vassal of the King

  4 LIFE-SAVING SAFE-GUARDS FOR YOU TO WIN THE BATTLE FOR PURITY  Geoffrey R. Kirkland Pastor, Christ Fellowship Bible Church AWARE! You will not win the battle you find yourself unprepared for. And you surely will not prepare for battle if you stand aware that you’re in war! All Christians — and Christian men! — are in war. It is the war for sexual purity and the war for glorifying Christ and honoring Him with our sexuality. We live in a hyper-sexualized culture where intoxication with selfish sex in all of its forms bombards us, tempts us, lures us, and surrounds us. Christians must realize that you   are   in battle — for the glory of Christ, for the magnification of His fame. You must be aware that your enemy, Satan and his minions, wisely aims and hand-crafts temptations and fiery darts at the chinks in your armor. Be aware! You are, right now at this moment, in battle.  PREPARE!  So then, knowing that you are in battle is a necessary and vital first step. But you must prepare! I

  Romans 1:1 and 1:5 - the direction of the minister’s work  ROMANS 1.1 and 1.5 -- 1.1 — Παῦλος δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, κλητὸς ἀπόστολος ἀφωρισμένος   εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ,  1.5 —  δι᾿ οὗ ἐλάβομεν χάριν καὶ ἀποστολὴν   εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως   ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ. [Author's translation:  Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart unto the gospel of God , ...  (1.5) through whom we have received grace and apostleship leading unto the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.]     The preposition  εἰς (into)   has the notion of moving   into a certain direction .  It can have the indication of movin g   away from one thing and moving towards something else.  As a minister of the gospel, I learn from Paul in 2 areas in these opening verses from Romans.   Paul described himself as a slave of Christ, sovereignly called/summoned as an apostle, and then   set apart   unto  the gospel of God. This describes a whole new direct

 THE PARENT'S ROLE IN SPANKING Geoffrey R. Kirkland Proverbs 25:15 states that a soft answer breaks the bone.  Proverbs 15:1 affirms that a gentle answer turns away wrath. Proverbs 23:26 is the heart of every parent to the child as it says: “Give me your heart my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways.”   These verses provide much-needed guidance for parents who must obey the Lord and discipline wayward children. Knowing that parents must spank but also knowing and learning how to to spank appropriately and with gospel-grace, parents have an important part as well in this discipline process.  Parents cannot be given to anger because the one who is quick-tempered exalts folly (Proverbs 14:29). Parents must discipline with a calm demeanor. Parents cannot go into the room to discipline the child while seething with rage or furious because of something that happened. It may behoove the parent to take a few minutes quietly to repent of his own selfish and sinful response, to confess

THE WHAT & WHY OF SPANKING Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church  Picture it: a mom or a dad is with the small child in that room, rod in hand, child on the lap, and discipline must occur because the child has sinned against God. What should the parent do, then? What is to be said? What is to be done? Perhaps the parent thinks: “I’ve never seen this done before” or “no one taught me how to do this.” This essay provides a handful of helpful tips for parents to consider as a template for the biblical process of discipline. 1. Gather the facts. Ask the child: “what happened?” In this beginning step, you as the parent seek to hear the child portray what happened (if the child is old enough to do so). Seek to hear him describe the situation. 2. Reach the heart. Since the goal of discipline is not merely behavioral management but seeking to get at the heart, parents should ask: “how did you respond?” “When ___ happened, why did you do that?” “When he said that, why did you

 THE WHY OF SPANKING Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church The question inevitably comes up from parents who love their children and wonder how spanking can be helpful and beneficial for the children.  Why would a loving parent inflict pain to the children?  Won’t this hurt and harm them?  Won’t they become abusive when they grow older or view spanking as abuse that they have received?  What if someone had a very bad experience growing up with spanking from angry parents who angrily disciplined?  Many questions such as these often arise.   At this point, I must clearly affirm the reality that God’s Word must remain the authority for Godly fathers and mothers.  Past experiences, however good or bad they may have been, cannot sway how we view or interpret God’s Word or whether we choose to obey what God calls us to. Our own feelings in the moment of what we think is or is not best for our children should be subservient to the clear and authoritative Word of God on every iss

 THE WHEN OF SPANKING  Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church THE WHEN OF SPANKING Parents should spank the children when sin has occurred .  Biblical discipline must come at the right time. When a parent spanks his child out of anger or because the parent views his rights violated, the child will be exasperated, become hardened, and he will be unsure in the future as to whether or not he’ll be disciplined for this or that action. Proverbs 22:15 speaks of foolishness that is bound up in the heart of the child. This Hebrew word for “foolishness” carries the idea of ‘moral perversion’ and ‘lack of fear of God.’  Parents must understand the importance of spanking and undertake the diligence in using the rod when the child has sinned. It is wise for parents to refrain from spanking the child for childishness.  If a child acts in a childish way that is not sinful, that action does not deserve a spanking (e.g., spilling the milk, performing a chore in a wrong manner). If, howeve

 SPANKING, part 2 THE IMPORTANCE OF SPANKING  Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church  2.  THE IMPORTANCE OF SPANKING One clearly understands even in a cursory survey of Proverbs that utilizing the rod to reprove and discipline children is necessary. No one can deny that spanking is biblical. It is the ordained method that God has given for the discipline and instruction of wayward children.  Proverbs 22:15 says that the rod of discipline removes folly from the child’s heart.  Parents must strike their children with the rod and must understand that it will not kill the child, but it will help them (Proverbs 23:13). Implementing the rod when children disobey is a “rescue” mission to save their souls from death (Proverbs 23:14). Both the rod and reproof give wisdom to sinning children (Proverbs 29:15). One who does not use the rod but insists that the child will “figure it out” or the parent who allows the child to get his or her own way is a shameful way of parenting (Prover

SPANKING Geoffrey R. Kirkland CHRIST FELLOWSHIP BIBLE CHURCH INTRODUCTION Prov. 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;  The rod of discipline will remove it far from him. Prov. 23:13-14  Do not hold back discipline from the child,  Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.  You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol. Prov. 13:24 He who withholds his rod hates his son,  But he who loves him disciplines him diligently. God commands parents to obey Him in the training and disciplining of young children. The Scriptures provide the reliable and understandable guide for parents to deal with the sin of little boys and girls. Contrary to the thinking of secularists today, and even many in the church, spanking does not hurt, harm, or abuse a child, when the parents execute it biblically, humbly, consistently, and lovingly. Spanking does not harm or destroy children. It does not set them up for a life of abuse or self-harm. Rather, God declares

PARENTING AND DISCIPLINE HELP: your kid slanders someone else. Geoffrey R. Kirkland     The Scenario.  You have a child who has slandered one of his siblings to a friend. Consequently, the friends no longer want to hang out with this individual (for a particular activity on a particular day) because one of your children slandered one of his siblings.  You get words of it from another one of your children.  What do you do?  How do you respond?     The Counsel to the Parent  Maybe this has never happened to you, but it did happen in our family. This makes for a golden biblical counseling opportunity that opens the door fully for gospel proclamation.  Of course, the easy (and lazy!) path to take would be to sharply chastise the kid and say: “Don’t do that again!” Or worse, you could choose to do nothing about it (until, of course, he does it again).  What do you do?  When I got word that one of my children slandered a sibling to another friend and thus that friend no longer wanted to spen

WHY DO YOU REQUIRE A "NEW MEMBER INTERVIEW?" Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church    Why new member interviews? Question:  When people want to join your church, why do you require a new member “interview”?   Answer:  We do so for the following six reasons:  It allows church elders to sit with the individual and cultivate continued interpersonal communication so as to get to know them better.  It allows the elders to ask 3 primary questions:  TESTIMONY:  please articulate your salvation-testimony.  GOSPEL:  please articulate the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. SERVICE:  where and how do you plan to serve and plug in at this local church? It helps us as elders to know if they need clarification on a point of the gospel as they articulate it (so we can help them, give them a resource for further study).  It allows us as elders to reassure the individual that we shepherd-elders want to care for all the flock of God that the Lord entrusts to our care.  It provides a

  PARENTING & DISCIPLINE HE LPS: practical scenarios  Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church  In this post, I will post a hypothetical scenario about a child that disobeys his parents in a certain way. Then, I will share some counsel as to what the parent can do in that moment to discipline with firm consistency and with gospel-grace. The Scenario   My 3 year old did not stay in their room as I told them to do.  Let’s say you have a young child and you have put them in their bed with the clear command: Do not come out. Maybe it is a quiet laying down rest time for a part of the afternoon or it could be that you lay them down for sleep at night. Either way: you have given the command to the child to stay in the bed and not to come out. And so you leave and you begin your tasks until a short bit of time passes by and you hear, “Mom…” or “Dad…” and then they proceed to share that they want water. But a bit later on, their bedroom door opens and they come walking out after

 Why I believe part of fulfilling my role as a pastor is to do the work of an evangelist. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church God instructs all ministers of the gospel to preach the Word and part of fulfilling this calling is to ‘do the work of an evangelist’ [ἔργον ποίησον εὐαγγελιστοῦ] (2 Tim 4.5). Every shepherd preaches the gospel because apart from the gospel of God revealed in Christ and His substitutionary work through the enlightening work of the Spirit he has nothing whatsoever to say. He must proclaim Christ and Him crucified. Regardless of what people want and what the itching hears long for the faithful minister has but one glorious message of salvation that all men must hear if they are to be saved. He preaches both in season and out of season. So, part of the work of the shepherd-pastor is to do the work of an evangelist. Here are some reasons I’ve compiled as to why I commit to doing the work of an evangelist. 1. Because I believe the Bible. The Bible cle

 Does Street Preaching Work? Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church I often find myself on the street open air preaching the gospel when someone (usually, a professing Christian) will approach me and tell me that I’m doing ‘it’ the wrong way. Then, the usual follow up question that people often ask is: “what kind of results have you seen from this?” Every open air preacher can relate to this fairly typical and common conversation. Does street preaching work? To answer that question, one must ask a more basic and fundamental question, “does preaching work?” If the answer to that question is in the affirmative, then one must also believe that street preaching works. The very fact that many defy street preaching as a valid method of evangelism underscores the man-centered, self-exalting, arminian, and shallow distrust of the Word that exists in our day. In so far as the man standing in the open air lifts up His voice for the glory of Christ and with His Bible in hand proclaim