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Baptism Instructional Video

By Jeremy Myers
6 Comments

Baptism Instructional Video

Baptism Instructional VideoI have been finding some interesting videos recently on YouTube and Google Video, and wanted to post them here for your reaction.

In the following Baptism Instruction Video, I wonder if what they present is a good idea or bad idea?

A couple of pastors are explaining the why and how of baptism to a church that is (apparently) filled with new believers who know next to nothing about baptism, why they should get baptized, or what will happen at the baptism.So they created this video and showed it in their worship service.

This is the “Orchard Baptism Instructional Video.”

Let me know what you think.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: baptism, Discipleship, evangelism, Theology of the Church

No More Mix and Match Church

By Jeremy Myers
5 Comments

No More Mix and Match Church

NOTE: This is an OLD post from 2007, and I no longer agree with everything I have written about church below. To learn my more recent views, read some of my newer posts on the church, or my books on church. Better yet, sign up to take my free online course on the church.

Fast Food ChurchesI like fast food, but not always from the same place. I like the hamburgers from Wendy’s, the french fries from Burger King, and a soda from the convenience store ($0.59 for 32 oz!). Occasionally, when I have the time, I will actually eat my lunch this way, driving around to each location to get what I want.

It gets even worse when I’m with my wife and daughters. Wendy won’t eat fast food at all, unless it’s a Deli fresh sandwich and Jamocha shake from Arby’s. Taylor will only eat cheeseburgers from McDonalds. Selah won’t eat fast food at all, and so we have to bring apples and a PBJ for her. We can’t figure out what Kahlea eats.

Needless to say, with such a mix-and-match menu, we don’t do fast food very often.

But this is how many people “attend church.” They go to one church for the awesome music and great children’s program. But the pastor’s preaching there is usually too shallow, so they get their sermons online from  John MacArthur, Mark Driscoll, or Rob Bell. The church they attend has small groups, but most are too far away, so they get fellowship on Friday night by going out to dinner with a few friends, most of whom go to different churches. Some of these friends don’t go to church at all, in which case, it’s not “fellowship” but “relationship evangelism.”

Though many churches today try to provide “one stop shopping” most Christians engage Christianity with a “mix and match” mentality.

Church Shopping

I have been guilty of this myself quite frequently the past few years, but recently, I have begun to question the legitimacy of it. I have justified such church venue as trying to get the “best of everything” from wherever I can find it. “Besides,” I tell myself, “I’m part of the universal church, and it doesn’t matter where I get the things I need to be healthy, as long as I get them from somewhere.”

But is this true?

In a previous post, I proposed a definition for what the church is and does. After reflection, I think this definition needs some refinement.

Not only must Christians exalt God through a life of worship, edify one another through the use of spiritual gifts, and evangelize the world, I now also believe that all of these things must be done together with the same group of believers.

Body of Christ

I get this from Paul’s frequent usage of “body” imagery when talking about the church (cf. Eph 4:11-16; 1 Cor 12). The emphasis in these passages is not only that the various parts have various functions, but that each part must perform it’s particular function with and for the other parts that it receives benefits from.

The body of Christ is a symbiotic relationship. If you have the gift of helps, the person(s) you get your primary Bible teaching from should also be the person(s) you are trying to help (in big churches, you may not actually be helping the teaching pastor, but you can help him indirectly through doing things in the church and for the people of the church). The group you meet with for encouragement and prayer should be the group that goes out with you to develop relationships for evangelism and discipleship. Only in this way can they encourage and pray for you more effectively.

Body of Christ the ChurchFollowing the imagery of the body, the people whose spiritual gifts you are spiritually benefiting from, should be the same people who benefit from your spiritual gifts. Otherwise, we’ve got a foot taking nourishment from a mouth and cleaning from a hand, but not helping either one walk where they need to go. It’s a selfish and disjointed way to function.

Does this mean you can’t get good Bible teaching from Alistair Begg or Matt Chandler unless you go their church? Of course not. Just don’t consider that your church teaching. Does this mean you can’t reach out to the community with people from other congregations? I hope you do partner in this way with other churches! But don’t consider this your evangelism unless you are also joining with people from your own body of believers.

I am not trying to be legalistic about all this. I just want you and your church body to be healthy. Besides, you’ll find this approach much more enjoyable and natural than driving all over to get a full meal.

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: be the church, Church planting, Discipleship, Theology of the Church, what is church

The Onion – Christian Style (The Babylon Bee)

By Jeremy Myers
8 Comments

The Onion – Christian Style (The Babylon Bee)

Laugh at Lark NewsSometimes, you just need to laugh. Especially with everything that has recently been in the news.

Several years ago, my sister introduced me to the “The Onion” – a newspaper which makes up fictional stories that are so close to reality, they are funny.

Recently I ran across a Christian version called “The Babylon Bee.” I spent a few minutes over my lunch break reading and laughing.

So, need a good laugh? Check out The Babylon Bee. We all need to laugh more.

Here are a few examples of recent headlines:

  • In Strategy to Be Perfect, Church Asks All Sinners to Worship Elsewhere
  • Popular Christmas Song, “Mary, Did You Know?” Criticized for Mansplaining
  • Biden Cuts Hole in Mask So He Can Still Sniff People’s Hair
  • “Drinking is a Sin” says Morbidly Obese Pastor

And if you like Christian satire, I wrote a book which takes a satirical look at Christian evangelism, so if you want a good laugh, try my book, Adventures in Fishing (for Men).

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship, humor, laugh

What are the best Bible passages for evangelism?

By Jeremy Myers
35 Comments

What are the best Bible passages for evangelism?

What is the Saving Message?
If you were sharing with someone how they can have eternal life, where would you go in Scripture to show them what God says?

Do you have a passage or two picked out?

If so, what are they, and why would you go there?

Let’s hear what you have to say in the comments below.

To learn my thoughts on this topic, check out my online course:

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship, eternal life, evangelism, gospel

What is Church? How do you define it?

By Jeremy Myers
21 Comments

What is Church? How do you define it?

what is ChurchFor several years now, I have been mulling over a nagging question: “What is church?”  How do you know the difference between a Bible study and church? Is there a difference?

In Bible College and Seminary, I attended daily chapel services. Nearly every chapel service began with announcements, had a few songs and a prayer time, and finished with a message from a speaker. How is this different than the Sunday church service?

The seminary told us that chapel does not qualify as church. But why not? What is church? The chapels had singing, teaching, and prayer. We even had fellowship groups, and occasionally in chapel, took communion. Why is this not church?

Or, take the recent introduction of the online church. Can you really be involved with and “attend” a church from your computer at work or at home in your pajamas? If not, why not?

And when it comes to church, how many people need to be present? Can one believer in a prison cell in China have their own church service, or does there need to be a minimum of 2 or 3 people gathered together? And what are these 2 or 3 supposed to do, how often, and where? In a recent book by George Barna (Revolution), he implies that a group of four men can be a church out on the golf course if they encourage and edify one another spiritually. If this is true, why can’t we go to church while shopping at the mall, or camping at the lake?

What is Church?

When it comes to the question of “What is Church?” Here is my preliminary hypothesis:

The church is the universal and spiritual body of believers in Jesus Christ:

  • Which began on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2
  • Gathers together in various physical locations for:
  • Exaltation of God by glorifyinig Him through a life lived in worship
  • Edification of one another through teaching, fellowship, and prayer
  • Evangelism of the world through social and spiritual acts of service

So, what do you think? Even before we begin to break this down and look at Biblical passages related to it, are there things you feel I should add or take out? What are the ramifications of such a definition for the way churches are today?

How do you answer the question, “What is Church?” Let us know in the comments below.

Note: This post was written in 2007, and launched me on a study about the church, much of which is found in various other posts on this blog. Some of the results of this study about the church can be found in my eBook, Skeleton Church. In that book, I attempt to answer the question, “What is church?” by providing a bare-bones definition of church.

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: church, communion, fellowship, prayer, Preaching, Skeleton Church, Theology of the Church

Dirtbags…Not for the girly-man

By Jeremy Myers
34 Comments

Dirtbags…Not for the girly-man

Dirtbags Men's Ministry

A while back I was on vacation in Montana and attended a Friday morning men-only Bible study called “The Dirtbags.” As with the Cowboy Church I visited in Plano, The Dirtbags met in a bar.

The study began about 10 years ago with 10 men. Now, they have two meeting times, 6:30 and 8:00 am, with about 60-80 men at each. Most of these men were the rugged, outdoorsy, work with their hands, salt of the earth type men, and here they were, spending 90 minutes with other men, studying the Bible. So don’t tell me men aren’t interested in the Bible! They just need a Bible study without all the frills and “girly-man” stuff.

The Dirtbag Decor

And there was nothing “girly-man” about this study. The bar decorations themselves were…interesting. In the Plano, TX bar church, there were a hundred neon beer signs. This bar had those also, along with about 20 bikini-girl posters. I had to practice Proverbs 4:25, and keep my gaze fixed on the face of the man leading the study.

The Dirtbag Pastor

The leader of the study was quite a character. I was told he is (or was) on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. He began the study with a few announcements, followed by some jokes that were e-mailed to him. The jokes were fairly off color, and would have done more than raise a few eyebrows in most churches. The typical pastor would probably get fired for telling jokes like these. However, I will admit that I laughed along with all the other men.

The Dirtbag Evangelism Strategy

The leader also mentioned that they were going to have a golf tournament, and he wanted every man there to invite a non-Christian friend or co-worker. He begged and pleaded with the men to not invite their “religious” friends since there was probably going to be some bad language and excessive drinking that went on.

He explained that the religious people would be aghast at such behavior taking place at an event sponsored by a men’s Bible study, and would call and complain about how it wasn’t right to hang out with such sinners (cf. Matt 11:19; Luke 7:34). He said he didn’t want to waste his time listening to the complaints of religious people, so the easiest thing was to just not invite them.

The Dirtbag Prayer Requests

He then took prayer requests for about 20 minutes, which surprised me some, since men are notorious for not asking for prayer when they need it. But these men just kept raising one request after another. Maybe men only don’t ask for requests when women are the room…

The Dirtbag Bible Study

His Bible study also lasted about 20 minutes. It was helpful, practical, down to earth, and best of all, Biblical. He didn’t have a main text, but went to several texts throughout Scripture. Personally, I think sticking to one text would have been better, but these men didn’t seem to have too much trouble flipping through the pages of Scripture. He used two mild words of profanity in his talk, and nobody batted an eye.

The Dirt on Dirtbags

All in all, I think this Bible study shows that men are interested in spiritual things, but they feel most comfortable receiving and talking about them in a manly way. If you haven’t read it yet, you must read Why Men Hate Going to Church by David Murrow to see his findings on this.

On a related note, I recently read a book called Preaching That Speaks to Women by Alice Matthews. Maybe I am wrong, but as I look around the average church in America today, I don’t think we need to work on preaching that speaks to women. Our churches reveal that we’ve got that mastered. What we need is preaching that speaks to men.

What are your ideas on how to get more men involved in church?

Are bars, bikini-posters, crude jokes, and profanity the way to reach men, especially if the purpose is evangelistic? Is this taking the “meeting them where they are at” concept too far, or is this redemption in action? Practically, what can you and your church do to better reach men in your community?

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, Discipleship, evangelism, ministry to men, outreach, Preaching

Calvinists have TULIP…We have PULPIT

By Jeremy Myers
7 Comments

Calvinists have TULIP…We have PULPIT

TULIP PulpitFor years I have been looking for a good alternate acronym to the Calvinistic TULIP to sum up what I believe.

I came across one today at the Unashamed of Grace Blog. It follows the acronym PULPIT instead of TULIP.

Since the key to getting an acronym to stick is wide acceptance and memorablness (is that a word?), go check it out, pass it around, and post a comment about it.

This may be a good acronym to help spread a message different than Calvinism.

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Calvinism, Theology of Salvation, TULIP

I visited a Church in a Bar

By Jeremy Myers
16 Comments

I visited a Church in a Bar

Church in a barMy friend Kyle wants to plant a church called “St. Pete’s Church Bar and Grill.” It would be rather convenient for communion since the wine is close by, and you wouldn’t have guys getting antsy to go home for the football game. They can watch the game right from their padded bar-stools in church.

Kyle isn’t joking about this…

Church in a Bar

Bar ChurchThe cool thing is that I am already aware of some churches around the country doing something similar. I wrote a while back about the group in Montana called “Dirtbags” that meets in a bar, and I have also read about I heard about Vince Antonucci and his church in a bar in Virginia Beach. Then there is “Church in a Bar” in Rome, GA, and a few others around the country (If you know of one, leave a link to it in the comments below).

So I decided to see if there was one in the Dallas metroplex. I did a little searching, and found one with the Narrow Trail Church, which meets outside in the beer garden of a local restaurant, and decided to go visit. It turns out that this was not just a church in a bar, but was also a cowboy church.

Having previously pastored in Montana, I immediately felt at home when I walked in since most of the people were wearing cowboy hats, boots, wranglers, and big belt buckles. One bearded, heavily tattooed guy drove up on his Harley.

Breakfast in a Bar Church

I showed up at 9 am for their free breakfast and sat by a young couple who hadn’t been in church for three or four years but decided to check out the church that meets in a bar because “It’s not churchy.” Looking around, I knew what they meant. Where else can you attend church with one hundred neon beer signs and only one cross? However, as I was later reminded, “One cross is all you need.”

bar churchAs I ate, I had a dozen or so people come up and welcome me. I was back in an area of the beer garden that was hard to reach, so one guy got up and just walked across the top of the tables so he could come greet me. That’s another thing you won’t see in the average church—people walking on the pews just to go greet a visitor. Since this church meets outside, I asked what they do in bad weather, and the guy proudly informed me that “rain or snow this is where they meet.” This is, after all, a cowboy church, and they are “tough as nails.” Part of the beer garden was covered, and so my guess is that when bad weather comes, they just gather under the covered area.

The Church Service in a Bar

The beginning of the service did not begin with a “Welcome” but we did have a “Howdy.” They had a few announcements and then the musician sang. The music was country western, and the songs weren’t really they type that people sang along to. It was more like you were in a bar listening to the house band. Considering the crowd that was there, I think this was a good idea since most of the people didn’t appear to be the singing type. This isn’t an insult; it’s just that some people don’t feel comfortable singing.

Church in a BarI did notice that when the music leader got up to sing, he had a Starbucks coffee in one hand. If you read the post on my Emergent Immersion, you will know why this is funny to me. It seems like all singers, songwriters, and artists drink Starbucks. I half expected him to pull out an iPhone.

Of course, he probably drank Starbucks becuase the free coffee was pretty bad. I met the guy who proudly told me he made the coffee, but then confessed he can’t stand to drink coffee. (Note to all churches: The person who volunteers to make the coffee should be somone who actually drinks coffee). So anyway, Starbucks and all, the songs were good quality, and since I like country music, found myself tapping my foot along to the music. I guess the musician has some CDs out, but I can’t remember his name…

The Sermon in a Bar

After the music, the pastor got up to preach. I had met him when I first walked into the beer garden, and he introduced himself at John Myers. I don’t think there is any relation to me. But he did graduate from Dallas Theological Seminary, so I guess I’m on the right track. Speaking of tracks, as soon as he got up to preach, we heard a train whistle off in the distance. He said, “Well, I guess I’ll wait for the train.”

It didn’t take me long to find out what he meant. About thirty seconds later, the train came rumbling by not twenty feet from where we were seated, blowing its whistle and drowning out anything the pastor could have been saying. Not many pastors have to deal with trains coming through their church before they preach, but everybody took it in stride.

Once the train was gone, the pastor taught for about thirty minutes from John 15. His sermon was not full of Christian lingo and theological jargon, but was clear, simple, and down to earth. He peppered his sermon with cowboy terms like “get ‘er done,” “have at it,” and “ain’t.” He even used a word in his sermon which would offend the gentler ears of most Christians, but which seemed right at home with this group.

When he was done, they closed out the service with a few more songs and then a rousing rendition of “Happy Trails to You.” On my way out, one man stopped me and asked if I would like to start teaching Sunday School next week. He either didn’t know I was a visitor, or wasn’t serious. I hope it was the latter because it’s probably not a good idea to ask visitors to teach Sunday School.

All in all, I really enjoyed this church and felt more at home than I have in a while. I felt welcome and I was instructed and challenged by the teaching of the Word. May churches like this flourish across America where the theology is conservative and the preaching is strong, but the church is flexible enough to meet the people where they are at.

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: church in a bar, Church planting, Discipleship, evangelism

The Power of Preaching (Eph 6:19-20)

By Jeremy Myers
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Learn why Preaching the Gospel is so important for Spiritual Warfare by listening to my new sermon, The Power of Preaching (Ephesians 6:19-20).

http://www.tillhecomes.org/Bible/Audio/Ephesians/Eph_6_19-20.mp3

Also, to download these automatically, you may subscribe to the free podcast.

After listening to it, or reading it, post your comments or questions here so I can interact with you on them.

God is Redeeming Scripture Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, Bible Study Podcast

The Secret Weapon: Prayer (Eph 6:18)

By Jeremy Myers
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Learn what our Secret Weapon is and why it is so important for Spiritual Warfare by listening to my new sermon, The Secret Weapon: Prayer (Ephesians 6:18).

http://www.tillhecomes.org/Bible/Audio/Ephesians/Eph_6_18.mp3

Also, to download these automatically, you may subscribe to the free podcast.

After listening to it, or reading it, post your comments or questions here so I can interact with you on them.

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, Bible Study Podcast

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