Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Commentary - Week of May 11, 2008

Communicate  Deut. 6:4-9; 2 Sam. 14:23-24,28-33; Prov. 4:3-6

Ah, communication! The oil that lubes relationships with sustaining viscosity. With all the new technologies enabling instant and constant communication, we should be the most well-informed and connected society in history. But, alas, we are not. In the survey cited in our learner guide material for this week, a Lifeway study indicates that lack of communication rates in the top ten issues affecting families today (at number 7, ahead of media influences and materialism; read the article here). Why is communication critical for healthy relationships? How can we improve our communication skills?

Posted by Mike Stover at 11:52:04 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, May 05, 2008

Evangelism must begin beyond the sanctuary - New Study

A new study from Lifeway Research confirms what evangelistic pastors and churches have known all along - evangelism must begin beyond the sanctuary. Imagine that! In a culture that is unchurched and uncaring, and flatly denies absolute truth (verified in this study) we must get out of the church walls and take the gospel to the streets. There are some who think this archaic methodology belongs to the era of the Apostle Paul. And it does! It surely worked for him. And it will work for us as well.







Here is an excerpt from the study:

Stetzer continued, "For several decades we have focused on come and see, invest and invite, bring your friends to church by attracting them with a great program. We call that attractional ministry. Now we are facing the reality that fewer unchurched people are willing to visit a Christian church.

"This will compel us to embrace a go and tell – or incarnational – approach," he said. "Should we invite our friends to church? Sure. But should we be, do, and tell the Gospel to people in culture? You bet. It is not only biblical, but it is even more essential today as our culture grows increasingly resistant to the church."

Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research, said many churches use visitation effectively, "but all churches must learn to equip individuals to reach those who have never had contact with the church."

Perhaps this is the most telling factor of all:

The situation is compounded by the fact that more than half the 1,402 respondents in a 2007 study of unchurched adults said they never wonder whether they would go to heaven if they died, McConnell said.

"Our evangelistic efforts must acknowledge that we no longer live in a culture in which people are simply putting off coming to the church to find truth," McConnell explained. "Many people today either don’t believe truth exists or that the church is the place to find it."

Here is a great place to extoll the virtues of Vacation Bible School. VBS is the most evangelistic outreach event most churches conduct over the course of each year. Roughly one third of all baptisms in the SBC can be traced back to VBS. Evangelism training to prepare VBS workers to share the gospel, and effective follow-up after VBS to connect unchurched prospects with the Sunday School WORKS to bring people to Christ and His church. For more information about VBS go here: Outrigger Island - Living God's Unshakeable Truth.

For the entire study and links to associated media go here: Evangelism Must Go Beyond the Sanctuary
Posted by Mike Stover at 08:11:05 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Living God's Unshakeable Truth

VBS 2008 is almost here! This year's theme is simply outstanding - we go to 'Outrigger Island' (read Hawaii) for a great adventure learning about God's unshakeable truth - the Bible. Click here for more information about Lifeway's VBS 2008!



Today we had our VBS Workers' Commissioning Service in the AM service. Below is the message outline. Feel free to use it and get ready for summer outreach with VBS!! 


LIVING GOD'S UNSHAKEABLE TRUTH

I.   Imparting the Truth

"Teach me Your way, oh Lord..." God's way is absolute truth that can be depended on in every generation. It is unchanging.

A.     Wave 1: God is Real 

Moses’ Call and Exodus to the Red Sea (Exodus 3; 13:17-14:31)

Life Truth: I know God is real. I can believe there is no other God.

B.     Wave 2: Jesus is God's Son

Jesus’ birth/Simeon/12 years old (Luke 2:1-20, 25-35, 41-52)

Life Truth: I know Jesus is God’s Son. I can celebrate who He is.

C.    Wave 3: Jesus is the Only Way

Jesus’ death/burial/resurrection (Mark 15:21-16:7)

Life Truth: I know that Jesus is the only way. I can confess Him as my Savior

D.    Wave 4: The Bible is God's Word

Jeremiah and Baruch (Jeremiah 36)

Life Truth: I know the Bible is God’s Word. I can explore its truth.

E.     Wave 5: My Actions Show What I Believe

The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

Life Truth: I know my actions show what I believe. I can stand for truth.


II.   Imitating the Truth

A.     Knowledge & Obedience Bring Change

B.     "I will walk in Your truth"


III.   Importance of the Truth

A.     A single, focused mindset on honoring and serving God.

B.     Why should we affirm and imitate absolute truth? I answers the questions:

1.      How should I live?

2.      How can I live?

3.      Why should I live?


Posted by Mike Stover at 14:03:43 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Saturday, April 26, 2008

My First Wild Turkey

Well, it has been a bit in coming, but I killed my first wild turkey on Thursday. A friend from our church and I were on some of his property in Camden (Benton Co.) West Tennessee. It was a jake (juvenile) weighing in at about 15 pounds. I am mounting the tail. Now if we can only get Andrew his first before the season ends for this spring.....


Posted by Mike Stover at 16:06:16 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Commentary - Week of April 27, 2008

EXPLORING HUMILITY     Genesis 32:1-33:20

Consider whether you more often reflect biblical humility or personal pride. If we are all honest, our answer will more than likely make us uncomfortable. Someone has suggested that if humility were a living organism, it would likely appear on the endangered species list. Often people vie for the top spot, the center of attention, or the seat of honor. Criminals violate others' rights and then clamor for fair treatment when arrested. One driver cuts another driver off in traffic thinking he deserves to be ahead of the other person. Selfish pride too often characterizes how we live. If unchecked, that pride will define who we are.

As God's people, we have to decide whether we will live in selfish pride or humble submission. Our biblical model for this week's lesson is Jacob, a man who learned the value of true humility. As Jacob returned from a 20-year sojourn in Haran, he dreaded the inevitable encounter with his twin brother Esau, whose blessing he had taken. By studying Jacob's humility, we can observe the benefits of jettisoning personal pride and humbling ourselves.

Posted by Mike Stover at 13:32:17 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The Joy of Two Little Boys

While I have been trying to squeeze in some spring turkey hunting between everything else, it has become a great time for fishing. Yesterday while I was away doing VBS training conferences, Becky and our neighbor took our little boys, Adrian (age 4) and Aaron (age 3) on their first fishing trip. The small lake belongs to some friends.


This is Adrian (age 4) holding up his 3rd (out of 8 total) fish. It was the largest.



This was Aaron's (age 3) first fish ever caught. He caught a total of 3.

What a joy to introduce our little ones to the outdoors. My older two sons (Andrew - age 13, Anthony - age 11) already like to fish and Andrew and I hunt turkey and deer together. Take some time and take your children to the great outdoors and let them learn to explore and appreciate God's good earth!

Take Me Fishing web site

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Kids' Page




Posted by Mike Stover at 09:19:20 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Friday, April 18, 2008

Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Commentary - Week of April 20, 2008

Exploring Perseverance    Genesis 26:1-22

Ah, life’s challenges. How boring our lives would be without them! However, maybe you think, as I sometimes do, that life would be a bit better without so many of them. The challenges our family are facing are many and varied. I received an e-mail just today from a good friend undergoing a biopsy, fearing cancer. More friends just endured a serious bout with meningitis, and now the departure of a family member to Iraq. Someone once defined perseverance as “hanging tough until the end”. How can we hang tough through adverse circumstances and opposition?

Posted by Mike Stover at 12:09:34 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Friday, April 04, 2008

Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Commentary - Week of April 6, 2008

Moving Out of Your Comfort Zone Genesis 12:1-13:18

How would you respond if God lead you to make some unexpected change in your life? For many, this thought brings fear, doubt, and anxiety. Life-altering events that force change upon us are rarely welcome and are one of the biggest sources of stress. The greater the change, the harder it is to cope.

Posted by Mike Stover at 12:14:52 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Marriage for the Glory of God?

I thought marriage was all about me (or us)! In a great article posted today on his blog, Dr. Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, addresses the topic of marriage from what might seem to some a new viewpoint. The glory of God. I had not given this concept much thought myself lately, and so I was very challenged by his article. Read it and be challenged as well.
Posted by Mike Stover at 12:43:16 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

The Truth Concerning Islam

Well-known Internet evangelist Bill Keller says he's receiving death threats from Muslims after placing a controversial film on his website.

Islamic crescent symbol smallBill Keller is founder of LivePrayer.com, a website that offers prayer for people worldwide and also features news and topics from a Christian perspective. Last week, Keller placed the 16-minute movie Fitna on his website. The film, produced by a Dutch politician, takes a realistic look at Islam and the Koran, says Keller. Immediately after posting the film, Keller says he began receiving death threats from Muslims.

Keller says Christians in America must understand that Islam is not a peaceful religion. "This myth of good Muslim versus bad Muslim, moderate Muslim versus radical Muslim is just that -- it's a myth," he says, "because the bottom line is, they're all reading the same book, they're all following the same teaching. And the biggest problem we've got now is the apathy, especially in this nation, of the real threat that Islam is."

View this controverisal video here.

Many in the United States and around the world believe the lie above - that Islam is a peaceful religion that a radical few have perverted for their own causes. Sadly, this is not true. Islam is a religion of war and bloodshed, and is, indeed, a false religion that turns people away from Jesus Christ. In fact, Scripture fortells that in the last days many will follow strange religions: "For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (HCSB).

The objective of Islam is World Domination. In his article entitled "The Quiet Revolution: Islam's Search for World Dominance", William Wagner points out the insidious strategy of radical Islam:
  1. University students. One group they specialize in is foreign students going to school in the United States. They see them as being future leaders in their countries of origin and since many daai's are also foreign students it gives them a natural bridge for contacts. An important part of their strategy is to work with the foreign students studying in America. They send students here to study and also as act as missionaries to their fellow foreign students. They have had much success. Another strategy is to build large expensive buildings for a University’s department of religion. Once the building is finished they retain control of the program by insisting that the head of the department be a Muslim.
  2. Prisoners. They have an active Da'wah work in many prisons in America. It has been estimated that they win about 30,000 prisoners every year to Islam. Often those they win are the more aggressive types thus they are easy recruits in the future for Islamic terrorist organizations. In a recent book written about this entitled Islam in the Big House by Stephen Schwartz, the author states that there is a real danger that our prisons in America are becoming training centers for Wahhabi extremism.
  3. American Indians. Islam feels that the Native American religions have much in common with Islam. They even claim that many early Indians converted to Islam via slaves that came to the United States. In Gallup, New Mexico, the so-called Indian Capital of America you will find a large new Mosque on the main street. One of their main training centers for the West is located in the Indian populated area of Northern New Mexico. Their Mosque and training center is in Abiquiu, New Mexico.
  4. Hispanics. Not only in the U.S.A. are they active but also in Central and South America. Since Spain at one time was Muslim they feel that this could convince many Hispanics that their natural religion is really Islam. In a recent article it was estimated that between 40,000 and 70,000 illegal Latin Americans had converted to Islam in the USA. Again they are having success with this group.
  5. Public schools. Muslim speakers bureaus offering to come and give free cross-cultural lessons to their students have contacted most schools in America. They claim that all students need to know more about other cultures. In California they have been successful in that many schools have invited Muslim teachers to come to the school and teach the basics of Islam. In some cases young people take Muslim names put on Muslim clothing and practice some Muslim religious procedures such as prayers, Ramadan and the pilgrimage. In a textbook used in the California schools dealing with world history for seventh graders, there were 74 pages dedicated to Islam and only two pages for Christianity and most of this was for the Roman Catholic Church. Their infiltration into the schools is not accidental but a well-planned strategy. Of course it would be forbidden for Christians to do the same.
Do not be fooled into thinking that Islam is peaceful and will eventually go away. Arm yourself with the truth. The North American Mission Board (SBC)'s web site www.4truth.net is an excellent place for resources. Here is the link for resources concerning Islam. The International Mission Board (SBC) also has a web site dealing with sharing Christ with Muslims that provides some great stories and resources. It is called Beyond the Wall: Sharing the Love of God with Muslims. Go here on their site for more information about Islam.
Posted by Mike Stover at 12:21:22 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |