The Master's Journal

Overview: When Jesus ascended and the Spirit now given, the gospel began to spread, just as Jesus promised. Acts describes the church’s birth and its rapid progress across the known world. 1.Scripture: Summary of Acts 1-28 Pentecost After the ascension m Jesus disciples returned to Jerusalem to pray and await the promised Holy Spirit (1:1-26). Coming at the Pentecost (2:1-4), he transformed the previously fearful followers and produced 3000 conversions that first day (2:41) and a new way of living (2:42-47). Acts then records the church’s subsequent advice in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (1:8). Jerusalem (Chapters 1-7) The apostle’s ministry (3:1-26) brought not only the conversions but also persecution (4:1-22, 5:17-42,6:8-7:60). However, nothing could stop them, though Ananias and Sapphira’s deception almost destroyed the very thing the church becoming known for and was ruthlessly dealt with (5:1-11). The persecution climaxed in Stephen’s mart

  Worship leading isn’t just for those with exceptional musical talent and the charisma to “work a room”. It’s all about being a pastor. The task of calling our people to worship is pastoral in nature it is how you care, who you are reproducing ,loving the church, having a discipleship strategy ,worshiping with your worship team ,having patience with immature worshipers, loving Jesus, preparing your team for spontaneous worship, bearing each other’s burdens, teaching people to worship through trials ,teaching people to worship through distraction ,being sensitive to what people need, leading your team through change ,praying for your congregation.     In other words, its all about preparing the people to know the Lord. There is a saying that the deeper our people to know Christ the higher their experience in worship. Let me share some of the things I personally do as a pastor as I effectively challenge people to worship the Lord. 1.Teaching the word of God. The bible itself is our guid

     Church history reveals some lessons that Christians today would be wise to consider and reflect upon. The Christian Church has existed for 2,000 years, but it has changed and evolved significantly over that time. It is therefore important to look back  and learn the lessons from the history of the Church that can help us chart a  way forward today. The Church should always rely on the Holy Spirit  As the Bible documents in the four Gospels, the early Christian Church began  IN Jerusalem after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The disciples were witnesses  to these facts. But Jesus told them to wait for the Holy Spirit. Luke writes in the book of      Acts of how the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. As a result, they disciples were led by the Holy Spirit and the Church grew rapidly as they spread the good news and lived lives very different from the prevailing Roman and Jewish cultures. Throughout history, the Church has grown significantly when there was either persecution

     Think of David and Goliath (see 1 Sam. 17). The Philistine army had caused a military crisis by bringing the giant, Goliath, to challenge the Israelites. Everybody was afraid of Goliath. Nobody thought they could win over such a formidable foe. But they had to, or they would be taken over by the Philistines. King Saul and his seasoned warriors were stalling for time.      Along came David, ostensibly to bring food to his big brothers, who were part of the army. He heard about Goliath’s challenge, and he knew that something had to be done. With a combination of God given courage and cleverness, David initiated a solution. He proposed that he himself, a young shepherd, should confront the giant. Was this some kind of a joke? How could a mere boy expect to succeed where well-armed warriors had failed?      The Israelite king was out of options, so he agreed to David’s crazy plan. What did they have to lose? You know how it turned out. David was not crazy after all because he was not

Don Carson |  Eight Summarizing Words:   1 Cor. 15:1-19 1.  The gospel is Christological . It is Christ-centered. Not a bland theism or an impersonal pantheism; it’s irrevocably Christ-centered. “The gospel is not preached if Christ is not preached” (Stott). The gospel embraces not just Christ’s person, but also his death and resurrection. It’s not enough to emphasize Christmas and downplay Good Friday and Easter. Jesus is the promised messiah who died and rose again. 2.  The gospel is theological.  It makes no sense to put the mission of the Son against the mission of the Father. Some surveys of redemptive history depersonalize the wrath of God. From the beginning sin has been an offense against  God . When we sin in any way, God is invariably the most offended party (cf. Ps. 51:4). God gets most angry at idolatry, the de-Godding of God. 3.  The gospel is biblical.  Christ died, buried, was raised–“according to the Scriptures” (cf. Luke 24; Ps. 16; Isa. 53; Ps. 2). 4.  The gospel is a

  BIBLE The Bible is a collection of 66 documents inspired by God. These documents are gathered into two testaments, the Old (39) and the New (27). Prophets, priests, kings, and leaders from the nation of Israel wrote the OT books in Hebrew (with two passages in Aramaic). The apostles and their associates wrote the NT books in Greek. The OT record starts with the creation of the universe and closes about 400 years before the first coming of Jesus Christ. The flow of history through the OT moves along the following lines:   •     Creation of the universe   •     Fall of man   •     Judgment flood over the earth   •     Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel)—fathers of the chosen nation   •     The history of Israel   •     Exile in Egypt—430 years   •     Exodus and wilderness wanderings—40 years   •     Conquest of Canaan—7 years   •     Era of Judges—350 years   •     United Kingdom—Saul, David, Solomon—110 years   •     Divided Kingdom—Judah/Israel—350 years   •     Exile in Babylon—70 years

  W HY  S OME  T RIALS  N EVER  END by: James MacDonald      The apostle Paul is famous for his thorn. So what was it? A lot of ink has been spilled trying to answer that question. Tertullian, a church historian, said it was headaches. Ramsey said it was epilepsy. Luther said that it was demonic oppression. Augustine said that it was his relational adversaries in Corinth.      A thorn. The word  thorn  is used only once in the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 12:7 ( NASB ):  “To keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh”  The Greek word literally means  a splinter; a  stake; a thorn . It’s a small piece of wood imbedded in the skin that causes injury. And really—the pain is disproportionate to its size. A THORN IS AN ENDURING SOURCE OF PERSONAL PAIN ALLOWED BY GOD FOR YOUR GOOD. ALLOWED BY GOD That phrase  allowed by God  needs some clarification. Honestly, it’s a mystery. How could a loving God allow painful, difficult things to happen even as He does? This

Does God controls Everything?  by RC Sproul HE GOD WHO SEES The doctrine of providence is one of the most fascinating, important, and difficult doctrines in the Christian faith. It deals with difficult questions, such as: “How does God’s causal power and authority interact with ours?” “How does God’s sovereign rule relate to our free choices?” “How is God’s government related to the evil and suffering in this world?” and “Does prayer have any influence over God’s providential decisions?” In other words, how are we to live our lives in light of God’s invisible hand? Let us begin with a simple definition. The word  providence  has a prefix,  pro- , which means “before” or “in front of.” The root comes from the Latin verb  videre , which means “to see”; it is from this word that we get our English word  video . So, the word  providence  literally means “to see beforehand.” The providence of God refers to His seeing something beforehand with respect to time. Providence is not the same thin

Guide on how to Read the Bible by; John MacArthur   Millions of pages of material are printed every week. Thousands of new books are published each month. This would not be surprising to Solomon who said, “Be admonished. . . . Of making many books there is no end” (Eccl. 12:12). Even with today’s wealth of books and computer helps, the Bible remains the only source of divine revelation and power that can sustain Christians in their “daily walk with God.” Note these significant promises in the Scripture.   The Bible is the source of truth:  “Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The Bible is the source of God’s blessing when obeyed:  “But He said, ‘More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it’” (Luke 11:28). The Bible is the source of victory:  “. . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). The Bible is the source of growth:  “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet.

  List at LEAST 6 THINGS to Guard or  Watch when it comes to CHURCH MONEY (sourcing, saving, reporting) Article Name :APOLLO QUIBOLOY ‘Root of all evil’: Quiboloy church’s demands for money mire followers in debt 1.Exploitation of Children The use of children to collect money. Pretend you are a student to support your studies  but is used for collection of the church Pretend sickness or human deficiency. 2.Encouraging selling of things to get money for the church as instructed. 3.Encouraging members to lie and borrow money for church collection. 4.The use of Bogus charity works. 6.The use of offering or pledge beyond tithe  every Sunday that cause exhaustion of giving to members, even putting a quota to it.

  Takeaways from  Exegesis to Theology Dr. Michael Brown   1.Exegesis is the reading out of the bible. Plain sense and attended meaning. 2.Eisegesis is the reading into the bible our own interpretation. 3.Hermeneutics – System of interpretation. 4.Theology – Study of God. 5.Read the bible without preconception. 6.Word meaning, Bible Translation, Textual Similarity, Context before interpretation. 7. The same author and same book likely has the same meaning. 8.Reading the word with common sense. 9.Do focus on study and reading through the bible. 10. Interpretation in order to draw conclusions. Word meaning comparison and translations. 11.The bible is not a systematic textbook, to draw conclusion (Theology) Understand word meaning, exegesis, context to build the building blocks for interpretation.