I Am a Church Member - Thom Rainer

(Thom is the president of Lifeway, which is the Southern Baptist publishing agency. He is also a Christian strategist and author of the book Simple Church.)

I am a church member.

I will seek to be a source of unity in the church. I know there are no perfect pastors, staff, or other church members. But neither am I. I will not be a source of gossip or dissension. One the greatest contributions I can make is to do all I can in God’s power to help keep the church in unity for the sake of the gospel.

I am a church member.

I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires. That is self-serving. I am in this church to serve others and to serve Christ. My Savior went to a cross for me. I can deal with any inconveniences and matters that are just not my preference or style.

I am a church member.

I will pray for my pastor every day. His work is never-ending. His days are filled with constant demands for his time; with the need to prepare sermons; with those who are rejoicing in births; with those who are traveling through the valley of the shadow of death; with critics; with the hurts and hopes of others; and with the need to be a husband and a father. My pastor cannot serve our church in his own power. I will pray for God’s strength for him and his family every day.

I am a church member.

I like the metaphor of membership. It’s not membership as in a civic organization or a country club. It’s the kind of membership given to us in 1 Corinthians 12: “Now you are the body of Christ and individual members of it” (I Corinthians 12:27). Because I am a member of the body of Christ, I must be a functioning member, whether I am an “eye,” an “ear,” or a “hand.” As a functioning member, I will give. I will serve. I will minister. I will evangelize. I will study. I will seek to be a blessing to others. I will remember that “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

I am a church member.

I will lead my family to be good members of this church as well. We will pray together for our church. We will worship together in our church. We will serve together in our church. And we will ask Christ to help us fall deeper in love with this church, because He gave His life for her.

I am a church member.

This membership is a gift. When I received the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, I became a part of the body of Christ. I soon thereafter identified with a local body and was baptized. And now I am humbled and honored to serve and to love others in our church. I pray that I will never take my membership for granted, but see it as a gift and an opportunity to serve others, and to be a part of something so much greater than any one person or member.

I am a church member.

And I thank God that I am.

What do the _________________ believe?

Ever wonder what makes our beliefs different from other religions and cults?

Here's a good tool I've recently discovered in helping us understand the differences between historic/biblical Christian beliefs and beliefs of cults and other religious. It has great side-by-side comparison charts and apologetic tools as well so you can "give an answer".

This site is produced by an arm of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Our friend, Christian apologist Alex McFarland suggested it to me.

Click here to go to 4Truth.net.

Why Be Sure About the Real Jesus?

· The primary area of error in false religions is what they believe about Christ. They may talk about Christ and say they acknowledge Him, even as Savior. But the big question is, “Is your Christ the true Christ of the Scripture?” And they get that question wrong every time.

· You may be questioned about Christ by non-believers. Are you ready to give an answer? You need to be! It never hurts to know what you believe.

· If Jesus came into existence at His birth then the idea of God being a Trinity is false. One of the core beliefs of Christianity has always been that God is 3 in one. And that requires Jesus to be pre-existent.

· If Jesus is not eternal and pre-existent than He is not God, because God is eternal. Think about it: How could God be created? If He could, then whoever created him would really be God.

· If Jesus is not eternal then He is a liar, because He claimed to be. We read His own words. Either He was telling the truth or He knew He was lying. But think about it…who would die for what they knew was a lie?

The real biblical and historical Jesus only spent approx. 33 years living as a man. But He is ageless; the “Ancient of days” He is called. He is the eternal God and the eternal God wants to be the Savior and Lord of your life. David marveled about that in Psalm 8. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?

But, He does care about you, and He desires you to receive Him as your God and to spend eternity with Him. That is guaranteed to any and all who will accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. If you don’t know that you’ve done that in your life, and would like to right now, all you need to is to believe in your heart that God sent Christ to die for you; to forgive you of all your sin and to give you a new life. It’s that simple.

Is Mormonism a Cult?

Recently the pastor of a leading Baptist church, while introducing presidential candidate Rick Perry, proclaimed Mitt Romney to not be a Christian because he is a Mormon, which the pastor classified as a "cult".

His words have stirred up quite the hornet's nest. So, was he right or was he wrong. Just what is a "cult"? Are Mormons Christians as they claim, or are they something else?

Mark Driscoll, a pastor and author in Seattle, WA, wrote a well researched blog post to answer that question. It's not a quick read, so give yourself a half-hour do digest it. But he does a good job of summarizing the meaning of "cult" and pointing out Mormon beliefs that differ from orthodox Christianity.

Read it here.

The Prayer of Columbus

Here's a bit about the history of America's discoverer.

Responding to Haiti's Disaster

I've been made aware that because Pat Robertson of The 700 Club made some untimely and insensitive remarks about his perceived reasons for the earthquake, and that in his distant past he was a Southern Baptist, that some in the non-Christian world are assuming he speaks for us.

He does not.

But if you go here you can get an idea of how the Southern Baptist agencies are responding.

We will be receiving a love offering on Sundays Jan. 17 and 24 for relief aid to Haiti.

Starting Off On The Right Foot

Have you made any new year resolutions?

This is a great time to start fresh or to begin building into your life a habit that can change your life. http://www.youversion.com has some great new daily Bible reading plans. Youversion is totally free. You can set up your own personal account. On your account page you can track your reading progress, read some thoughts written by others who have read the same verses, share your thoughts about the scripture with others.

The feature I like is the "Journal". I can actually write down verses that spoke to me in today's reading, write down my thoughts and prayers. A great tool to help me internalize what I'm reading and apply it to my life. It's easy to read for knowledge but where Bible reading makes the difference in a person's life is when the word is applied.

A couple of other great features are "accountability" and syncing with your iPhone, Android or Blackberry. This gives you the ability to read on the road or during the day when you get a few moments of peace or a break. The accountability allows you to connect with your accountability partner to track how you are both doing in your scripture reading. Imagine if how your Bible reading would improve if you knew someone was on the journey with you.

I would encourage you to check out Youversion.

Christmas Traditions: Say "Merry Christmas!"

My research says that the phrase "Merry Christmas" gained popularity with Charles Dickens' book "A Christmas Carol"

But we've all noticed how the politically correct culture police have tried in recent years to strip Christmas of Christ and replace Him with symbols of winter and the generic "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings".

Here's a movement that encourages our retailers to use the word "Christmas" and to play Christmas music that refers to Christ's birth.