consistent love for Jesus, for His church and for you? A leader should ALWAYS listen to people they trust–period.
Respectable – I have found that it is nearly impossible to listen to people you do not respect. So, with that in mind take a look at the people you have around you…do you respect their CHARACTER (incredibly important) and their COMPETENCE level? (It is REALLY sad when leaders who purposefully surround themselves with people they feel superior to in regards to competence. If you are always positioning yourself to be the smartest person in the room then you either struggle with pride, insecurity…OR BOTH!) Even if someone doesn’t know me that well…I have always found myself still listening to people whom I respect.
Understanding – A leader should always listen to someone who understands the entire situation. People who take shots at you because they heard a rumor about you or have based their opinion off of a 30 second soundbite that was taken out of context should simply be ignored. However, someone who comes to you in love with a desire for a sincere understanding of something you said or a decision you made is someone that you should definitely listen to.
This is, in no way, a complete list…but, just wanted to share these three characteristics.
http://www.perrynoble.com/2011/04/13/the-kind-of-leaders-i-wantneed-around-me/
emulate, and advocate. In other words, "we" must "be" this kind of leader
to one another.
rgh
Proverbs 16:13
Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
they value a man who speaks the truth.
Leaders MUST value people that are honest and speak the truth.
However, one of the things I always say is that a leader cannot listen to everybody…but the “somebody’s” that he/she does listen to MUST be willing to speak unfiltered truth in love.
With that in mind here are the qualities I believe a leader should always be looking for…someone who is…
Trustworthy – Can you trust the person who is speaking truth to you? Have they, over time, demonstrated a consistent love for Jesus, for His church and for you? A leader should ALWAYS listen to people they trust–period.
Respectable – I have found that it is nearly impossible to listen to people you do not respect. So, with that in mind take a look at the people you have around you…do you respect their CHARACTER (incredibly important) and their COMPETENCE level? (It is REALLY sad when leaders who purposefully surround themselves with people they feel superior to in regards to competence. If you are always positioning yourself to be the smartest person in the room then you either struggle with pride, insecurity…OR BOTH!) Even if someone doesn’t know me that well…I have always found myself still listening to people whom I respect.
Understanding – A leader should always listen to someone who understands the entire situation. People who take shots at you because they heard a rumor about you or have based their opinion off of a 30 second soundbite that was taken out of context should simply be ignored. However, someone who comes to you in love with a desire for a sincere understanding of something you said or a decision you made is someone that you should definitely listen to.
This is, in no way, a complete list…but, just wanted to share these three characteristics.
http://www.perrynoble.com/2011/04/13/the-kind-of-leaders-i-wantneed-around-me/
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The 26 Qualifications For A Minister
Over the last 38 years, I have read and reread these character qualifications listed by the Apostle Paul.To be honest, I confess that there is most often "pain of conscience" when doing so.The imperative for such prominent Christlike virtues in a ministers life should awaken a real sense of Godly fear in each of our souls.
My dear brothers, may we "Love One Another" enough to correct or receieve the same should these standards become "perceptively" violated in the form of behavioral pattern.
rgh
"....before any man can serve the Lord in church leadership, he must meet a list of 26 requirements in his life. When a man meets all these requirements, he is to be recognized by the sheep as a truly qualified shepherd. The list is found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1; it is stringent and weeds out a lot of men who might like to be church leaders. But this list also motivates men to become more like Christ, the True Shepherd of the flock. It provides a God-given target for men to aim their lives and ministry at. Furthermore, this list is the same for every church in every culture, because every man who grows in Christ-likeness looks more and more like the qualities of this list."
Starting with 1 Timothy 3:1–7, each man to whom Jesus grants leadership has all the following qualities:
1.“aspires to the office of overseer”—one who is internally motivated by deep conviction to do all that Christ may ask of him in the care and feeding of Christians;
2.“is above reproach”—against whom no accusation of sin is justified, but is upright in every area of life;
3.“the husband of one wife”—a man who (if married) is not adulterous, is not flirtatious or sexually impure in any other way, but is completely given to his own wife;
4.“temperate”—one not given to excess in pleasures or habits;
5.“sober-minded”—a man who is not given to foolish or eccentric thinking;
6.“respectable”—a person who elicits trust from others by virtue of godliness and kindness;
7.“hospitable”—one who cares for others with his own resources, especially in the use of his home;
8.“able to teach”—one who directs others into Scripture, providing effective guidance and instruction;
9.“not a drunkard”—one who is not overcome by sensory pleasures such as alcohol;
10.“gentle”—a man who might be slandered and mistreated but will still serve with meekness and unfailing graciousness;
11.“not quarrelsome”—one who makes peace and maintains it by upholding biblical standards and comforting others;
12.“not a lover of money”—one who invests in God’s kingdom, is generous, and refuses to make money in any manner that dishonors the Lord;
13.“manages his own household well”—in humility and strength, he successfully leads all aspects of family life into conformity with the word of God;
14.“with all dignity keeping his children submissive”—whose younger children, if any, display the fruit of their father’s wise and godly hand in their attitudes and characters;
15.“not a recent convert”—one who has been tested by numerous trials and has displayed a stable faith in the midst of failure and success;
16.“well thought of by outsiders”—there are no just reasons even among unbelievers for why this man should not be a leader of the church.
Then from Titus 1:6–9, those not already covered in 1 Timothy 3 are:
1.“his children are believers”—in older children there is evident fruit of sovereign grace, the seal upon the man’s private and intimate conduct in the home;
2.“not be arrogant”—one who is not filled with himself in speech and actions, who prefers others above himself;
3.“not quick-tempered”—one who is not rude with people, or has a low boiling point when he is ignored or doesn’t get his way;
4.“a lover of good”—a man who prizes good works, who loves to see good come to pass, and shuns or reproves all things less than good;
5.“upright”—one whose dealings with all men are correct and true, who does not steal or malign, and who rejoices in integrity, even to his own hurt;
6.“holy”—one who shuns sin in every form, who will reprove it in others professing godliness, and who lives to worship Jesus Christ as his greatest joy and highest priority;
7.“disciplined”—conducts himself with godliness in every situation;
8.“holding fast the faithful word”—one who is knowledgeable of Scripture and is deep in conviction to its tenets, both doctrinally and ethically;
9.“able to exhort in sound doctrine”—one who can comfort the depressed and challenge the lax with a doctrinal approach to God and life;
10.“able to refute those who contradict”—can use Scripture to confront hardened error, and if need be, will follow every Scriptural command out to its full extent, such as in church discipline.
If only all churches today were led by such men! For when a man truly matches up with Christ’s qualifications, then he is worthy to be entrusted by the sheep with leadership over them. Scripture tells us several times to submit to such men (1 Thessalonians 5:12–13; 1 Peter 5:5; Hebrews 13:17). The elders have been granted the same kind of authority in a church as a godly father has in a home (1 Timothy 3:4–5).
http://www.thetitusmandate.org/archives/14
My dear brothers, may we "Love One Another" enough to correct or receieve the same should these standards become "perceptively" violated in the form of behavioral pattern.
rgh
"....before any man can serve the Lord in church leadership, he must meet a list of 26 requirements in his life. When a man meets all these requirements, he is to be recognized by the sheep as a truly qualified shepherd. The list is found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1; it is stringent and weeds out a lot of men who might like to be church leaders. But this list also motivates men to become more like Christ, the True Shepherd of the flock. It provides a God-given target for men to aim their lives and ministry at. Furthermore, this list is the same for every church in every culture, because every man who grows in Christ-likeness looks more and more like the qualities of this list."
Starting with 1 Timothy 3:1–7, each man to whom Jesus grants leadership has all the following qualities:
1.“aspires to the office of overseer”—one who is internally motivated by deep conviction to do all that Christ may ask of him in the care and feeding of Christians;
2.“is above reproach”—against whom no accusation of sin is justified, but is upright in every area of life;
3.“the husband of one wife”—a man who (if married) is not adulterous, is not flirtatious or sexually impure in any other way, but is completely given to his own wife;
4.“temperate”—one not given to excess in pleasures or habits;
5.“sober-minded”—a man who is not given to foolish or eccentric thinking;
6.“respectable”—a person who elicits trust from others by virtue of godliness and kindness;
7.“hospitable”—one who cares for others with his own resources, especially in the use of his home;
8.“able to teach”—one who directs others into Scripture, providing effective guidance and instruction;
9.“not a drunkard”—one who is not overcome by sensory pleasures such as alcohol;
10.“gentle”—a man who might be slandered and mistreated but will still serve with meekness and unfailing graciousness;
11.“not quarrelsome”—one who makes peace and maintains it by upholding biblical standards and comforting others;
12.“not a lover of money”—one who invests in God’s kingdom, is generous, and refuses to make money in any manner that dishonors the Lord;
13.“manages his own household well”—in humility and strength, he successfully leads all aspects of family life into conformity with the word of God;
14.“with all dignity keeping his children submissive”—whose younger children, if any, display the fruit of their father’s wise and godly hand in their attitudes and characters;
15.“not a recent convert”—one who has been tested by numerous trials and has displayed a stable faith in the midst of failure and success;
16.“well thought of by outsiders”—there are no just reasons even among unbelievers for why this man should not be a leader of the church.
Then from Titus 1:6–9, those not already covered in 1 Timothy 3 are:
1.“his children are believers”—in older children there is evident fruit of sovereign grace, the seal upon the man’s private and intimate conduct in the home;
2.“not be arrogant”—one who is not filled with himself in speech and actions, who prefers others above himself;
3.“not quick-tempered”—one who is not rude with people, or has a low boiling point when he is ignored or doesn’t get his way;
4.“a lover of good”—a man who prizes good works, who loves to see good come to pass, and shuns or reproves all things less than good;
5.“upright”—one whose dealings with all men are correct and true, who does not steal or malign, and who rejoices in integrity, even to his own hurt;
6.“holy”—one who shuns sin in every form, who will reprove it in others professing godliness, and who lives to worship Jesus Christ as his greatest joy and highest priority;
7.“disciplined”—conducts himself with godliness in every situation;
8.“holding fast the faithful word”—one who is knowledgeable of Scripture and is deep in conviction to its tenets, both doctrinally and ethically;
9.“able to exhort in sound doctrine”—one who can comfort the depressed and challenge the lax with a doctrinal approach to God and life;
10.“able to refute those who contradict”—can use Scripture to confront hardened error, and if need be, will follow every Scriptural command out to its full extent, such as in church discipline.
If only all churches today were led by such men! For when a man truly matches up with Christ’s qualifications, then he is worthy to be entrusted by the sheep with leadership over them. Scripture tells us several times to submit to such men (1 Thessalonians 5:12–13; 1 Peter 5:5; Hebrews 13:17). The elders have been granted the same kind of authority in a church as a godly father has in a home (1 Timothy 3:4–5).
http://www.thetitusmandate.org/archives/14
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)