A Tale of Two Fathers

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it

Proverbs 22:6
 

This is a command of whatever you teach your children, this is what they will be when they grow up.
Your children see and hear everything that you do, even if you don’t think they are. They pay attention to your reactions, your words, and how you live.

In Genesis there are two different stories of two fathers and how each one lived differently than the other. How they led the destiny of their family was dependent on the choices they made.
Let’s take a look at the first father. In Genesis 13 it talks about how Lot moved his tent in the valley toward the evil city, Sodom. Notice he didn’t move into the city, but toward it, as life went on it states in chapter 14 he dwelt in the city. It is not always a quick move, but a progressive movement when allowing things of this world to break your wall of values you once held. In chapter 19 it states two angels went to Sodom to warn Lot to move him and any of his family out of the city before God destroyed it. In verse 14 Lot went to his family and warned them to escape before it was too late, but they laughed at him and took him like he was joking. Lot lost his testimony to his family by the example of how he lived and how he raised them. He wasn’t a righteous man that walked close to God for his family to fear what was really about to happen. So when the time came Lot was able to just escape with his wife and his two unmarried daughters. As you know Lot’s wife couldn’t look away from the past sinful life, she had to turn and look at the city she didn’t want to give up. A pillar of salt is what she was left as. Because of the life Lot lived backslidden and allowing the worldly ways to sway him he lost everything. Jesus even told the Jews “remember Lots wife” it was Lot, the father who led them to this position.

Now let’s turn to the second Father, Noah. Noah was a righteous man, and in Genesis 6:8 it says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. In chapter 7 right before the water over flowed the earth the Lord said ““Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” Because Noah was a faithful man, obedient a good and righteous father, his whole household was saved from destruction. His wife and sons saw how Noah lived and obeyed everything the Lord had told him, even when their neighbors would stop and mock him for building an ark. Noah kept going, and stayed focused on God and what He wanted him to do. He stood strong on what he believed and nothing made him twitch or doubt his beliefs.

Fathers today do make mistakes, but there is a choice to make on what kind of inheritance we want for our children, you can be in the church being a righteous, obedient man or out in the world leading your family  out of church. Planting the seeds in your children are important.

Ask yourself these questions: What things do I allow in my house or allow my children to see or do?Do my kids see me worship God? Do they hear me pray? Do I make God a priority in our lives? Do they see me read the Bible? Do the words that come out of my mouth, words of God?
Remember your children will remember the seeds you plant in their life, and you will see it reflect in their lives.

Taken from our June newsletter, read it here...

The Jesus Name Centennial

In 2013-2014 we celebrate one hundred years of the restoration of water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find examples of this practice throughout church history, but key events in the early twentieth century led to the greatest revival of this message since the third century.

The Jesus Name message was renewed in the modern Pentecostal movement, which originated with a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas, in January 1901 led by Charles Parham and with the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, from 1906 to 1908 led by William Seymour. Based on the examples in Acts, some early Pentecostals began to baptize in Jesus’ name, including Parham (1901), some in Los Angeles during the Azusa Street Revival (1907), and Andrew Urshan, a Persian immigrant in Chicago (1910).

The practice did not yet have strong doctrinal significance, however. Two notable events led to the development of the Jesus Name message as a distinct movement: the Worldwide Camp Meeting in Arroyo Seco in April 1913 and the rebaptisms of Frank Ewart and Glenn Cook in April 1914.

The Worldwide Apostolic Faith Camp Meeting was organized by R.J. Scott and George Studd and held at Arroyo Seco near Los Angeles, on a campground used by the Azusa Street Mission. The month-long meeting began on April 15, 1913, and perhaps two thousand people attended.

The main speaker was Maria Woodworth-Etter, a well-known Pentecostal evangelist. Expectations were high, and 364 people received the Holy Spirit. Many miraculous healings occurred as Woodworth-Etter prayed “in the name of Jesus.” At a baptismal service Robert McAlister, a Canadian minister, explained that single immersion was the proper mode for baptism, not triple immersion. As proof he cited the baptismal accounts in Acts. The apostles baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; they never baptized using the words “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” as triple immersion requires.

McAlister’s observation planted a seed in the minds of several people. A man named John Schaepe was so inspired that he spent the night in prayer. Early the next morning he began running through the camp shouting that he had received a revelation of the power of the name of Jesus. Quite a few campers were greatly stirred as Schaepe fervently explained his newfound understanding.

Another man who was deeply impressed was Frank Ewart, originally from Australia, where he had been a Baptist bush missionary. In 1903 he immigrated to Canada, in 1908 he received the Holy Spirit in Portland, Oregon, and in 1912 he became pastor of a Pentecostal mission in Los Angeles founded by William Durham. Ewart had been studying the name and oneness of God for some time, so McAlister’s comments were especially intriguing to him. Ewart invited him to his home, where they discussed the theological implications of using the name of Jesus in water baptism. They concluded that when the apostles baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they properly fulfilled Christ’s command to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19).

After the camp, Ewart began working in Los Angeles with McAlister and Glenn Cook, a noted evangelist who had been the full-time business manager of the Azusa Street Mission. These men continued to study the name of Jesus and the doctrine of God. After several months McAlister returned to Canada and shared their thinking with ministers there, particularly Franklin Small. At some point they also included in their discussions G.T. Haywood, a ministerial friend and a prominent African American pastor in Indianapolis.

In November 1913 at a convention in Winnipeg, McAlister preached the first sermon on the name of Jesus in water baptism. Small had charge of the baptismal service and baptized thirty new converts in the name of Jesus Christ. These were the first Jesus Name baptisms to result from the Arroyo Seco meeting.

Back in Los Angeles, Ewart and Cook concluded that, following the apostolic pattern, water baptism should always take place with the invocation of the name of Jesus. They also concluded that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not three distinct persons but three manifestations of the one God, and Jesus is the revelation of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The reason why there is such power when believers preach, pray, and baptize in Jesus’ name is that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus.

To proclaim this message, Ewart and Cook pitched a tent and began meetings in Belvedere, California, just outside Los Angeles. On April 15, 1914, Ewart preached his first sermon on Acts 2:38. He proclaimed that the full message of salvation consists of repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost; and he associated Jesus Name baptism with the oneness of God in Christ. Then Ewart baptized Cook in the name of Jesus Christ, and Cook baptized Ewart.

This action—the first rebaptisms in the name of Jesus Christ—decisively identified Oneness Pentecostalism as a distinct movement. As the Jesus Name message was preached, a great revival broke out in Los Angeles. Many were miraculously healed and many received the Holy Ghost in the waters of baptism. Soon the Jesus Name message began to spread around the world.



David K. Bernard is the general superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International.

This article has been adapted from David K. Bernard’s book A History of Christian Doctrine, Vol. 3. See this book for documentation.

by David K. Bernard  
 

Published on Thursday, 10 January 2013

Copied from UPCI.ORG

Best iPad Apps for Pastors

What are the best iPad apps for pastors? Using my iPad as a pastor for the last 3 years, I have tried a lot of different apps.

If you are anything like me, you are in a never-ending hunt, roaming the iTunes App Store looking for the next app that will make your iPad better than ever.
After trying many different apps, I have compiled a list of my absolute favorite iPad apps for ministry that I truly believe every iPad packing pastor needs.

Day One Journal – Day One recently has won various app awards for a reason. It is the best app for anyone who journals. It is especially useful for your quiet time with God. If you are not into journaling, consider using Day One for recording prayer requests. Another great use is for having a record what God has been speaking to you in your quiet time with Him, so you can pull those thoughts for sermon preparation later.

Evernote – Never forget anything ever again. This the best note-taking app ever. I use Evernote for keeping a database of every sermon I have ever preached. I also use it to capture down random ideas for sermons, illustrations, blog posts or whatever else comes to mind. Evernote helps you capture great ideas before you forget them. A must for every pastor! Plus, here are more ways Evernote makes a pastors life easier.

Penultimate - Penultimate is a hand-written note taking app created by the good folks at Evernote. Because it is owned by Evernote, as soon as you are done taking your notes, it automatically saves them into a designated Evernote folder for you. I love using this app for taking notes in meetings. Call me old school, but I find that typing on an iPad can seem obnoxious during meetings. People don’t know if you are sending email, surfing the web, or actually paying attention. So I use Penultimate along with a good stylus to write meeting notes by hand, that are later searchable in Evernote. This just feels and looks much more professional to me.

DropBox – Dropbox is an amazing hard drive in the cloud. Dropbox syncs with your computer so you can easily drag and drop any file into it. Then, you can easily pull these files up at any time on your iPad or iPhone. I love having it for things like volunteer applications. Any time someone asks me about volunteering, I can simply pull up Dropbox and email them an application on the spot. (Similar apps: Google Drive and Box)

Paper – Paper also won the app of the year award from iTunes. It is an awesome note-taking / drawing app. Paper allows you to organize notes and sketches into different notebooks just like if you had a bag full of notebooks with you. The interface is smooth and easy to use. I love using it for brainstorming sessions. Plus, it just looks beautiful.

LogMeIn – A must for the pastor on the go. LogMeIn allows you to access your desktop computer at any time from your iPad. It’s like having you computer with you at all times. Everything you need is right on your iPad. It can be a little pricey, but it’s worth it if you are rarely in your office.

1 Password – Never forget a password again! Like most tech-savvy pastors, you probably have multiple different accounts on multiple different websites. Forgetting a password can be an extremely frustrating and time-wasting scenario. 1 Password is an app for keeping all of your passwords in one secure place.

Downcast – The best podcast listener out there! If you want to grow as a pastor, listen to free podcasts from your favorite preachers. It automatically syncs across your iPad and iPhone. The best feature is the ability to speed up podcasts. By going up to 2x speed you can cut an hour-long message to 30 minutes, or a 30 minute message to 15. This is a great time saver, and you will be surprised at how quickly your brain adjust to the increased speed.

Logos Bible! – Logos gives you the power of an entire research library with you wherever you go. If you haven’t purchased the Logos software you can still do Hebrew and Greek studies and read the Bible for free. However, if you use Logos software, this app will sync with your entire book library. Excellent for sermon study on the go!

The Bible App – The Bible App from YouVersion is the best Bible app without exception. This has practically replaced my paper Bibles. The reading plans are a fantastic way to keep you accountable for daily Bible reading. And if you are driving, working out, or just don’t feel like reading, you can listen to the audio versions. All for free!

Bible for Kids – The Bible for Kids app was created by the YouVersion team. It’s FREE. And my 4-year-old daughter loves it. If you have kids get it. You should also recommend it to parents in your church for a fun, interactive way to get kids to learn Bible stories.  I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t have anything as cool as this when I was a kid in Sunday school and we just had the flannelgraph.

Feedly – After Google Reader closed down, Feedly quickly became my favorite RSS reader for the iPad. Feedly allows you to subscribe to all the posts from your favorite blog. I use this app to sift through hundreds of blog posts a day. Leaders are readers. Why not take advantage of the great free content some of the best minds on the internet are producing every day? (Other option: Flipboard – Does the same thing, but puts it together in a visually appealing magazine that also includes news feeds and social media.)

Planning Center – Planning Center is the best worship service and volunteer management system available. If you have never heard of it, do yourself and your worship pastor a favor and go to PlanningCenterOnline.com right now! Hurry up! I use this app weekly to manage the service order and coordinate the scheduling of hundreds of volunteers. Makes planning services and coordinating volunteers easy!

HootSuite – If you are using Social Media to reach your people and community (which you should). HootSuite is a great way to schedule posts across multiple sites. Use it for the church Facebook page, twitter profile and more. The greatest feature is the ability to schedule posts in advance. You no longer have to log in to each website individually at the perfect time to get the message you want out at the optimal hour. I am currently 3 months out in scheduled posts. Did I mention it’s free!

Pages, Numbers, Keynote – The office products from Apple are second to none. For writing documents, managing spreadsheets, or creating presentations, these apps are a must-have for every iPad. Apple has made them FREE for anyone who has recently purchased a new device (iPhone or iPad). But whether it is free or not, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t use these apps. Check them out.

Kindle – If you love reading, you need to get the Kindle app on your iPad. Why do I use Kindle instead of iBooks? 1) Amazon is the biggest book company in the world, and has a bigger selection of books for often a better price.  2) Call me paranoid, but if Apple ever went downhill as a company – gasp – I will still have all my Kindle books that I can read on an Android tablet, online, or an actual Kindle reader. I am not locked into an iPad. And 3) I love being able to access all my notes at kindle.amazon.com and save all of my highlights into Evernote for quick reference (more on that here).

Presentation Clock – I love using this app for timing my preaching. I speak a lot in environments with no clock. Instead of bringing a big clock and mounting it in the back of the room, I use Presentation Clock (although typically on my iPhone since I use my iPad for preaching). It counts down the remaining time, and changes color to warn you when you are nearly out of time. If you tend to preach too long, your church will thank you for using this app!

Genius Scan – Genius Scan turns your iPad into a scanner. I have gone paperless at home and at work. No more messy stacks of paper scattered across my desk! Genius scan takes a picture of the document, and then exports it to your destination of choice. (I use Evernote). Rather than searching through a messy pile of paper, I can now just search Evernote and BAM there it is. This is great for tracing receipts, meeting handouts, or saving a picture of a whiteboard.

GoodReader – I love preaching with an iPad. GoodReader is a great PDF reader that I use for all of my sermon notes. I write my sermon notes in pages, but word processors are terrible to preach from, because with one tap you could accidentally delete or rearrange all of your notes. GoodReader allows me to crop, highlight, and read my notes without fear of messing them up.

Spotify – Spotify has completely replaced the iTunes app on my iPad. Spotify gives you access to a music library of nearly every song ever recorded! There are free options, but I signed up for the subscription, because it is worth every cent. Instead of paying $10 a month for one new Christian CD, I pay $10 a month for every Christian CD ever. It is great for making current playlists for my ministry. No more old songs playing again and again for years in my church. Nothing but the best.

Garage Band – If you want to make music, record music, record a podcast, record your preaching, or record a meeting, Garage Band is for you. Garage Band is the best audio recording app available. Period.

iMovie – Being able to create video is more and more important in churches. If you want to shoot and edit video announcements, testimonies, skits, video of service projects, or whatever, iMovie is the best. This app can handle just about any video project a church has (other than 3D animations and more technical videos like that).

30/30 – 30/30 is a time-management app for getting more done. It lets you set a list of tasks and a time allotment for each. Then, start the timer and get as much done as you possibly can before the buzzer. Now switch to the next task. This works great if you think about it as a game. How much can you get done before the clock runs out? Just don’t forget to schedule a break or two in between tasks. Use it for managing time on Facebook, checking email, or working on a sermon. You will be surprised at how much more you get done in less time.

Clear – Clear is now my favorite to-do app. I have tried a many to-do lists, and I absolutely love the simplicity of Clear. If you live and die by your to-do list like me, you need a simple, enjoyable way to keep your list across all your devices. This may sound weird, but the gestures you use and the sound effects in this app make finishing and adding tasks feel like a video game. If you try it, you will see what I mean.

I hope you found this list of the best iPad apps for pastors helpful.

By Brandon Hilgemann

Copied from Rocky Mountain District UPCI website.