by bigdbentley

Guest Blog by Dr. Terry Dorsett–Missionary in Vermont

Killer Cows and the Importance of Contextualization

-Dr. Terry Dorsett

I grew up in a medium sized city in the Midwest. As a teenager I moved to a small city in Virginia and after college I lived in a small city in South Carolina. Since my entire life had been spent in the city, what a culture shock it was when I moved to rural Vermont in 1993 with my wife and family. We had come to a small village to serve as missionaries with the North American Mission Board (SBC). We served a rural church with less than 20 members that was struggling for survival. The first week I lived in that tiny village I had what was then a traumatic experience but has since become quite humorous. It was also a great teaching moment which impacted how I view ministry.

I love to walk in the mornings and pray about what God is doing in my life. That first week of living in a rural area I struck out walking down the main street, which was also the only paved street in town. I did not get very far before I encountered a cow that had escaped from the pasture and was standing in the middle of the road. Having grown up in the city, I did not know what quite what to do, so I froze in my tracks. My life flashed before my eyes. My heart raced with fear. Would this cow charge me? Would it trample me? Would it eat me? Surely this vicious creature was a killer cow!

I do not know how long I stood in the middle of the road looking at that cow, but eventually someone drove by in their pickup truck and asked what I was doing. I replied that a “killer cow” had gotten loose and I did not know what to do. They looked at me, looked at the cow and laughed hysterically as they drove away. Eventually I realized that the poor creature was just an old milk cow who had wandered the wrong direction. I slowly eased past her and went on my way. But I have never forgotten my encounter with the killer cow on the main street in town. I knew I was not in the city anymore!

What does this story have to do with the Gospel? Just as I had to adjust to the presence of cows in the middle of the road, I also had to adjust to doing ministry in a different culture than I was used to. I was no longer living and working in a city. I was now in a different environment. I learned to show up at the post office each morning at 9:30 AM when everyone came to get their mail. I could visit half the town in an hour. I learned that I was the “community” pastor, providing weddings and funerals for the entire community and not just for the handful of church members I had. I learned how important it was to make a contribution to the annual 8th grade Town Dinner fundraiser. I learned not to wear a tie, as it made me look like I was a Mormon or a bill collector, neither was which was very welcome in that small village.

During the eight years I served that church, I learned a great many things about how to minister in a rural village. I think it is important to point out that at no point did I actually have to change the Gospel itself. The Gospel is always relevant to all cultures in all time periods and to all people groups. There is no other Gospel but the one found in the New Testament that begins with the sinfulness of mankind and ends with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to reconcile us back to the Father. But methods and programs used to communicate the Gospel are constantly changing. Pastors, missionaries and other Christian leaders who want to reach their communities for Christ must understand this. One generation might use flannel graph and chalkboards, another generation might use video projectors and smart boards, but the message of the Gospel remains the same. One people group might like to meet in house churches and worship in a rare dialect, another people group might prefer giant cathedrals and the use of a more common language, but the Gospel remains the same for both people groups.

Since my fateful encounter with the killer cow so many years ago, I learned the communicate the Gospel in a variety of ways as I have started churches and led evangelistic activity across the mountains, valleys and small towns of Vermont. Each town is a little different, but in each one God has called a group of people to Himself. My job is to join God in His work and communicate His Gospel in a way that the called can hear and respond. When that happens, the Gospel goes forth and God is glorified, and His people rejoice, even if it looks differently than what we had expected.

My Photo-Dr. Terry Dorsett serves as a church planting missionary with the North American Mission Board of the SBC. He has a passion for helping young people discover a meaningful faith and then become leaders in sharing that faith with others

by bigdbentley

That You May Believe–Journey Through John

LIVE IN FREEDOM

John 8:30-32 30 As He was saying these things, many believed in Him.

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you CONTINUE in My word, you really are My disciples. 32 You will KNOW the truth, and THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.”

INTRODUCTION:

  • Dr. Martin Luther King speech “I Have a Dream.” He concluded with these words: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

This morning we are going to talk about what it means to be free and how you can experience real freedom in Jesus Christ.

  • Is there anyone who wants to be free today?
    • What do you need set free from?
    • What issues or concerns keep you from being free?
    • Write that down. Just fill in the blank: I need to be free from ______.

Maybe you are Seeking…

    • Freedom from guilt
    • Freedom from anger
    • Freedom from depression
    • Freedom from grief
    • Freedom from debt
    • Freedom from habitual sin
    • Freedom from fear or worry
    • Freedom from pornography
    • Freedom from lying
    • Freedom from whatever

 

  • You may identify with one or more of these; it may be other issues.
  • Together we can discover the freedom the God has made available to all of us.

FACT IS: FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

As citizens of America we know two things that show Freedom isn’t Free:

  • Freedom Must Be Purchased – the blood of our soldiers on battlefields
  • Freedom Must Be Defended – Cling to…Hold to…Continue in (v. 31)
    • Spiritually, Freedom is NOT Salvation. It is more.
    • Believing is enough for Salvation.
    • “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
    • Growing in Salvation Requires that we “Stick with it.”
    • Many had believed (30)…but many had believed before we hit John 6.66

John 6:66 – From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him.

You “Believe in Jesus Christ”…but you also need to “Continue in Jesus Christ.”

Here’s a Variety of Reading on this Passage:

  • The Message: “If you stick with this.”
  • New Living Translation “If you keep obeying my teaching.”
  • God’s Word “If you live by what I say.”
  • New King James Version “If you abide in my word.”
  • King James Version “If ye continue in my word.”

To be Free and experience the fullness of Spiritual Freedom

  • It is not enough to simply believe
  • We must live out our belief in our day to day lives.

The Men who gave their lives on the battlefields of our nation’s history and heritage did not die so that we could take that sacrifice and liberty for granted – but in the hope set before them that they were providing a better future for the nation and their families.

        • I wonder what those patriots would say about how we have treated our freedom and liberty

Jesus did not endure the cross so that we could believe and find freedom For us to then in that belief live like we are free to live however we choose.

Jesus’ Freedom IS NOT Independence

It’s like a guitar string. A string on a guitar can be set free. It can be released from the guitar, the tension is gone and it is free. But a guitar string cannot fulfill its purpose when it is independent and free from the guitar. That only happens when it’s strung down the long neck of a guitar and tightened until it is taut. Freedom comes, not in being separated from everything (or everyone). Real freedom comes by being joined together in Christ. That’s when we are set apart like a guitar string to fulfill God’s purposes in our lives

What is our Freedom for?

SET FREE TO BE AN AUTHENTIC DISCIPLE
John 8. 31b: “If you continue in My word, you REALLY ARE MY DISCIPLES.

Definition of Disciple: (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

  • “one who…
    • (1) believes Christ’s doctrine,
    • (2) rests upon his sacrifice,
    • (3) imbibes his spirit, and
    • (4) imitates his example.”

Therefore a Disciple:

  • believes the things Jesus taught,
  • has faith in the death of Jesus to forgive their sin,
  • drinks from the living water that only Jesus can give
  • lives a transformed life following Christ’s example

Living Christ’s Example Means We…

  • Work to Know Jesus- Read, Study, and Worship Him
  • Guided by the Spirit – Pray, Listen, Surrender
  • Watch Faithful Followers – Example of other Believers WHO LIVE FOR CHRIST

SET FREE TO BE ACQUAINTED INTIMATELY

John 8:32 – You will KNOW the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

  • This word “know” means “to know by experience.”
  • It is more than simple “head-knowledge” of information
  • It is a Knowledge that grows and develops as a relationship
  • As we know the truth of Christ more something awesome happens:

image

His Passion Becomes our Passion!

As husbands and wives experience life together their knowledge of each other grows. Through their awareness of each other they begin to think like each other; they feel what each other feels. Many times I can look at Andie and I know when there are things bothering her long before she says anything about it. We are connected emotionally and can feel what the other feels.

Really think about How Incredible this is…

  • We are set free to be acquainted with Christ, the truth
  • To know Him intimately and personally.
  • The more we know Jesus the more we become like Jesus – NATURALLY

SET FREE TO BE FREE
John 8:32b – and the truth will set you free.”

  • Freedom from SALVERY to SIN
  • Freedom from PENALTY of DEATH
The Difference Between Declared Freedom and Living in Freedom

There is a difference between DECLARED FREEDOM and truly REALIZED FREEDOM.  There are many who, like these folks on the escalator, are capable of experiencing freedom and moving ahead in their spiritual journey.  Unfortunately we can find ourselves stuck in the middle unaware that we can move ahead, and we surrender to slavery. 

On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This presidential order gave slaves throughout the south their freedom. But on that day no slaves went free; throughout the south blacks continued to serve their plantation masters. Freedom did not come to the slaves until after a bloody Civil War had been fought and they were finally free to live as free men.

God declared that He would set those held captive to sin and death free, but freedom did not ultimately come until Jesus died on the cross of Calvary. Only after His blood was spilt on our behalf could we really be set free.

  • Christ has secured our freedom
  • We MUST CHOOSE to receive it.
    • We can choose to continue to live as slaves…or
    • We can believe by faith that Jesus died in our place
    • our sins are forgiven
    • we are finally free to be free!

Rom. 6:14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

Invitation

  • Believe in Jesus Christ – Become a Child of God
  • Abide with Jesus Christ – Be a REAL Disciple
  • Know Real Freedom in Jesus Christ – Live in Liberty
by bigdbentley

That You May Believe–Journey Through John

Notes from Sunday’s Sermon – June 26, 2011

“HOW WILL YOU DIE”

JOHN 8.13-30

13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”
14 “Even if I testify about Myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You judge by human standards. I judge no one. 16 And if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me judge together. 17 Even in your law it is written that the witness of two men is valid.
18 I am the One who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”
19 Then they asked Him, “Where is Your Father?”

“You know neither Me nor My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.” 20 He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple complex. But no one seized Him, because His hour had not come.

21 Then He said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for Me, and YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SIN. Where I’m going, you cannot come.”
22 So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’?”
23 “You are from below,” He told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS. FOR IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THAT I AM HE, YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS.”
25 “Who are You?” they questioned.

“Precisely what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. 26 “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the One who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him—these things I tell the world.”
27 They did not know He was speaking to them about the Father.
28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own. But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things. 29 The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.” 30 As He was saying these things, many believed in Him.

Scripture Introduction

The relationship between Jesus and the religious leadership continues to deteriorate. By refusing to acknowledge their importance, his ministry threatens their power and prestige. Therefore, they turn on him: attempted arrest, entrapment, theological tests, dismissing his answers on technicalities, and now mocking his words. Jesus responds with what we might call, “Tough Love.” He warns of their precarious position before God—they risk dying in their sin. Unless they find a provision for their failures, they will face their Maker clothed in their own righteous deeds, which the Bible calls “polluted garments,” or “filthy rags.” God records this interaction to challenge where our faith rests. Many claim Jesus without committing themselves to who he claims to be. May God give us grace to hear and examine ourselves in the light of the Word.

Introduction

Illustration: “Can’t Cheat Death”

The story is told of a man walking in his neighborhood when he came face-to-face with Death. Death was obviously shocked to see the man, but said nothing; the two simply passed in the street. But the more that fellow thought about this strange meeting, the more frightened he became. So we went to a wise friend and asked what he should do. The friend told him that Death had probably come to take him away the next morning—he had best flee.
So the man headed to a distant city to elude Death. He traveled treacherous streets slickened by snow, roads rarely used at night because they wound through steep mountain passes. But he survived the terrible journey, and congratulated himself on having escaped. As he watched the sunrise, however, Death tapped him on the shoulder and said: “I have come for you.”
“What are you doing here?” exclaimed the terrified man, “I thought I saw you yesterday near my home!”
“Yes, you did,” said Death. “That was why I looked surprised—for I had been told to meet you today in this city.”

 

It reminds me of the inscription on the tombstone:

Someone scratched into the weathered cement these two additional lines:

  • To Follow You I’m Not Content,
  • Until I Know Which Way You Went.

There is a Faithless Seeking that Does Not Save (John 8.21-24a)

I am meticulous and perhaps a bit OCD when it comes to my books. This is particularly problematic when I am looking for a book that I can’t locate. I know where they are supposed to be. I could take you with little thought to almost any volume you asked for in my library with just the theme. So, when I’m looking for a book, especially one I’m more than a little familiar with and I can’t locate it I can become frustrated.

The fact is that when you “know” exactly what you are looking for, an unexpected difference can blind you and frustrate you. The Jews had long scanned the shelves of time for Messiah. They knew exactly how he would look: a mighty King like Solomon and David who would rescue and restore Israel to her former glory. But God wraps Messiah in a different “dust” jacket. They sought a lion; God provides a lamb. As a result, they cannot “see” God’s solution, resulting in this sad pronouncement: “You will seek me, and you will die in your sin.” Jesus—always attractive, always inviting, always welcoming—harshly warns: “Your seeking can be in vain.”

There are two ways to seek God and yet not find him.

(1) Seeking God from a Position of Self-Righteousness (22)

    • · They believed their own Press
    • · It was assumed that they would get into heaven based on behavior
    • · Jesus therefore had to be talking about someplace else they couldn’t go
    • o Suicide it was assumed would result in damnation…that must be it.

John MacArthur states: “Self-righteousness is a deadly deception, and utterly contrary to genuine salvation.”

  • For many there is a Veneer of Good Works over a Rotted Wood of Wickedness

(2) Seeking God from a Motivation to Stand Out (23)

    • Jesus refers to these Religious Leaders as being “of this world.” (lit. worldly)
    • Seeking God so that others will think more highly of me is not the seeking which saves—we will die in our sins.
    • For a picture of what this is let’s take a moment to think about a fella named Esau.

Genesis 25.27-34

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, exhausted. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom. 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your BIRTHRIGHT.” 32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, WHAT GOOD IS A BIRTHRIGHT TO ME?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT to him. 34 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT.

The Birthright:

  • · Financially, a double portion of the family inheritance
  • · Spiritually, the line of the Lord’s Blessing

The World and Worldliness

  • · What the World Offers is Often Flashy
  • · What the World Offers is Often Easy
  • · What the World Offers is ALWAYS Temporary

Esau Sought What the World Offered and as a result “Despised” his birthright.

The Religious people Jesus is debating with sought the worldly praise and recognition of the people around them—how often Jesus called them out on their “public” lives in contrast to what was inside of them.

There is a Faithful Seeking That Does Save (24b-29)

John 8:24-29
24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are You?” they questioned. “Precisely what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them.
26 “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the One who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him—these things I tell the world.”
27 They did not know He was speaking to them about the Father.
28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own. But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things.
29 The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”

There are Two Ways to Die:

  • · You Can Die In Your Sins – Without the Lord
  • · You Can Die To Your Sins – In the Lord

Revelation 14:13
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!”

The debate was all over who Jesus is and claimed to be.

“Does it matter exactly who Jesus is?”

It matters because YOU MUST BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE CLAIMS TO BE in order to have the courage to ACCEPT WHAT HE OFFERS. He offers a way to die that yields eternal life and joy.

We can believe Him and trust Him for three reasons:

  • First, Because of His Proclamation. (25-27)
    • · He had been Declaring who He is from the Beginning
    • · His Message is from God
    • · He is Commissioned to Proclaim the Terms of Salvation
  • Second, Because of His Personification (28)
    • · Lifted up on the Cross as the Sacrifice
    • · Lifted up from the Grave as the Savior
    • · Lifted up into Glory as the Sovereign
  • Third, Because of His Perfection (29)
    • The age old excuse for our faltering: “I know I’m not perfect.”
    • God’s Standards and Holiness DEMANDS Perfection
      • · None of us measure up in terms of perfection.
      • · All of us have fallen short of God’s standard.
      • · The penalty for that shortcoming is separation from God.
      • · Unless someone who could live up to the standard
      • · And then Become a representative for us all we would be doomed.
      • That is exactly what we have in Jesus.
      • He ALWAYS did what pleased the Father, without exception or failure.
      • He Became the representative for us, taking out sin upon Himself at Calvary

Conclusion – How Will you Die? (FOX NEWS: We Report, You decide)

__ In Your Sin – Lost without Jesus Christ

__ To Your Sin – Saved through Jesus Christ

It Takes Faith in Jesus: Nothing More…Nothing Less

by bigdbentley

Your Relationship Can Go the Distance

Some of the Secrets We’ve Learned

One Sunday afternoon the pastor was reluctantly helping his wife wash and dry the dishes when he barked, “Washing dishes is a woman’s work, not a man’s.”

His wife lovingly replied, “Oh no, dear, in fact God specifically says differently.”

“What are you talking about?” the pastor demanded.

His wife set down her dish towel and picked up her Bible and opened and read, “and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.”

“Where does it say that?” he asked, now curious.

“In 2 Kings 21.13.” she replied and held the Bible so he could see. Then she smiled and continued, “In fact, it is obviously not a woman’s work to do the dishes according to God.” With that she took off her apron and left the room while he finished his responsibilities as the man.

Twenty Six Years of Chores by Choice

Things have changed. In the days of the Honeymooners, Ward and June Cleaver, even Darrin and Samantha Stephens, the sit-com wives managed the whole household and the husbands were “the kings of their castles.” He could come home and miraculously his wife had cared for the household chores, the needs of the children, and was able to put a full dinner on the table waiting for her husband, all while having her hair, makeup, and dress in perfect order.

Hard to believe, but today marks our 26th year together. We started dating on June 25, 1985 after we met at a youth event in Poultney, Vermont. There have been plenty of struggles and difficulties in our lives over the two and a half decades we’ve been together, but by God’s grace we have weather the storms.

One thing is for sure, as idyllic as those fifties families made life appear, it’s not a realistic expectation today. Andie and I both work in demanding positions and find our days filled with tasks and challenges. If we didn’t work together life would overwhelm us.

One of the things that I think has helped us through is that we work hard in the home and do what needs to be done. I’ve never been allergic to house-work…in fact there probably aren’t any husbands who are afflicted with that allergy regardless of what they claim. We are all capable of doing our part to help out. We are partners in the home.

Figuring out how this will best work takes some time and exploring. Over time we have learned what we are best suited for or prefer to do. For example, I prefer working in the kitchen. Andie prefers taking care of the laundry—it helps keep her clothes wearable. We work together to keep the house picked up. I usually do the vacuuming and she takes care of the bathrooms. I usually do the shopping and she puts things away. It works for us. If one of us is busy or laid up the other picks up the slack. We do our chores by choice.

  • · So, guys – grab a dish rag and dry those dishes.
  • · Get the broom and sweep up the floor.
  • · Don’t drop your clothes on the floor in the bedroom.
  • · If we can keep it clean to begin with it will be easier to take care of later.

This is one of the secrets to going the distance. Perhaps in the weeks to come I’ll share some others that we’ve discovered.

by bigdbentley

Dirt Biscuits and Beach Houses

A Guest Post by Dr. Terry Dorsett –

My Photo

Dr. Terry Dorsett serves as a church planting missionary with   the North American Mission Board of the SBC. He has a passion for helping young people discover a meaningful faith and then become leaders in sharing that faith with others
Dirt Biscuits and Beach Houses – by Dr. Terry Dorsett

I grew up poor. Though we often did not have what we “wanted,” we always had what we “needed.” With the help of scholarships, I worked my way through college, where I met my future wife. Through hard work, my wife and I have been able to provide a middle class lifestyle for our children. Though our children have never been rich, they have also never known the poverty I knew growing up.

This week my family is enjoying a lifestyle slightly more than middle class as we relax in a beach house for a week long family reunion with lots of relatives. Yesterday my kids and I were discussing how blessed we were to experience this level of luxury, even if only for a week. In the discussion we also talked about what it must be like for people who live in other nations in which such luxury is not possible, even for a week long vacation.

We specifically talked about Haiti, since our family will be visiting that small island nation next year on a mission trip. The poverty in Haiti is almost unimaginable by those of us who live in relative comfort in the United States. Food prices are so high in Haiti that many of the people eat what is commonly referred to as Dirt Biscuits. The biscuits are made from dried yellow clay mixed with water, salt and vegetable shortening or margarine. Though originally designed for medicinal purposes, the biscuits have now become the staple diet for a significant number of people in Haiti. It is hard for those of us who live in America to imagine people being so hungry they would eat a biscuit made from dirt. Yet, that is a common meal for far too many people in Haiti.

As we sit in our rented beach house enjoying family and eating far too much junk food, we cannot help but think about people in places like Haiti who tonight will eat a dirt biscuit to stave off hunger for one more day. Dirt biscuits have come up several times in our conversations the last few days. But it must be more than just a subject of conversation. It must translate into action. This is one of the reasons why our family will travel to Haiti next year to work with God’s Littlest Angels orphanage. We feel compelled to put feet to our conversation. We know we cannot change a whole nation in a week, but we can help a small group of children eat something other than dirt, even if only for a few days.

Those of us who have been blessed by God to have more than dirt biscuits to eat must do something to make a difference in the lives of those around us. The 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew reminds us that when we help the least of these in the name of Christ, then we have served Christ Himself. Let us learn to pray: “Lord, help those of us who have so much see the needs of those who have so little and respond in ways that can make a real difference.” And then let us put feet to our prayers.

The Original posting can be found at:

http://thoughtsfromdrt.blogspot.com/2011/06/dirt-biscuits-and-beach-houses.html

Written by Dr. Terry Dorsett:

Despite the rise of mega-churches in North America, the vast majority of churches remain small. It is often necessary for pastors of small churches to work another job in addition to serving their church, leaving them in danger of burnout if some of their duties are not delegated to others. Leadership teams working in partnership with pastors can truly make pastors healthier and ministry more effective. In Developing Leadership Teams in the Bivocational Church, Dr. Terry W. Dorsett provides concise and effective guidance for small-church congregations and pastors looking to build and strengthen their leadership teams.

http://www.crossbooks.com/BookStore/BookStoreBookDetails.aspx?bookid=58188