Archive for August, 2008

Here I Am

// August 31st, 2008 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Here I am

by Michael Bleecker

Director of Worship for The Village Church in Highland Village, TX

Here is a session from a pastor’s conference where Bleecker talks about what it means to be a Worship Pastor. Click HERE.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9RyE4ZHs8]

(V1)
Take me far away from here
Save me from this world I fear
Break me from the things I hold so near
They’re so far from You(V2)
Reveal to me what You want me to do
Place me where Your will draws me to
Lord be pleased with the worship I bring to You
I sing to You, I shout to You

(Chorus)
Here I am, send me out let me shine for Your glory
I will read, I’ll live out and proclaim Your Word
Take me now, show me how
I need to live not for me
But for You and Your glory

(V1)
(V2)
(Chorus x2)

Here I am, Send me Out
Let me Shine, Shine for you (x4)

The Biblical Man: Husbandry and Fatherhood

// August 12th, 2008 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Husbandry and Fatherhood PowerPoint

Jonathan Alexander-A Father’s Vision

Piper-Perspectives on Family

Driscoll-Pastor Dad: Fatherly Instruction and Correction

Bjerkaas-And Adam Called His Wife’s Name Eve

Best Resources:

We concluded study on Biblical Masculinity by examining the responsibility of men to be cultivators, fighters, and teachers and to resist the sinful pitfalls of abuse, avoidance and abandonment that characterize worldly masculinity. We analogized this responsibility to Proverbs 14:4 and the idea that a harvest, a fruitful life, requires the courage, fortitude and endurance to continue shoveling out your own barn. This responsibility is revealed throughout scripture in specific as we looked at Adam/Eve/Creation, God’s establishing Covenants and Headship. In our study of Headship, we concluded with the exhortation that true headship is living out Eph 5:25-33, the covenant love (hesed) that Christ modeled for us in his humble life of sacrifice and service for his bride the church.

This study on Husbandry and Fatherhood looks to take the step from establishing our general responsibility as men and heads to specific and practical ways we are to live this out in the context of a family.

There are really two questions that we set out to answer in this session:

What specific responsibilities do we, as husbands and fathers, need to keep?
How does this work out practically?

Prior to starting let us re-examine this idea of headship.

What Headship Is Not

A license to be harsh
A ruling of one individual over another
A conflict between enemies
A ruling of men in general over women in general

Men being the Head does not mean ALL women are to submit to ALL men. Headship is only inherent in fatherhood and marriage. Single men w/o kids are not a head over anyone other than themselves. Children fall under their father’s headship. This can be a common misunderstanding which distorts relationships between men and women.

Not all men and women are created equal. There are women who have a far greater gifting and influence over the affairs of a church and/or society than most men. Again women are not lesser than men, but in relationship to one man either a father or husband they are equal and prayerfully they have picked a husband they respect who is someone who will love them sacrificially as well as help cultivate them as a woman. In addition, the woman helps strengthen and shape the husband.

One of the central problems with ‘Christian men’ is that many want to be ‘nice guys’ but ultimately wimp-out of their responsibility. Many men do not want to take on their shoulders the responsibilities. They do not take the initiative, lead or fulfill their obligation. It is these men who sit idly by and pass their burden onto women, making them work to support the family as well as keep the house in order. When we understand how to use this headship and strength to serve our wives and others, we can work to be more than ‘nice guys’ but godly men.

For those who are married these ideas shape how we live in marriage. If a husband sins it is his fault. If his wife sins, she is at fault and the husband is also responsible for this sin. We are never allowed to complain or talk bad about our wives. In marriage rejecting these truths means allows us to view marriage as a contract, where divorce isn’t breaking a covenant.

What Headship Is

A greater burden for husbands and fathers
A command of humble service
A command for men to take responsibility when they are not at fault
A command for individualism to be replaced by covenant
A command that men are dominant in marriage
A command that men need to be respected and women need to be loved
A command that men use their strength to build into their wives and children rather than tearing them down
A command that men not be chauvinists or passive/cowards
A practical showing of the gospel