Author: Scott Chafee

Scott serves on staff at King’s Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.

When Moses Met God

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The newest sermon series at King’s Grant is on the great “I AM” statements of Jesus, and the first message goes back to where we first read about that name (Exodus 3:14). Let’s dig in to this story just a bit.

Moses is a fugitive from Egypt since he killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:14-15) and is living on the backside of the desert (Acts 7:23, Exodus 7:7). Perhaps he had been praying for the deliverance of his people, remembering their suffering. It is good to know that God calls people who are busy.

  1. Gideon was busy threshing wheat (Judges 6:11)
  2. Samuel was in church (1 Samuel 3:3-4)
  3. David was caring for sheep (1 Samuel 17:20)
  4. Elisha was plowing (1 Kings 19:19-21)
  5. Four disciples were fishing (Mark 1:16-20)
  6. Matthew was collecting taxes (Matthew 9:9)

You can’t steer a parked car, so keep moving and stay busy while listening for God’s call.

What Moses Saw (Exodus 3:1-4):
God takes an insignificant bush and ignites it, turning it into a miracle. That is exactly what God wanted to do with Moses. He was a weak bush and would be an empowering fire (Exodus 19:18, 24:17, Deuteronomy 4:24, Judges 13:20, Hebrews 12:29).

What Moses Heard (Exodus 3:5-10):
God spoke and told his that he was the God of his fathers and that he had seen the suffering in Egypt. Then he told Moses that he would send Moses to get them. He must have wondered why God would choose such a failure.

What Moses Did (Exodus 3:3-4:17):
Rather than rejoicing and saying, “her I am, send me,” Moses began with the excuses and argued with God. He gave five excuses why he was not the right guy for the job.

  1. I’m a Nobody (Exodus 3:11-12): Moses was looking to himself rather than looking with faith at the one who had called him. God tells him that it is not about him, and assures him that “I will be with you.”
  2. I Don’t Know Your Name (Exodus 3:13-22): God’s name of Yahweh had been known for generations (Genesis 4:26) and familiar to the Patriarchs (Genesis 14:22, 15:1, 25:21-22, 28:13, 49:18). What Moses asked was, “What does your name mean? What kind of God are you?” It is a dynamic name, from the verb “to be” or “to become.” He is the self-existing one who always was and always will be. He is faithful and dependable. The name “I AM” will be used by Jesus in John’s gospel to equate himself with this same God (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51, 8:12, 10:7, 9, 11, 14, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1, 5).
  3. The People Won’t Believe Me (Exodus 4:1-9): What Moses really meant, was, “I don’t believe you.” He was so concerned about his credentials before the Jewish leaders, and God gave three signs to convince them that Moses was the chosen servant (1 Corinthians 1:22).
  4. I’m Not a Good Speaker (Exodus 4:10-12): This completely missed the message of God’s power. Since “I AM” is going to be with him, he cannot say “I AM NOT.” Seems Moses may have had false humility, seeing himself as a worthless failure. Humility is not thinking about less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less. In God’s presence he is all that he needs to be.
  5. Someone Else Can Do It Better (Exodus 4:13-17): Moses called him Lord and then refuse his marching orders (Luke 6:46, Acts 10:14). In anger God appoints Aaron to be the mouthpiece for Moses, but he wasn’t always a help to his brother (remember the golden calf episode in Exodus 32?) and his sister was critical of him and brought trouble into the camp (Numbers 12). It turns out that Moses was very capable to speaking in public, as seen in Egypt and in the Deuteronomy speeches.

The lesson is simple: God knows us better than we know ourselves. We need to trust and obey. When we share our weaknesses with God, they are really only excuses for not wanting to do what he is asking. Remember that we are not telling God anything he does not already know (Judges 6:15, 1 Samuel 9:21, Jeremiah 1:6). God will empower us for the task. We must simply be FAT… Faithful, Available and Teachable.

Church Planting in the Congo

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This is a guest post from missionary Ed Miller, who served along with his wife, Linda, nearly four decades as missionaries to Zambia:

Since leaving the field in December 2008 and retirement in December of 2009, our hearts are still in Zambia. Ed Miller has made three trips back to Zambia and Linda has made one. Since October 2009, the work of the Copperbelt has extended and now there are over 45 churches in Congo as a result of the Chande Baptist Orphanage Ministry.

It is amazing how the Lord has used the Chande Baptist Orphanage ministry in Kitwe to be a church planting tool. Someone said, “An orphanage is not a church planting tool, but here we see the opposite.” As the people got their eyes on ministry to orphans, the Lord also showed them the mission field near them in the neighboring country of Congo.

Even with little resources, they have reached out to share Christ with people in Zambia, but also as a church planting tool.  The orphanage has been a spring board for church planting not only in Zambia, but also in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Use this link to read a story of how the Lord uses the outreach of the Zambian people from the Chande Baptist Orphanage to touch lives in Congo. [ Read More ]

Check it Out to be Sure

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It’s always good to check out what people say about the Bible, make sure it is true. How many times have you heard someone say that “something” was in the Bible, only to discover it’s not. Many people never discover the truth, they just continue to pass on the misinformation.

And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth. (Acts 17:11)

Yesterday, Skip challenged us to finish out this season of Lent with a 27-day challenge: spend 15 minutes or more in God’s Word every day and see if you can form a new habit.

Habits can be good because they prevent us from forgetting to do things. Getting into the habit of reading the Bible daily is good; however, habits can also go under the radar without much thought given to them. Like the people of Berea in the verse, don’t forget your passion when reading God’s words. They listened eagerly, and researched faithfully.

Read it not just for information, but for developing a relationship with God. These words we read in the Bible apply directly to our lives everyday.

A Man’s Foundation

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The Men of Steel are getting back together after a long Summer off… well, the summer turned out to include fall and winter… but we’re back. This time we will look at the Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper. I know that the Promise Keeper movement is a bit old, and we don’t hear much if anything about it, but the teaching and challenge is right on target. So, strap yourself in for a great series.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus ends his teaching with a foundational challenge: those who heard his words and acted upon them was like a man who built his house upon the rock, so that when the winds and water came, it did not fall, because it’s foundation was on the rock (Matthew 7:24-25). One thing in life is sure, storms will come. We cannot avoid them, but we can survive them, and prepare for them.

One day a hurting wife came to see a pastoral counselor on the same day as the horrific earthquake on the other side of the world. The two separate events that have one thing in common, the same root cause: negligence in building standards. Lousy foundations make for temporary homes.

Many men today believe in God but have no pattern whatsoever for worshiping him. He might show up because his wife and children beg him. Perhaps for special occasions. Certainly if it is expected or convenient. But his predominant feeling is that he can worship God wherever he wants, not just in uncomfortable clothes sitting in a stuffy old sanctuary at church. So he heads to the beach, the mountains or the golf course because his theology tells him that God is everywhere, but he is missing the point of worshiping. This man will refuse to admit that he is shallow, and that his goal is not engage in sincere worship, but to avoid commitment.

Who, what and how a man worships determines everything about him in life. The first step toward becoming a man of steel is to be honest with God. We must know that we cannot come to God on our own terms, but only on HIS terms. We must worship in accordance with HIS ways of worship, rather than with flimsy human reason, pride and arrogance. We become a life built with nothing at the center, and nothing underneath; homes without foundations and relationships without roots.

Men need worship that brings:

  • Substance, poured into him
  • Strength at his foundations
  • Stability in his marriage
  • Steadfastness into his relationships
  • Trustworthiness into his work and business practices

The answer is found by beginning where God always starts with men… at worship. So what is authentic biblical worship?

Read Romans 12:1-2: This passage contains all the elements of true worship.

The motivation to worship: “the mercies of God.” God’s mercies are everything He has given us that we don’t deserve: eternal love, eternal grace, the Holy Spirit, everlasting peace, eternal joy, saving faith, comfort, strength, wisdom, hope, patience, kindness, honor, glory, righteousness, security, eternal life, forgiveness, reconciliation, justification, sanctification, freedom, intercession and much more. The knowledge and understanding of these incredible gifts motivate us to praise him with thanksgiving—in other words, worship!

The manner of our worship: “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” Presenting our bodies means giving to God all of ourselves. The reference to our bodies here means all our humanness; our hearts, minds, hands, thoughts, attitudes. In other words, we are to give up control of these things and turn them over to him, just as a literal sacrifice was given totally to God on the altar.

The method of our worship: How do we do this? The Bible says, “by the renewing of your mind.” We renew our minds daily by cleansing them of the world’s “wisdom” and replacing it with true wisdom that comes from God. We worship Him with our renewed and cleansed minds, not with our emotions. Emotions are wonderful things, but unless they are shaped by a mind saturated in truth, they can be destructive, out-of-control forces. Where the mind goes, the will follows and so do the emotions. First Corinthians 2:16 tells us we have “the mind of Christ,” not the emotions of Christ.

True worship is God-centered worship. People tend to get caught up in where they should worship, what music they should sing in worship, and how the worship looks to other people. Focusing on these things completely misses the point. Jesus tells us that true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). This means we worship from the heart and the way God has designed. Worship can include praying, reading God’s Word with an open heart, singing, participating in communion, and serving others. It is not limited to one act, but is done properly when the heart and attitude of the person are in the right place.

Next time we will look at several ways or areas of worship.

What is God’s Glory?

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In a recent class on Wednesday nights, I have a friend who asked an interesting question: “What is God’s Glory?” Admit it, that’s not really an easy question to answer. I always sense that it was ascribing to God the honor due him, that he is worthy of our worship, praise and obedience.

If you spend much time in church, you hear God’s glory mentioned all the time. Contemporary songs and classic hymns celebrate God’s glory. Many worship traditions include the Gloria Patri: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…” Preachers tell us we should seek to glorify God in all we do. In the Reformed tradition, the catechism reminds us that the chief purpose of our lives is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

But, have you ever wondered what the glory of God really is? When we speak of God’s glory, what are we talking about? How do you answer my friend’s question?

According to theologian Millard Erickson, the Hebrew word for “glory” refers to a perceivable attribute (an individual’s display of splendor, wealth and pomp), but in relation to God, it does not point to a particular attribute, but rather to the greatness of God’s entire nature.

Ezekiel 10:4 helps us to get a glimpse of and understand God’s glory: “Then the LORD’s glory rose from above the winged creatures and moved toward the temple’s threshold. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the LORD’s glory.” The word translated here as “glory” is kabod in Hebrew. This word comes from a root with the basic meaning of “heavy.” From this root word came a word meaning “rich.” Ancient Hebrews would refer to a rich person as “heavy in wealth” much as we might say someone is loaded. The literal sense of kabod also included being loaded with power, reputation, or honor. It’s from this use of the word that we get the meaning of glory.

So, God’s glory is God’s weightiness in wonderful qualities such as might, beauty, goodness, justice, worthiness and honor. When it comes to these characteristics and so many others, God has them in superabundance.

When we think of God’s glory, we remember that God has all good things in greater quantity and quality than we can ever imagine. Notice, also, that God’s glory is solid and substantial. It isn’t mere reputation. It isn’t dependent on anyone or anything else. God’s glory reflects his essential nature.

Yet the notion of heaviness does not fully convey the glory of God. In fact, if we equate God’s glory with heaviness, we might miss an essential quality of his glory. Look again at Ezekiel 10:4. God’s glory is not like a giant rock that sits there passively because it is so large it cannot do anything else. Rather, God’s glory shines like the sun.

In fact, if we’re looking for an image to represent the glory of God, the sun is a strong candidate. For one thing, the sun is the heaviest object in our solar system (with a weight estimated at more than a hundred times that of the earth). But, of course, the sun doesn’t just sit there. It is continuously active, burning so fiercely that it lights and warms the earth, which is about 93 million miles away.

The similarity between God’s glory and the sun is found in Scripture. Consider the promise of Isaiah 60:19: “The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor will the moon shine for illumination by night. The LORD will be your everlasting light; your God will be your glory.” This promise comes true in the vision of the heavenly city found in Revelation 21:23: “The city doesn’t need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

In the New Testament, the Greek word for “glory” is doxa, which conveys the meaning of brightness, splendor, magnificence and fame. Check out how it is used in the New Testament:

  1. Jesus prays that the Father would glorify him as he had glorified the Father (John 17:1-5)
  2. We see his glory at the resurrection (Acts 3:13-15, 1 Peter 1:21)
  3. We see it at the glorious second coming of Jesus (Matthew 24:30)

You and I are called to live our lives in the light of God’s glory. We do so when we acknowledge his glory in worship, and when we live worshipfully each moment, reflecting the glory of God in the world.

The Seven Promises

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I’ve been thinking about what we should study during our Men of Steel gatherings on Saturdays, so here is what I would like propose:

Perhaps you have heard of the Promise Keepers: It might be old for some of you or totally brand new concept for others, but I love what they stand for. The core beliefs of the Promise Keepers, outlined in the Seven Promises, consist of the following:

  1. A Promise Keeper is committed to honoring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and obedience to God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.
  2. A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises.
  3. A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical and sexual purity.
  4. A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families through love, protection and Biblical values.
  5. A Promise Keeper is committed to supporting the mission of his church by honoring and praying for his pastor and by actively giving his time and resources.
  6. A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of Biblical unity.
  7. A Promise Keeper is committed to influencing his world, being obedient to the Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

The outline for our getting together includes these topics:

  1. A man and his God
    1. Setting a foundation – worship
    2. Prayer
    3. God’s Word
  2. A man and his mentors
    1. The mandate
    2. The relationships
  3. A man and his integrity
    1. Spiritual purity
    2. Living in a gray world
    3. Sexual purity
  4. A man and his family
    1. Secrets of a happy marriage
    2. Priorities of fathering
  5. A man and his church
    1. Honoring your pastor
    2. The man God’s seeks
  6. A man and his brothers
    1. Call to unity
    2. Talking next steps
  7. A man and his world
    1. The greatest power ever known
    2. The Great Commission

Join me for fresh coffee, new friends, renewed commitment, and information to help you become a better man, husband and father, this Saturday, March 11 at 7:30 in the church Welcome Center.

Barriers to Small Group Growth

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I always am on the lookout for teaching points regarding small groups, and here is solid wisdom from Rick Warren:

Did you know that you get a new skeleton every seven years? Your bone marrow is constantly creating new bone, and you’re sloughing off old cells so that your skeleton can grow with your body. For our church to keep growing, our structure also has to change constantly.

The only purpose of restructuring is to prepare a church for growth and to break through barriers. About 95 percent of all the churches in the world stop growing before they get to 300 people because they are structured to be at a size less than 300. It’s not the problem of the pastor or the people; it’s a problem of the structure.

We often ask the wrong question. The wrong question is, “What will help my church grow?” The right question is, “What is keeping my church from growing?” Growth is natural. All living things naturally grow. I don’t have to command my kids to grow; they just do it, if they’re healthy. If our church is healthy, then it is going to automatically grow.

A church becomes healthy by removing the barriers and balancing the purposes. There are 10 common barriers that keep our church from growing. The first six are:

Members won’t bring their friends to church: You can’t grow a church without guests. One of the reasons Christians won’t bring their friends to church is that they’re embarrassed or they think, “This is a church that meets my needs, but it’s not geared for my friend, an unbeliever, to understand it.” You have to create a service that is understandable but not watered-down.

People fear that growth will ruin the fellowship: Many churches say they are a loving church, but what they mean is that they are good at loving each other and not unbelievers. When members love their fellowship so much that they don’t want anyone new, then they’re not going to bring friends. The average member of a church knows 67 people, whether you have 67 people at your church or 6,000. If you only want to have a church of people you know, you’re only going to have about 67 people. The antidote to this barrier is affinity groups. The church must grow larger and smaller at the same time — larger through worship (weekend services) and smaller through fellowship (small groups).

Churches are driven by tradition rather than the purposes of God: Tradition is a good thing — as long as it works. Never confuse the message with the methods. The message must never change, but the methods have to change. If you don’t change methods from generation to generation, you are being unfaithful.

One of the most expensive and difficult things to do is keep a corpse from stinking. If there are programs in our church that died a long time ago; we need to give them a decent burial. Periodically, we should go through everything we’re doing and ask, “Should I reaffirm it, refine it, or do I need to replace it?” The hardest thing to give up is what worked before, but sometimes you have to stop it before it starts declining.

Churches are trying to appeal to everybody: Our church cannot be all things to all people. The moment we choose a style of music, we are going to turn someone off. We need to know whom our church can best reach in your community. Define that group of people, and then go after them.

Churches are program-oriented rather than process-oriented: A lot of churches think the goal is to keep the saints busy, and people are just worn out. Programs and events should not drive the church; they should fulfill the purposes. Where do we want to take our people in the next 10 years? Where do we want them to be different? Set a goal by determining your role — what God has called you to do. Once you know that, then you decide what programs best accomplish that goal.

Churches focus on meetings rather than ministry: When the number one qualifier in our church is attendance, then we are facing this barrier. It’s not all about the weekend; the weekend is simply the funnel by which you start the discipleship process. If Christianity is a life and not a religion, then it should focus on where we live our lives — at home, work, etc., and not at church. When we focus on meetings, we’re building a group of spectators. We don’t need more meetings; we need to meet more needs. You do that by turning every member into a minister.

[ Here is a full PDF handout with all 10 barriers with application ]

To Be Successful or Faithful?

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There has been a debate on whether we are called to be successful in our lives and ministries or simply faithful to what God has called us to do. For pastors, we often view success in terms of numbers; we are successful if the numbers increase.

I read a book by a guy named Kent Hughes called, “Liberating Your Ministry from Success Syndrome.” Imagine a pastor of a small church in a transitional community who faithfully preaches week after week, cares for the congregation, invests in leaders, witnesses regularly, and serves the community; but the numerical growth is just not there. At the Convention he hears stories from other pastors with churches experiencing tremendous growth. The conclusion is often, “I’m not successful in what I am doing. Maybe I should be in a different vocation. God has not blessed with response to he must not be pleased with me.”

So, we beg the question, “Has God called us to be successful or faithful?” Sometimes we see both; but often we have to resign to the fact that even with the hardest work and best laid plans, God is the only one who can bring about growth (1 Corinthians 3:6, 7).

Check out what God says to Ezekiel:

“He said to me: Human one, listen closely, and take to heart every word I say to you. Then go to the exiles, to your people’s children. Whether they listen or not, speak to them and say: The LORD God proclaims!” (Ezekiel 3:10-11)

Getting people to respond to your ministry is hard. If we are doing it in our own strength, it is sure to fail (John 15:5), but even when we rely upon God to make it happen, we must faithfully do our part and leave the results up to him. Let’s look at evangelism as an example.

Most Christians know that they should be sharing their faith with others, that it is part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. But, most Christians feel very uneasy about doing it. Many Christians rarely share their faith with others.

  • Some don’t because they don’t want to look foolish in the eyes of their co-workers.
  • Others hold back because they don’t want to offend someone.
  • Many believers choose not to share their faith because their afraid they won’t do it right.
  • Others fear they’ll mess up the message or be unable to answer unexpected questions, so they don’t talk about it.

If you can relate to these statements or if you’re someone who keeps the lid on our faith because you’re afraid of what might happen if you talked about it, then you’ll be encouraged and challenged by Ezekiel 3:10-11. In this passage, the Lord told Ezekiel to take his word to heart and then to share it with the Jewish exiles in Babylon, where Ezekiel was himself an exile. God told him to speak, “whether they listen or not” (Ezekiel 3:11). In other words, Ezekiel’s calling was to be faithful, not successful.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with success, whether in life or in serving the Lord, but our chief calling as God’s people is to be faithful to him, to serve him with excellence, to obey him wholeheartedly. If God chooses to bless our efforts with success, that’s great, but many times we cannot guarantee success. We should always choose to be faithful and do what God tells us as well as we can.

How do you feel about sharing your faith with others? What about seeing the fruit of your labor (like success)? What do you find uncomfortable about this? What about setting goals and action plans to reach them? What encourages you to continue serving the Lord even when it does not appear to be successful? What would it mean for you to be faithful as a servant or witness for Christ?

The Purpose of Work

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Many men feel that working is part of the curse, going all the back to Adam getting thrown out of the garden (Genesis 3:17, 18-19) but notice that Adam was commanded to work in the garden before the fall, when the world was still a paradise (Genesis 2:15).

They say that man has three basic needs in life: love, purpose and significance. Many times, humans attempt to find purpose and significance in work itself. In Ecclesiastes 2:4-11, Solomon details his search for meaning in a variety of projects and works of all kinds. Even though the work brought some degree of satisfaction in accomplishment, his conclusion was: “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

The fact is, the curse made work laborious and difficult (which is what we often experience every day). But work is a blessed activity and the desired goal of work is found in this verse:

“So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is why we are here! No one will bring us back from death to enjoy life after we die.” (Ecclesiastes 3:22)

“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Ephesians 4:28)

“If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:28).

Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

So, why work? This brief video explains the real purpose of why we work…

Other biblical principles regarding work are:

  • Work is done not only to benefit the worker, but also for others (Exodus 23:10-11, Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Ephesians 4:28).
  • Work is a gift from God and, for His people, will be blessed (Psalm 104:1-35, 127:1-5, Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, 5:18-20, Proverbs 14:23).
  • God equips His people for their work (Exodus 31:2-11).

The Christian attitude toward work should be like Jesus: “My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Work is of no value except when God is in it.

The Bible and a Cell Phone

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I find the truth of this post quite enlightening and wanted to share this and keep it as a reminder of my priorities:

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

  • What if we carried it around all day?
  • What if we flipped through it several times a day?
  • What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
  • What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
  • What if we searched through it to find useful information?
  • What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
  • What if we talked about it with our friends and family?
  • What if we shared the discoveries we have made?
  • What if we told others about the helpful things it does?
  • What if we gave it to kids as a gift?
  • What if we used it when we traveled?
  • What if we used it in case of emergency?
  • What if we used it as a GPS to tell us where we are?
  • What if we used it for navigation to help us get to where we want to be?

This is something to make you go….hmm…where is my Bible? Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Does this make you stop and think about priorities? And never a dropped call!