Kingdom - We the Church will Rise!

http://www.frameworkproductions.com/

FOX Rejects “John 3:16” Super Bowl Ad

FOX Rejects “John 3:16” Super Bowl Ad

As FOX Network puts the finishing touches on its advertisement lineup for the February 6th Super Bowl — arguably as popular a part of the evening as the game itself — one thing is certain: just about any thing will be permissible in the way of sex, sleaze, and crude humor. Apparently, however, one type of ad will not be permitted: those promoting positive values and faith in God.
Following last year’s media furor over a Focus on the Family-sponsored pro-life spot during the Super Bowl featuring Christian football phenomenon Tim Tebow (left) and his mother, FOX has put the kibosh on wholesome advocacy ads with the potential of offending any viewer with an opposing viewpoint.

Specifically, the network has rejected a 30-second spot from the Christian apologetics group Fixed Point Foundation advertising its website, lookup316.com. The goal of the site, as its main page communicates, is to offer a “message of hope” base on the well-known New Testament scripture John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The ad itself features a group of men and women viewing a televised football game in a living room. As the crowd cheers a play on the field, the camera focuses in on a player with the Scripture reference “John 3:16” written over the black under his eyes. When one of the group asks his buddy what the phrase means, someone reaches for a cell phone and says, “I’ll look it up,” as the ad fades to the website Lookup3:16.com, and the phrase, “A Message of Hope.”

Larry Taunton, executive director of Fixed Point, explained his group’s reasoning in producing the ad for the big game. “If I had 30 seconds to say anything I wanted to an audience of millions, what would I say?” He wrote on the organization’s site. “I put this question to my friends. As we considered the question thoughtfully, we concluded that we would want to deliver a message of hope.”

Taunton emphasized that the spot “advertises no products, asks for no money, promotes no political platform and doesn’t even mention the sponsoring organization. It has a simple, yet direct message: Hope . . . ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.’”

But after Fixed Point had worked for months to shoot the spot and raise the millions needed to air it, FOX pulled the plug, explaining in a prepared statement: “As a matter of company policy, Fox Broadcasting Company does not accept advertising from religious organizations for the purpose of advancing particular beliefs or practices. The Fixed Point Foundation was provided with our guidelines prior to their submission of storyboards for our review. Upon examination, the advertising submitted clearly delivers a religious message and as a result has been rejected.”

Taunton commented on FOX’s decision, noting that “it seems one can advertise just about anything else. Few movie trailers are deemed too violent or beer commercials too sexual for primetime. But religious messages, particularly Christian ones, well, that’s just too controversial.”

While the Alabama-based group won’t be able to air the ad nationally, it is planning to run it locally on Birmingham’s Alabama’s FOX affiliate, during the time the network reserves for local advertising. “We believe that Super Bowl XLV is an opportunity to encourage football fans to look up John 3:16,” Fixed Point said on its website. “After all, John 3:16 is part of the culture of football,” referring to the number of football players, such as Tim Tebow, who have taken to wearing the scripture reference on their eye black, as well as the longtime tradition of fans in the seats holding large signs bearing the phrase “John 3:16.”

Said Taunton, “We want to generate a conversation about what this verse means and does it offer authentic hope — which I think it does.”

Source: http://thenewamerican.com/index.php/culture/family/6166-fox-rejects-john-316-super-bowl-ad

A Proper Use of Marijuana? By Professor Hanko

A Proper Use of Marijuana?
Question: "I have heard Paul’s statement that ‘every creature of God is good’ when it is ‘received with thanksgiving’ and ‘sanctified by the word and prayer’ used to justify the use of cannabis/marijuana. Is that a legitimate argument or a stretch of this principle?"
This question is prompted by an article in the last News where I discussed the proper use of alcoholic beverages. I made the point that wine and other alcoholic beverages are gifts of God to be received with thanksgiving and sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (I Tim. 4:3-5). The reader now asks concerning marijuana: Does this principle hold true of marijuana also? Is there some way in which it can be put to a good use?
We are getting into an area here where it is not so easy to find one’s way. It seems to me that it is possible for things to be manufactured from things present in God’s world in today’s technologically advanced age that are used only for purposes of sin. I do not mean that these manufactured items are used for sin while they may also have a good purpose. An example of such a thing would be a computer, which, though used for vicious sins, can be and is used for God-honouring purposes. But I mean something manufactured which can be used only for sin. No good purpose can be found for it.
An example of something that can be used only to sin is the so-called "morning-after pill." So far as I know, this pill has no good purpose. It is manufactured for one purpose only, and that is to abort an unborn baby. That is clearly abortion and the murder of a person.
In the field of medicine, there may be certain "mind-altering" drugs, the sole purpose of these being to do things to the mind that are neither natural nor helpful, but can be used only for evil purposes. An example of this may be methadone. I know of no good purpose this drug serves; its use is and can be only to create a state of euphoria. That use is sinful.
Whether marijuana can be used only for evil purposes is another question. I am by no means an authority on the use of drugs, but I have read that marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes and can serve a good function in restoring to health.
The same may be true for heroin. I understand that some narcotics, such as morphine, can be manufactured from heroin; these help in the control of pain. I am quite sure this is true and that God gives us these gifts to help endure severe pain. There is no sin in that, and we may very well give thanks to God for such a gift.
However, as everyone knows, marijuana and heroin can be used (and usually are) for devilishly wrong reasons as well.
There is another remark that is worth making here. We live in an age when many, if not most, people live on pills. And doctors find pills for every ailment, every pain, every mental problem, every quirk of health, every sorrow or disappointment, every inability to sleep, etc. I find this extremely dangerous. The danger is underscored by several pages of possible "side effects" that could result from the particular drug being prescribed.
The evil of this is that people think this life ought to be a life of unrelieved happiness in which each person has exactly what he or she wants. They view their life in the world as one in which they deserve the very best; and when they cannot have what they consider the very best, they take refuge in pills to escape the difficulties of life. Their skies ought always to be blue and only breezes that cool and refresh ought to blow on them. They think it their just lot in life to walk a pathway along gurgling brooks, through grassy and flower-strewn meadows where they can skip and jump happily as they make their way in the world.
But life is not like that, for we live in a world of sin and death over which hangs the dark clouds of the judgment of a furious God who looks in scarcely controlled wrath upon the wickedness of men. The escape from this judgment of God, say some, lies in—of all things—pills. Take the right pills; take enough of them; take them regularly. In that way, all the agony of God’s fury against sin can be avoided; and perhaps, as some science fiction writers have portrayed it, man can live his life in perpetual bliss without a twinge of suffering—when the right pill is found.
To paraphrase Psalm 20:7: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, and others in pills ..." Every little twinge must be assuaged; every disappointment requires some medication to cope with it; every unpleasant experience must be averted or medicinally eased. I fear that sometimes God’s people fall into the same pattern of thinking. Side effects are risky, but tolerable in our mad pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of suffering. Asa, after all, though a God-fearing king in Judah, was chastened because he trusted in physicians and not in Jehovah (II Chron. 16:12).
I am not saying—and do not want to be interpreted as saying—that a Christian may take no medication, but must bear the afflictions of life as his just lot for his sins. He may (and must) seek such help as is possible from doctors. But doctors, for the most part, cannot be trusted to look at things as a Christian looks at them. The believer knows that the sufferings of this present time are sent by God to mould and shape him spiritually for his place in glory. And so, if medical assistance is available that will alleviate his suffering, he must make use of these things. And he must receive them with thanksgiving and sanctify them by the Word of God and prayer.
That is, he must receive them as gifts of God, not to escape what God is pleased to send, but to enable him to continue to perform the duties that arise from his responsibilities in his home, in the church and in the world in which he lives.
Of course, if the civil government forbids the use of marijuana, we are to obey the government (Rom. 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13-17) and not use it even for medicinal purposes. Prof. Hanko

http://www.disciplelikejesus.com/blog/ Top Ten Ways Single Parents Can Disciple like Jesus

Top Ten Ways Single Parents Can Disciple like Jesus

Justification by Faith in 17th Century English Puritanism. By Mike Milton

http://mikemilton.org/2010/11/17/justification-by-faith-in-17th-century-english-puritanism/

The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church

The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church. By Dr. Rod Rosenbladt

Some Criteria for Evaluating Preachers and Preaching

Some Criteria for Evaluating Preachers and Preaching
Having recently been on a pastoral search committee for many months it helped solidify some important qualities to look for in a pastoral candidate. My hope is that this might be useful to other pastoral search committees in local churches.
First what are some of the characteristics we should look for in a candidates’ sermon?

• Authoritative – this “text” is binding upon believers and not to be demeaned.
• Logical – the train of thought is followed easily and well structured.
• He preaches BOTH the indicatives and the imperatives. The NT uses indicative statements when discussing the certainties of what God has done, is doing or will do for us. Imperative statements (on the other hand) are commands declaring from God what we should do. What God commands us to do (the imperative) as Christians is always based upon what He has done, is doing or will do for us in Christ (the indicatives). For example, the first three chapters of Ephesians are indicatives, declaring the foundational grace we have in Christ, while the following chapters, which say “therefore …” (live this way), are imperatives. Selecting a preacher who understands this should be a number one priority because this is the clearest indicator of whether he is preaching a full-orbed gospel, avoiding both legalism and antinomianism. What God has done for us in regeneration & justification results in preaching faith and obedience, because it is God working in us that makes this a reality.
• Exegetical accuracy (including Christocentricity). In his sermons, does he demonstrate the significance of every text in the light of Christ and his cross? Does he demonstrate the centrality of Christ in both Testaments and in all different genres of the Holy Scriptures?
• Doctrinal substance: Fear of man plays no role in how he preaches the text. If a Text speaks of an unpopular doctrine, he does not avoid it simply in order to maintain peace. It is the preacher’s job to communicate the fullness of God’s message.
• In the pulpit doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about self – for the most part, leaves “me” of the message – He points to Jesus Christ. Although an occasional testimony to the power of God's grace in his life, tasteful confession of personal struggles, etc., if it does not detract from the message of the gospel, may be appropriate.
• Pointed application – What is the message about, and what is the listener to learn and remember for the day/weeks ahead?

Follow up questions after the sermon has been preached:

1) Did the sermon comfort the distressed? and
2) Did it distress the comfortable?

God has made provision and He is relentless in reminding us that “our relationship with Him lasts because He chooses us, not because of our devotion and/or obedience. If we only do the former(#1) we’ll comfort the self-righteous; if we only do the latter (#2), we’ll lose our audience without Christ.
Leadership Ability
It is key to find leaders who are passionate about their calling, who, as the apostle Paul says, are in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in the people he shepherds. So they must be relational and have a big heart for saints and skeptics alike. But the Bible specifically characterizes leaders as:

1)Those who take initiative [there is a problem and here is how to solve it] (Nehemiah 1:4-7; 2:6-8, 17-18; all of ch 3; Acts 27:9-10; Proverbs 16:9). Motivating people not through manipulation, force, hype or theatrics but communication courage and strength in ways people can understand and explaining how a goal is attainable and leading us there. Not a passive leader (good leaders never are) but one who leads and who is not afraid to get his hands dirty alongside his people. And people will follow his lead even against ridicule, discouragement, deceit and opposition (Nehemiah 4-6). Someone who knows how to overcome obstacles, organizes, and motivates followers. This is an essential quality of ANY effective leadership.
2) Who have good judgment. Not a risk taker who will wager with his people’s souls. Someone who will not subject his people to unnecessary hazards (doctrinal and otherwise). The fastest way to lose credibility as a leader is to make a foolish decision that leads people down a blind alley. Many young persons in ministry make ill-considered decisions - leading without knowing where they are going. They do not count the cost and are not sensitive to God's leading. A leader will assess the risk and plan for contingencies.
3) Who are courageous (Psalm 93:4, Acts 27:22; Philippians 1:21) In Numbers 13:1-3, 25-30 the majority were intimidated by the situation. But godly leaders chose to believe God for the resources to overcome all obstacles to success.
4) Exhibits humble gentleness and genuine compassion with the sick, hurting, and despairing.
5) Who speak with authority. This kind of authority of course is not born of self-confidence but relies on the certainty of God's promises. God cannot deny himself and a leader speaks definitively and with certainty. Of course this means he must know and trust the God of the Scriptures and believe with unshakable conviction that God's word is true and be able to communicate his own convictions with confidence and conviction. Unless you have this firm trust that conveys strength you cannot speak clearly or with authority (2 Corinthians 1:20; 2:14). Verbally you will not project certainty or courage and, in this case, will find it difficult to lead people.  A biblical leader speaks with absolute confidence because he derives his authority from God's word. This does not mean he has to speak with authority on every subject, but on subjects the Scripture clearly views as important. The word of God is not merely an opinion but is authoritative.

6) Who strengthens others (Acts 27:25) He gives them a reason to hope in the future, hope in something bigger than themselves (The One True God) even when it may appear that there is no hope. He does not avoid hard, unpopular truths if the Text he is preaching from declares it.
7) A leader takes charge. This kind of leadership is tested and proved in crisis, who can handle stress, solve problems, bear burdens and find a solution when everyone else is confounded. This is not conferred by title or rank but through influence.  He never, therefore compromises absolutes. Compromise may be good in handling relationships but not principles. In morals and principles in the word of God it is never right to compromise. One who does not take charge may take the pragmatic way out, which may come out of cultural necessity, but a good leader is not afraid to make hard decisions that may seem impractical to the average person.  Many people are timid and fearful of hard circumstance but biblical leaders are not. A real leader knows the difference between that which is negotiable and that which is non-negotiable because he lives from the word of God. This means the leader will draw everyone focus on the objectives, not the obstacles.
8) Who earns people's trust. When you observe the candidate’s interaction with people individually and in groups, does he easily connect and earn their trust.
9)The pastor's personal life, of course, has an exemplary moral deportment and reputation (along the lines of 1 Tim. 3).
10) A keen ethical sense and ability to give practical counsel in difficult situations.
11) Reading/study habits -- does he read a variety of authors with differing but essentially gospel-based viewpoints, from a variety of time periods, with discernment and not blind allegiance?
12) exegetical helps -- does he make use of technical exegetical study helps? Is he sufficiently capable in the original languages to put exegetical commentaries, theological dictionaries, and so on to good use?

Note: no human pastor will be perfect in all of these areas, but a qualified pastor will demonstrate growth and basic abilities in all of them, even granting occasional failures and imperfections. Hope you find this list helpful.

J.W. Hendryx

Source: http://www.monergism.com/criteriapreacher.html