Bob Young Resources

So says the song–so says our experience!
We were blessed yesterday and today beyond measure to spend a little time with our forever friends, Rod and Lynne Boydstun. The conversation picked up where we left off several years ago, as is the case with friends.
Beautiful memories, shared lives, intertwined and yet distanced geographically, faith and hope and love.
Tell your friends how much you love them as soon as you can–we had waited too long, but tried to make up for it with the hugs and “love you’s”!

Hold yourself to a higher standard than anyone else expects of you.

The above saying has been a polar star in my life. I have tried to live my life so that few, if any, had expectations higher than the standards I set for myself. This saying explains much about my ministerial life–the reason I have studied more, read more, prepared longer for my sermons and classes, arrived earlier, stayed later….

There is nothing like self-accountability to avoid the unpleasant evaluations or comments of others. Holding one’s self to a higher standard, choosing never to merely “get by,” blunts many criticisms. Further, in some sense, a high level of self-accountability is an accurate reflection of the spirit and mind of Christ–giving self, going the second mile without being asked, serving others before self.

Today would have been my mother’s 90th birthday. She went to be with the Lord a little over 18 years ago, so she is present in my heart and mind rather than physically.
I still try to live my life in a way that would make her proud. She was and is my heroine. She would be amazed, but perhaps not surprised, at the opportunities God has afforded. Her faith, lived out in my life, has taken me around the world to places we never dreamed or imagined, always to the glory of God.
Today I remember my mother, her influence, her strength, her faith, and her love in the words of Paul to the Ephesians: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (3:20-21).

One of the first examples of leadership in the early church is found in Acts 6.
The church was growing magnificently, but that growth did not shelter the church from problems. Sometimes growth contributes to the problems. Including more and more people with different backgrounds often leads to perceived lack of fairness.

The study of Acts 6 provides many leadership principles.

Leaders see the problem as it is developing, not after it has exploded into a major, unresolvable difficulty.
Leaders do not allow problems to distract them from the work God has given them.
Leaders do not try to solve every problem by themselves–they involve others.
Leaders know how to involve the people who can best help solve the problem.
Leaders know how to involve the church in helping resolve the problem.
Leaders facilitate spiritual growth and training.

What additional lessons can you identify?

Acts 6:1-7 is the basis of an article posted under today’s date: Leadership in Action–Acts 6:1-7.

Every church has leaders, whether those leaders are officially chosen and officially recognized or not
That the church chooses leaders does not insure that those chosen will be good leaders.
A leader may technically meet biblical criteria and not be a good leader.
Thinking that church leaders are selected for life often eliminates accountability for the leaders.
The contemporary church suffers from a lack of visionary leadership.

Consider:
Visionary leaders receive their vision from God, his Word, and his purpose; not from their own thinking.
Visionary leaders are spiritual men and women who faithfully live out their Christian commitment, providing an example for others.
Visionary leaders are steeped in the Word of God and use it to guide every aspect of life.
Visionary leaders communicate the vision and show how it connects with God’s purpose as revealed in God’s Word.
Visionary leaders are teachers of God’s Word, able to use God’s Word to provide counsel and direction.
Visionary leaders help the church develop the capacities to follow the vision God provides.

For additional reflection and thinking:
The church’s need for forward-looking leadership is the subject of an article posted with today’s date: Visionary Leadership.

Another Sunday, the opportunity to worship with another part of the wonderful, great, extended family of God. Today Jan and I are representing Baxter Institute at the Missions Fair at the Park Plaza church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after which I will preach in the Spanish-speaking assembly.

My sermon text is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Which questions are valid? Which are the good questions?

On a Sunday when the church is thinking about the mission of God, we often make it too complex and difficult. Mission begins with the opportunities and neighbors God has already given us.

Today’s blog includes several comments which first appeared in Pastors Weekly Briefing as commentary on the church’s lost ability to evangelize effectively (from March 27, 2009). I trust you will find them insightful, helpful, compelling, and challenging!

When we design seeker sensitive services, have we thought out the fact that what they are seeking is not what the church primarily was meant to offer? Are we offering a gospel that conforms to what they are seeking rather than what they actually need? We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, not the ministry of appeasement. … People don’t need Jesus to make them feel better. Although He certainly can do that, it is the by-product, not the end goal. They need to be saved from the consequences of their sin, from the just judgment of God. While love certainly motivated Christ to come and die for our sins, it was God’s holiness that necessitated justice and judgment, thereby necessitating an atonement for our sin in the first place. — D.C.

The drive to be ‘current, progressive, innovative, fresh or emergent’ is simply a poor substitute for authenticity. Where authentic Christianity is practiced, God will bless and use it regardless of numbers. Salt does not need to be large in quantity to have effect … Pointing out the lack of authenticity and the obvious decay is not the same as saying the true Christian church has failed. God always has some who have not bowed the knee to Baal. — D.M.

The church can no longer articulate what it believes and that is a major weakness of the church. If we can’t articulate what we believe and why we believe it, and then live it out, what we oppose or support has no foundation and no substance for us or others to hold onto. … We must expect more than moralism, especially from our leadership. There has to be something more that drives us than issues. God and His glory has to be the motivating force or we will lose steam and move onto something else. — (edited from M.S.)

There is a lot of fluff in the church today…. When was the last time churches had corporate prayer as a regular part of their weekly schedule, to come together to seek God and intercede for others? The one thing the government cannot take away is prayer. The last thing many, if not most, Christians engage in is prayer. — T.R.

We have let our beliefs go by the wayside. We have stood by and let our voices be silent for so long so that people would not think that we are intolerant. But, there are some things that are worth standing up for and there are beliefs that are worth dying for. We have to get past the fear of death and start being disciples the way the original 11 were without fear of dying for what is Truth!!! — L.V.

We define ministry largely by what was done in our church buildings … If the church instead defines ministry as what we do when we are not in the building, we will see that ratio of involvement increase until 100% of believers are actively seeking ways to be Christ’s hands extended … wherever we can find people. — H.R.