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By pastorbillwalden
There are many that perhaps rightly criticize the Church of not being socially active in the past generation. I will not argue with that.
The current knee jerk reaction seems to be an inappropriate push towards social activism, but with precious little concern for discipleship, personal holiness, commitment to Jesus, etc.
In fact, the Church has become to some, simply a people resource. A place to mobilize bodies, to gain signatures, and to use for causes, rather than an entity to commit to as a family and a Body.
The pendulum has again swung, and it always swings too far.
I am not criticizing social activism. I am criticizing the over emphasis of it by those who name the name of Christ.
Jesus said that “every good tree bears good fruit”. Social activism ought to be the fruit of a Christian’s life, but it is not the tree. Jesus is the tree, and the fruit comes forth from the tree.
May we be careful to not do the “good thing” while we miss the “best thing”.
Doing “good things” is much easier than “laying down your life and picking up your cross”.
Let’s serve people, but may it flow out of intimacy with Jesus.
By pastorbillwalden
I just returned from a 2 1/2 day preaching practicum, which, a few years ago, is not something I would have imagined attending. I was more than pleasantly surprised.
The practicum was led by Art Azurdia, who is a professor at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. The practicum consisted of Art teaching on preaching, sermon preparation, and hermeneutics, which is the “theory and methodology of interpreting the Bible”. That was Day One.
Art spoke on sermon preparation in great depth. We studied diagramming verses, parsing verbs, looking for flow, preparing a “telos”, and much more. Art also encouraged us to see the entire Bible as the story of redemption through Jesus Christ. The differing portions of the Bible are all knit together in one great story, which is the story of God redeeming man.
In addition, Art spoke on the idea of Christocentric preaching, which means seeing the entire Bible in its relationship to the Gospel, and understanding how a passage aligns itself with the work of redemption.
Seven Calvary Chapel pastors attended the practicum, and we were each assigned a portion of the Book of Ruth to preach on (Days 2 & 3). We were then critiqued by our peers and by Art. Each guy preached for 30 minutes, and we were then critiqued for 45 minutes. It might sound scary, but it wasn’t, and I found it to be very beneficial. I look forward to implementing some of the steps to sermon preparation that Art suggested we pursue. I am sure that Cornerstone will become a mega church in a matter of months as a result of my new found skills. 
On another note…I didn’t want to go. I struggled to go. I was fighting internally about going. “Why”, you ask? Glad you asked. I’ll tell you why…
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By pastorbillwalden
I have high hopes to be able to share more through this new blog site. 
Thanks to Mike Wagner from Miganza Solutions for the great help. If you need computer or web help, contact Mike at www.miganza.com
The new site is still under construction, but I look forward to new ways to post documents, audio files, and video files.
Blessings all, and have a great weekend.
By pastorbillwalden
Mark 4:18, 19 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Jesus often taught the masses by way of parable, which is an earthly story that illustrates a heavenly truth. The parable of The Sower was one such parable.
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By pastorbillwalden
The Pharisees were some of Jesus’ biggest critics. They were the supposed super elite of the religious community in Israel, and they were sure that Jesus was a blasphemer who was worthy of death. They had personally challenged Jesus, but had been publicly corrected and refuted by Jesus. This only served to further harden their hearts against Jesus, and so they sent their own disciples to question Jesus, hoping to trap Jesus in His words, that they might incriminate Him.
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By pastorbillwalden
We often ask for wrong things from God. There may be a rightness about our intentions, but our intentions can very easily be skewed.
It was good that the disciples were following Jesus. The mother of James and John asked Jesus for a position of authority for her sons in Jesus’ kingdom.
Matthew 20:20-28 20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. 21And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” 22But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.” 23So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
24And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
The disciples were concerned about position. Where would they end up in the hierarchy of Jesus’ kingdom? James and John wanted positions of leadership. When the other disciples heard of their request, they were angry about their efforts of self promotion. Jesus went on to teach all of them, which indicates that they all had an erroneous view of “position” in the Kingdom of God.
Instead of focusing on their position, Jesus instructed His disciples to focus on their purpose, which was servanthood. He taught them by way of negative example, speaking of the kingdoms of men. He then spoke about His own kingdom, and the example and purpose of His own life, which was to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.
In our lives, may we realize that position is something set by God, and not us, but purpose is something we fulfill. May we focus on purpose rather than on position.
By pastorbillwalden
A rich, young ruler had come to Jesus asking about eternal life. Ultimately, Jesus told him to sell all that he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus. The young man went away sad, for he had many possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22)
Jesus went on to explain the problem that rich people have.
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By pastorbillwalden
The man or woman who walks with Jesus will be concerned about people. They will notice the needs of people, as did Jesus, and as He still does. Jesus will use His present day disciples to meet people’s needs. We who follow Jesus must be sensitive to how He is leading us to minister to others.
Matthew records for us what has come to be known as “The Feeding Of The 5,000.” The actual number of people was more than this.
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By pastorbillwalden
The words “hearing” and “listening” are very similar, and yet for the purpose of this article, allow me to offer a distinction.
Hearing: the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived.
Listening: the act of hearing attentively.
Those who hear the words of Jesus need to put forth effort to hear Him with sincerity of heart. It is entirely possible to hear the words of Jesus, and see His works among men, but still be deaf and blind to the realities of Who He is.
In Matthew 13, Jesus spoke the parable of The Sower. When He finished, His disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables. Consider the ramifications of His response to their question.
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By pastorbillwalden
Jesus empowered and sent out His disciples on a preaching and healing tour through Israel. Part of His preparation for them was to teach them about what kind of attitude and outlook a disciple of Christ ought to have. Lest they or we be discouraged, we need to understand…
1. What the cost is for following Jesus.
2. We need to understand the goal.
3. We need to understand the comfort in following Jesus.
We need to be reminded of the Teacher/Student relationship.
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