Thursday, March 8, 2012

Quotes from Alex Montoya's Seminar on Preaching with Passion

Here are some quotes from Montoya's seminar at the Shepherd's Conference yesterday on PREACHING WITH PASSION: (sorry for the misspellings — I was typing quickly as he spoke.)

Preaching is not an end in of itself; preaching is the declaration of God’s Word to mankind that man might repent of his sin & come to saving faith.

Preaching is the finest way that we can present every man complete in Christ.

“For us to preach or teach a boring sermon is a great sin.”

“We are entrusted with the oracles of God --- it is an exciting book.”

“Normally when people don’t like your preaching they don’t write you poems, they send white powder in little envelopes.”

“Preach God’s WOrd effectively; preach it in such a way that what you say is important but how you say it is important.”

“Preach the Word of God that it comes across with great passion, with great energy, with great fire.”

“Witohut passion, the sermon becomes a lecture or a moral speech.”

A dull minister creates a dull audience. A dull preacher is a contradiction in terms.

“Come to God as a clean preacher and not an unclean preacher.”

You may be a cracked vase, but may you be the cleanest vase in the cabinet.

Preaching with passion comes from one who has communion with God.

“Spiritual power comes when you know God has called & commissioned you.”

Preach a text that keeps you awake Saturday night. It keeps you awake & you can’t sleep.

“If you love your people you cannot ever preach a bad sermon.”

“Don’t be so deep and in a deep well that there’s nothing down there but an old shoe & a dead cat.”

What we need today is preachers in pulpits who preach with authority. Not giving suggestions, opinions, not making some remark, but every time you declare God’s Word say “Thus says the LORD.”

We’re killing our church b/c our preachers can’t preach, they don’t bother to think and improve at preaching.

Preaching is delivering truth with deep urgency.

Preachers must become gospel maniacs; and we must be captivated and recaptivated by Christ.

Always think of Judgement. Think of the judgment of sin. Sin is the enemy of God and of the soul. It is a ruthless enemy. And it needs to be assaulted by preachers.

“Preach towards a verdict. Call men to a verdict. You must do something about this message. We must persuade men.”

If you preach apathetic sermons then you’ll preach with no effect.

“If you don’t preach expecting change then people won’t change.”

“Take your life and pour the truth on you and when you preach preach with great passion and fire to the glory of God.”

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Coffee with the Pastor

On Sunday evenings after our worship service, you are most welcome to drop by our home for a time of coffee, fellowship, & discussion about Christ Fellowship Bible Church.

If there are any questions you have about CFBC feel free to bring them. We would also love to hear your testimony, how you heard about CFBC, and what God is doing in your life.

For more info, contact us through the CFBC website.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

LIVE-STREAM the Shepherd's Conference

This upcoming week the SHEPHERD'S CONFERENCE will be live-streamed so you can watch the general sessions online. Here is the schedule (all times are PST).


March 7-9, 2012.  Click HERE for the Live-Stream link.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012




8:00 amRegistration
10:00 amGeneral Session 1 - John MacArthur
11:30 amLunch*
1:30 pmSeminar Session 1 Details
2:45 pmBreak
3:15 pmGeneral Session 2 - Tom Pennington
4:30 pmDinner Break
7:00 pmGeneral Session 3 - John MacArthur

Thursday, March 8, 2012

9:00 amGeneral Session 4 - Voddie Baucham
10:15 amBreak
10:45 amGeneral Session 5 - John MacArthur Q&A
NoonLunch*
2:00 pmSeminar Session 2 Details
3:15 pmBreak
3:45 pmSeminar Session 3 Details
5:00 pmDinner Break
7:00 pmGeneral Session 6 - Al Mohler

Friday, March 9, 2012

9:00 amGeneral Session 7 - Phil Johnson
10:15 amBreak
10:45 amSeminar Session 4 Details
NoonLunch*
2:00 pmGeneral Session 8 - Steve Lawson
4:00 pmDinner Break
7:00 pmGeneral Session 9 - John MacArthur

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Collapse of Commitment — Church Membership & the Reluctance to Commit

Tim Witmer has a great comment in this regard in his book on The Shepherd Leader:

People are showing increasing reluctance to identify themselves with a particular flock, to make the commitment of church membership vows, and to submit to the authority of shepherd-elders inherent in those commitments. Even within the church, however, Christ's sheep are transgressing the bounds of safety and security established in His Word. Church leaders, on the other hand, are showing unwillingness not only to embrace the standards of the Chief Shepherd and his Word but reluctance to courageously seek those who have strayed for the glory of God and the health of his flock. The danger of the age in which we live is the collapse of commitment: to the Lord, to his standards, and to the authorities he has established.

Friday, February 24, 2012

JUSTIFICATION by faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone.

Martin Luther once remarked concerning the doctrine of justification:

a Christian is righteous and holy by an alien and foreign holiness --- this mercy and grace is not something human; it is not some sort of disposition of the heart; but it is a divine blessing, given through the true knowledge of the GOspel, when we know or believe that our sin has been forgiven through the grace and merit of Christ … is not this righteousness an alien righteousness? … Therefore, a Christian is not formally righteous; he is not righteous according to substance or quality.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Pray for Pastor Youcef & for his strength during time of imminent death.

Pray for Pastor Youcef & his family during this time:

A trial court in Iran has issued its final verdict, ordering a Christian pastor to be put to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, according to sources close to the pastor and his legal team.
Supporters fear Youcef Nadarkhani, a 34-year-old father of two who was arrested over two years ago on charges of apostasy, may now be executed at any time without prior warning, as death sentences in Iran may be carried out immediately or dragged out for years.
It is unclear whether Nadarkhani can appeal the execution order.

Philosophy of "The Sinner's Prayer"

Philosophy of “The Sinner’s Prayer”
By: Geoffrey R. Kirkland
CFBC

Many evangelists and pastors have utilized “the sinner’s prayer” for many years. One may share the gospel with someone and then call them respond by praying the sinner’s prayer. This is the prayer that sinners pray which “seals the deal” and confirms someone to be a Christian. Or does it? It may shock some that the sinner’s prayer is nowhere found in the Scriptures and it is, in fact, a practice introduced very late in church history—and that amongst the Arminian movement. A number of reasons could be given as to why the sinner’s prayer is not the best way of calling people to salvation. In other words, it is the persuasion of CFBC that the sinner’s prayer is not a biblical element in evangelism and should therefore be discarded. The following reasons provide support for this statement.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Teach Your Children...

Deuteronomy 6:20–21:
When your son asks you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?" then you shall say to your son, "We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand."
Charles Spurgeon:

a healthy fear of the LORD

Numbers 17:12-13 12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying! 13 "Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?"

In God's Word, the people of Israel were in the wilderness and as they journeyed through the arid desert, a group led by Korah assembled together "against Moses and Aaron" (Num 16:3) and accused them of "exalting themselves above the assembly of the LORD" (16:3b).

Saturday, February 11, 2012

the seriousness of idolatry — false worship.

From Leviticus 20:

Leviticus 20:4-5 4 'If the people of the land, however, should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his offspring to Molech, so as not to put him to death, 5 then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech.

Leviticus 20:4-5
4 וְאִם הַעְלֵם יַעְלִימוּ עַם הָאָרֶץ אֶת־עֵינֵיהֶם מִן־הָאִישׁ הַהוּא בְּתִתּוֹ מִזַּרְעוֹ לַמֹּלֶךְ לְבִלְתִּי הָמִית אֹתוֹ
5 וְשַׂמְתִּי אֲנִי אֶת־פָּנַי בָּאִישׁ הַהוּא וּבְמִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ וְהִכְרַתִּי אֹתוֹ וְאֵת כָּל־הַזֹּנִים אַחֲרָיו לִזְנוֹת אַחֲרֵי הַמֹּלֶךְ מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּם

In the Mosaic, Old Testament Law, God said that if His covenant people, Israel, should ever disregard a man when he gives any of his offspring to Molech — the Phoenecian & Canaanite god — so as to not put him to death, then God Himself will set his face against that man & his family and cut him off from the covenant people.

From these verses we can see a number of helpful thoughts to bear in mind:

Friday, February 10, 2012

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Spurgeon on Family Worship

"To neglect the instruction of our offspring is worse than brutish. Family religion is necessary for the nation, for the family itself, and for the church of God. . .. Would that parents would awaken to a sense of the importance of this matter. It is a pleasant duty to talk of Jesus to our sons and daughters, and the more so because it has often proved to be an accepted work, for God has saved the children through the parents' prayers and admonitions. May every house into which this volume shall come honor the Lord and receive his smile."
Quoted in Voddie Bauckham, Family Shepherds, 19.

So HOW do you do family worship, you ask?

The Pastor's Primary Responsibilities in a Church Plant

The Pastor’s Primary Responsibilities in a Church Plant
By Geoffrey R. Kirkland

These are not exhaustive nor are they unchanging. These five principles serve to keep the pastor’s focus on keeping the main thing the main thing and not becoming sidetracked with the many—innumerable—responsibilities that may arise. At the outset of a church plant with one man on staff and a small church, the focus must be very narrow and clear.

1. Preach the Word of God.

The pastor must study the Word of God so that he is adequately prepared to preach the Word of God in an expository way weekly.

2. Shepherd the People of God.

The pastor must tend his sheep. He must know them, learn them, love them, care for them, pray for them, counsel them, rebuke them, correct them, and train them. The best way to be an effective shepherd is to know the sheep.

3. Pray for the Unction of God.

The pastor must learn to be alone with God. He must love isolated times of communion with God. The pastor must pray for and depend on the unction—the power—of God the Holy Spirit in every aspect of the ministry. Prayer is not secondary or tertiary; it must be primary.

4. Train Men in the Word of God.

The pastor must make it his goal to train up “faithful men who will be able to train others” for the furthering of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The pastor can meet weekly with the men of the Church to preach, teach, exhort, and pour into the men so that the church will be full of masculine men who are biblically-grounded and theocentrically focused.

5. Focus on the Glory of God.

The pastor must anchor his mind and heart on the glory of God in all things. That God is glorified in everything that happens is clear from Scripture. Therefore, the pastor should bear in mind that when the good and the hard times come in church planting, the magnificent glory of God must fill the pastor’s heart and soul.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

how the sovereignty of God is necessary for Christ's substitutionary death to have any meaning.

“It is a part of sovereignty to transfer the penalty due to the crime of one upon another, and substitute a sufferer, with the sufferer’s own consent, in the place o a criminal, whom he had a mind to deliver from a deserved punishment.

God transferred the sins of men upon Christ, and inflicted on him a punishment for them. He summed up the debts of man, charged them upon the score of Christ, imputing to him the guilt and inflicting upon him the penalty: 'the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all;' he made them all to meet upon his back: 'He hath made him to be sin for us' (2 Cor 5:21).

He was made so by the sovereign pleasure of God; a punishment for sin, as most understand it, which could not be righteously inflicted had not sin been first righteously imputed, by the consent of Christ, and the order of the Judge of the world.

Without this act of sovereignty in God, we had forever perished: for if we could suppose Christ laying down his life for us without the pleasure and order of God, he could not have been said to have borne our punishment

It was an act of Divine sovereignty to account Him that was righteous a sinner in our stead, and to account us, who were sinners, righteous upon the merit of his death."


Stephen Charnock, The Existence & Attributes of God, 1:424-25.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

a helpful plan for BIBLE READING and EVANGELIZING.

So a fellow pastor may ask: "how do I get out on the street and start open-air preaching?"

I would reply by saying that an option would be to take what you read this morning in God's Word and go out and proclaim that text, exposit it, apply it, enlighten it, and show how that text fits into the greater redemptive plan of God.

For instance, this morning if you read Exodus 13-14 you could go on the streets and proclaim the Exodus account and how God demanded the blood of an innocent animal in order to pass over His people. But those who were not covered with blood were destroyed by the angel of death.

Furthermore, if you studied Matthew 26 and examined the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas, the heartfelt prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the evil plotting of the Jews to put Christ on the cross, one could go on the streets and talk about the wretchedness of sinners and the pervasiveness and extremities of our sins. Indeed, Christ died for our sins. One could preach on how Christ prayed to the Father in the Garden because He knew that the infinite wrath of God Almighty was about to be poured out upon Him on Calvary's tree. Preach propitiation! Preach justification! Preach Christ's substitutionary death in the place of god-hating rebels.


Ah, but you say that you're not a preacher. Then I would beseech you to take what you read in the mornings and try to bring those texts or topics up in daily conversation with people (lunch break, coworkers, on the streets, on the subway, etc.).

If we are in God's Word every day and God's Word speaks to our own hearts, we can also try to bring these texts, chapters, themes, and gospel-truths to bear as we interact with others throughout each day.

Try it. Pray about it. See how God begins to open opportunities for you to share the gospel & what you read that morning with folks who desperately need the gospel.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

premillennialism in the early church

Here are some early Christian writers who held to premillennialism:

Clement of Rome (c. 30-95AD)
Of a truth, soon and suddenly shall His will be accomplished, as the Scriptures also bear witness, saying, 'Speedily will He come, and will not tarry,' and the Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Holy one, for whom ye look (First Letter to the Corinthians, 23).

Let us then wait for the kingdom of God from hour to hour in love and righteousness, seeing that we know not the day of the appearing of God (Second Letter to the Corinthians, 12).

Didache (c.100AD)
And then shall appear the signs of the truth; first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead; yet not of all (16:6-7).

Shepherd of Hermas (c.140-150AD)
You have escaped from great tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not doubt the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, an say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming (Visions, 1.4.2).

Polycarp (c.70-155AD)
If we please Him in this present age, we shall receive also the age to come, according as He promised to us that He will raise us from the dead, and that if we live worthily of Him, 'we shall also reign with Him.'

Adapted from Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation, 233.

the rampant nature of PORN and the urgency of teaching & educating our children (and churchgoers) of the heineousness of this sin.

From some research on Teens and Porn, mark the following startling (!) statistics:

  • 93% of boys and 62% of girls are exposed to internet porn before the age of 18.
  • 70% of boys have spent more than 30 consecutive minutes looking at porn.
  • 35% of boys have done this on more than ten occasions.
  • 23% of girls have spent more than 30 consecutive minutes looking at porn.
  • 14% of girls have done this on more than one occasion.
  • 83% of boys and 57% of girls have seen group sex on the internet.
  • 69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen porn showing same-sex intercourse.
  • 39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen online sex acts involving bondage.
  • 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen beastiality on the internet.
  • 18% of boys and 10% of girls have seen rape or sexual violence online.
  • 15% of boys and and 9% of girls have seen child pornography online.
NOTE: That means that only 3% and 17% of girls have never seen internet pornography.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

go and MAKE DISCIPLES — the great commission.

Here's an interesting point to remember regarding the Great Commission & our evangelism:

Matthew 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20 18 καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς λέγων· ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 19 πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, 20 διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.

Last week I heard a sermon from Kevin DeYoung on the Mission of the Church & he argued that the mission of the Church is the great commission. That should be our foremost focus. I agree with him in this regard. But he made a passing statement that caught my ear & I think it is worthy of mention.

The importance of this commission given by Jesus to His followers cannot be overestimated. He calls His followers to go into all the world and make disciples (μαθητεύσατε). Isn’t it interesting that Jesus used that word for the mission of His followers? Speaking to this, Kevin DeYoung note that “Jesus said ‘Go and make disciples!’ He did not say ‘Go and get decisions!’” I think there is something to this.

Often Christianity in today’s culture seeks to get decisions for Christ and count the number of people that at a camp, a service, a retreat, or a public rally make a “decision” for Jesus Christ. And yes, becoming a Christian does—and it must!—include an intellectual knowledge of Christ and His work on the cross and a determined effort to follow Him as Lord and Savior. But at the same time, a “decision” for Christ does not make someone saved. A one-time choice does not validate someone’s conversion. Search the Bible. Search the New Testament. You won’t find it.

What is it, then, that shows or validates whether someone is truly saved? If someone is walking in holiness, obeying Jesus Christ, and bearing Godly fruit, then his election is sure (cf. 2 Pet 1; 1 Thess 1:4). And this is precisely what our Lord states in the Great Commission. Go and make disciples. And this mission to make disciples involves teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. A true disciple is one who obeys Jesus Christ. A true follower of Jesus Christ is one who determines to follow Christ and it is one who is evidencing the sovereign regeneration in his heart by walking in purity, holiness, godliness, and the enjoyment of God.

Would it be that in our church ministries and as you evangelize with others that we would be less concerned with “decisions” and much more concerned with ongoing, life-on-life, honest discipleship where the sinner who repents of sin and believes in Christ then grows in Christ, matures in Christ, and increases in sanctification thus being conformed more and more to the image of Jesus Christ.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

the importance of family worship & how to do it.

January is FAMILY WORSHIP month and I want to piggy-back on that and express my heartfelt commitment to this biblical & historical means of grace. I believe that family worship is eminently important.

We are told in God's Word that the husband IS the head of the home (Eph 5:22-25) and that he is to shepherd and wash his wife with God's Word (Eph 5:25ff). He is to instruct and teach his children in the truth (Eph 6:4). This practice of teaching, instructing, and even catechizing children goes back in history to God's people, Israel (cf. Deut 6:5ff).

On our church website, I posted a brief video as to the importance of FAMILY WORSHIP and how we as a family do family worship in our home. It must be deliberate or the business of life will crowd it out. But when it becomes a habit it becomes part and parcel of who you are as a family & it is well worth the effort, time, & diligence!

I have posted on this topic earlier here and here. See this also and my brief article here.

Monday, January 16, 2012

your duty is to proclaim the JESUS of the bible. no other Jesus will do.

From John Stott:
Our responsibility in evangelism is neither to create a Christ of our own who is not in Scripture, nor to embroider or manipulate the Christ who is in Scripture, but to bear faithful witness to the one and only Christ there is as God has presented him to the world in the remarkably unified testimony of both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures.

FROM: John Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World, p.74.