All posts by Brian Joines

Driven by a desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, I am committed to fulfilling God’s calling on my life to shepherd His flock. I was raised on a small dairy farm in Sweetwater, Tennessee. God saved me as a nineyear-old boy through the ministry of my home church and ten years later called me to ministry. I love serving the local church through preaching, teaching, leading worship, and discipling younger Believers in the faith. I love playing guitar, hiking, and reading.

Missions, Worship

Worship Matters Part Five: True Worship Motivates Mission

September 2, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

God has never redeemed anyone to complacency !

If the only purpose of your salvation was to get you to heaven, God would have raptured you up to heaven the moment he made you alive in him. Instead, He has saved you to a purpose! Maybe you don’t know what this purpose is? Well, news flash: if you’re a Christian, you’re sent…if you’re a Christian, you’re to be on mission!

This passage in Isaiah is a great picture of this sending. Isaiah’s sins are atoned for and immediately he is sent. And he is a willing volunteer! When we encounter God in true worship, we will be motivated to heartfelt service. Our aim is to please the One who enlisted us (II Tim. 2:4)!

True worship always motivates mission. Any time you catch a glimpse of the glorious holiness of the Savior, it is a natural response for you to desire to long for others to experience him as well. God is worthy of your worship; He is worthy of your church’s worship; He is worthy of your friends/family/coworkers’ worship; He is worthy of the worship of the nations! Your desire should be to see them worshiping the same Savior!

Isaiah was good about not forgetting his fellow Israelites. He included them is his confession of sin (“I dwell among a people of unclean lips”) and he included them in his missions efforts (“Send me!”). He wanted his fellow Israelites to encounter this amazing God the same way he had. Unfortunately, the message he was tasked with preaching to them was less than encouraging (see 6:9-13).

John Piper has a great explanation of the motivation for missions. His says in his book Let the Nations Be Glad, “Missions exists because worship does not .” This is a great understanding and explanation of why we do missions. We don’t do missions because missions is our main purpose. We do missions because worship is the main purpose of humanity and not everyone is worshiping yet!

There is a beautiful cycle that God has established in moving his disobedient people toward being true worshipers. It begins with a revelation of God (“I saw the LORD”). The revelation of God’s holiness leads to repentance (“Woe is me!”). Repentance leads to worship (“Here am I!”). And worship leads to mission (“Send me!”). The cycle repeats because missions is the propagation of the revelation of God!

REVELATION –> REPENTANCE –> WORSHIP –> MISSION

One day, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” On that day, “every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Until the glory of the LORD fills the earth as the waters cover the sea, our response is “Here am I! Send me!”

How do we do this? Here are three levels of application:

True Corporate Worship: The Church that Worships Together, Witnesses Together

In your church services, may your worship be in Spirit and truth, and may that in turn motivate you to do missions together until the earth is covered in worshipers!

True Individual Worship: Private Worship Motivates Personal Evangelism

May your private devotional life be so passionate that it ignites a fire in your bones that cannot be quenched until the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD!

True Family Worship: Family Worship Produces a Picture of the Gospel for the World to See

Did you know that marriage was created as an image of what God’s relationship with the Church is supposed to be? If marriage is the shadow, Christ and the Church is the vignette. Your marriage and your family are to mirror the gospel to all those around you. When they see your unconditional love for your wife, husband, they see Christ’s unfailing love for his unfaithful Bride. When they see your willing submission to your husband, wife, they see the Church’s willing obedience to her Head, Jesus Christ. When the world sees your nurturing love and discipline of your children, they see God’s love for His people, for God disciplines the ones he loves.

Go to “Worship Matters Part One: Seeking True Worshipers“

Go to “Worship Matters Part Four: True Worship Is Jesus-Driven“

Christ-Centered Worship, Worship

Worship Matters Part Four: True Worship Is Jesus-Driven

August 13, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

Our last post we left our not-so-plucky hero trembling in fear before the weighty and tangible majestic glory of God’s holiness. And just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, one of those dreadful seraphs starts flying his way! When he awoke from this vision, he probably had to change his PJ’s and his bed sheets! He knew for sure that there was no hope for him, only the wrath of God for this poor wretch. Until…

Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
having in his hand a burning coal
that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
And he touched my mouth and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips,
your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
– Isaiah 6:6-7 –

This amazing worship experience teaches us another profound truth: True worship is a response to God’s glorious work of redemption .

Notice in the text that God is the one who takes the initiative. Isaiah simply stood there in utter fear because of his sin. This is the way redemption always works: “We love because he first loved us” (I John 4:19). If you’re redeemed, you owe everything to God for your redemption. He is the one who drew you (John 6:44). And he didn’t draw you because you were oh-so-pretty or oh-so-smart. How chiseled your jaw is makes no difference. His redeeming love is what transforms.

The most significant word in this entire passage is the word “altar.” This little word teaches us a profound truth: Redemption is not free. One of my favorite new hymns, “How Rich a Treasure We Possess,” by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa, contains this glorious line:

How free and costly was the love
displayed upon the cross.
While we were dead in untold sin,
the Sov’reign purchased us .

So for us, redemption is free. Yet redemption is the most costly purchase ever made. It was bought with the priceless and precious blood of the Son of God . Thank God that he is the one who purchased our atonement, initiates our salvation, and seals us until the day of redemption! Thank God that salvation is free! This is why later Isaiah preached,

Come, everyone who thirsts
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy, and eat!
– Isaiah 55:1 –

The coal that touched Isaiah’s lips was taken from an altar. An altar is a place of sacrifice. And this was not any altar. The temple where Isaiah’s redemption was purchased and this vision took place was not any old temple, or even the temple in Jerusalem. This was the heavenly temple of which the temple in Jerusalem was just a shadow and copy. This temple was the temple where our Great High Priest, Jesus, appeared before the throne of God to purchase our redemption. This altar was the altar where Jesus offered up the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of himself, the spotless Lamb of God (Hebrews 9:11-14, 23-28). This vision is our pulling the curtain back and seeing a glimpse of what was going on in the heavenly temple when Christ was on the cross.

True worship is our appropriate response to Christ’s work on the cross to purchase our redemption . True worship is our adoration, thanksgiving, gratefulness, confession, love, praise, and blessing poured out to a God who lavished his grace, mercy, love, and peace upon us through sending his Son to purchase our salvation through the cross. True worship is Jesus-driven.

My plea to you is three-fold:

True corporate worship: Corporate worship must be Jesus-driven.

When you gather together with the people of God, if Christ is not preached and the gospel is not proclaimed, you are not worshiping the true and living God. Join and worship with a church that is gospel-centered and Christ-exalting.

True individual worship: Individual worship must be Jesus-driven.

You need the gospel. The gospel is not magical prayer that saves someone and they never need it again. The gospel is the power of God for those who are being saved (I Corinthians 1:18). You need the gospel every day. Preach the gospel to yourself daily. Chew on the truth that Christ died for you on the cross and has redeemed you for his glory ! Make you private devotions gospel-centered and Christ-exalting.

True family worship: Family worship much be Jesus-driven.

Leading your family well in family worship involves three things: reading Scripture together, praying together, and singing a song in worship together. The most important element is Scripture, and a helpful tip when leading a discussion about any text of Scripture is to do what C.H. Spurgeon did in his preaching. He said, “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.” Make your family worship gospel-centered and Christ-exalting.

Go to: “Worship Matters Part Three: True Worship Requires Repentance“

Godliness, Worship

Worship Matters Part Three: True Worship Requires Repentance

August 5, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

In Isaiah’s vision in chapter six, the heavenly temple is quite literally bursting with the glory of God. The train of God’s robe was already filling the temple, indicating God’s majestic glory. And if that was n’t indication enough, as soon as the seraphim begin to shout God’s praises back and forth to one another, the foundation of the heavenly temple itself begins to shake and smoke fills the temple. This place is literally bursting at the seams with God’s glory!

And there, in the midst of it all, feeling completely out of place, is little Isaiah. He knows the truth. He knows that he doesn’t deserve to be in this glorious place. He doesn’t deserve to be in the presence of the glory of God. He knows that he should be utterly destroyed in the glorious presence of this thrice-holy God. He doesn’t belong. Simply being in the presence of this holy God demonstrates very clearly to him the stark contrast. He is a sinner.

Just like the foundation of the temple, so Isaiah himself trembles at the holiness of this great God. He is so struck with the holiness of God and his own sinfulness that he is only left with one option: repentance.

Woe is me!
For I am lost;
for I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!
– Isaiah 6:5 –

True worship of the holy God of the Bible requires confession and repentance

When Isaiah says “I am a man of unclean lips,” he is indicating a deeper reality of his heart. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Your mouth is directly connected to your heart. Whatever is in your heart is going to come out of your mouth. This is why Jesus also said that it’s not what goes into a person, but “what comes out of a person is what defiles him,” (Mark 7:20). The mouth is the conduit of the heart. Your mouth is the litmus test of your heart .

So when Isaiah confessed that he was a man of unclean lips, he was confessing that he was sinful to the core. He saw more clearly than he ever had before that he was sinful at heart. Sinful at root. David had a similar vision of his sinfulness after being rebuked by the prophet Nathan:

For I know my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you and you only have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
– Psalm 51:3-5 –

We are no better than Isaiah. We are no better than David. We are just as sinful, just as wicked. If you desire to worship God in all his glorious holiness, you must learn this about yourself, confess your utter sinfulness, and repent. Any attempt to worship God without repentance is not only rejected by God, but is an abomination to him .

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
– Proverbs 15:8 –

True worship requires repentance. And worship is the only thing that will not get boring throughout the endless ages of eternity. You ever wonder why you get bored and dissatisfied with things so quickly? Why does that new toy that brought you so much joy at first now just sit in the closet or garage? Why is it that nothing fully satisfies you? C.S. Lewis describes this phenomenon well:

If we find ourselves with a desire
that nothing in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation is that
we were made for another world.
– Mere Christianity –

Worship is why you were created, only thing that will fully satisfy you, and worship requires your repentance .

Here are three applications:

True corporate worship: Corporate worship requires corporate repentance.

Our worship gatherings must include an aspect of “we are a people of unclean lips.” When we get together to worship God, if we are not struck with God’s holiness to the extent that we are driven to repentance, we are not experiencing God’s holiness in a tangible enough way.

True individual worship: Individual worship requires repentance.

For help in this area, two passages that are extremely helpful are Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. Use these psalms as templates for prayer. They will walk you through how to appropriately respond to God’s Word in repentance.

True family worship: Family worship requires repentance.

When a family is committed to repentance and reconciliation, there is great joy in that family. A family that is constantly emphasizing forgiveness and biblical communication is at peace. Even when there is sin (and there always will be on this earth), that family knows that repentance will come, forgiveness will follow, and reconciliation will win the day.

It brings incredible joy to know that even when your family sins against you, you can rest in the hope that they will ask for forgiveness and you will forgive; or when you sin against your family, you will ask for forgiveness and they will forgive you.

And that’s what the gospel is all about: the joy of reconciliation.

Go to “Worship Matters Part Two: True Worship Begins with the Bible“

Go to “Worship Matters Part Four: True Worship Is Jesus-Driven“

Bible Intake, Word of God, Worship

Worship Matters Part Two: True Worship Begins with the Bible

July 31, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

Have you ever seen God in a vision? Don’t worry, visions are not the normative way in which God has ever spoken to his people. When Isaiah received this vision, it’s because God especially chose Isaiah to receive this revelation. Through this special revelation of God, Isaiah 1) received his calling, 2) was then to preach this message to God’s people, 3) and was then to pen this vision down so that future generations of God’s people could benefit from this vision of God. Even today 2,800 years later, here you are reading a blog article about this experience of God.

In the year that King Uzziah died
I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up;
and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim.
Each had six wings:
with two he covered his face,
and with two he covered his feet,
and with two he flew.
And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook
at the voice of him who called,
and the house was filled with smoke.

Isaiah 6:1-4

The most important thing we learn about God from this vision is his complete and utter holiness. God’s primary attribute is his holiness. Many would say that God’s primary attribute is love. Doesn’t the Bible even say, “God is love? (I John 4:8)” God is love. But his love is a holy love. In fact, all of God’s attributes are defined through his holiness :

God’s love is a holy love
God’s justice is a holy justice
God’s judgment is a holy judgment
God’s wrath is a holy wrath
God’s grace is a holy grace
God’s mercy is a holy mercy

God’s holiness is demonstrated in the vision through his perfect and exalted royal majesty. He is King. This is one of the great themes of Isaiah. The reason many people have a hard time reading through the book of Isaiah is because of all the “woes.” “Woe to you Damascus…woe to you Tyre and Sidon…woe to you Israel…woe to you Judah.” They can’t find the profitability of reading these today (II Timothy 3:16). But the reason the Holy Spirit inspired those woes for us to read even today is to show that God is not just the God over his chosen people. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the sovereign ruler over all the earth. That is what the throne signifies. This ruler sits on a high and exalted throne over all the earth.

But this vision took place not on an earthy throne, but in the heavenly temple of God. It’s interesting that this temple has a throne. Or should I say that it’s interesting that this throne is in a temple. God is so high and exalted that no one deserves to approach him. However, he desires, yea even commands, worship. His throne is in a temple for the purpose of worship.

The seraphim in this passage that worship God are mysterious creatures that we don’t know too much about. We know they are holy…yet even they cover their faces before this thrice-holy God. We also know that they call out to one another in worship:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

This structure of three ‘holy”s in a row is the Hebrew version of the superlative. It’s similar to us saying “really, really, really, holy” or “the most holy.” God is so holy, that the entire temple is trembling and bursting with the glory of God.

What we learn from this experience when it comes to worship is that worship must begin with revelation. Worship at root is our rightful response to all that God is . For us to respond with worship, we must be exposed to who God is. As stated before, a vision like this is not normative, so if you are waiting 4 God 2 reveal himself especially 2 you, don’t close your eyes and wait for a vision, open a Bible .

True worship begins with the Bible. We encounter God through his revelation of himself. And that happens through his Word. Therefore here are three points of application with regard to corporate worship, individual worship, and family worship.

True corporate worship: Worship with the church must begin with the Bible.

The church must keep the Word of God central in all that she does, especially worship. Paul commanded Timothy something that we need to hear today more than ever:

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture
– I Timothy 4:13

Reading of Scripture, both the dumb reading & preaching, must be central to the corporate worship service .

True individual worship: Individual worship must begin with the Bible.

Each time I begin my private devotion, I start with a short prayer of illumination (something like Psalm 119:18) followed by the reading of Scripture. Only after I’ve spent time meditating on the Word do I then pray and sing a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16).

One other encouragement I have for private worship is to ensure that you are meditating on Scripture and not just reading it shallowly. One way to do this is to underline a particular verse or set of verses that you want to come back to to pray through or spend a few minutes studying. I can’t say reading the Word without meditation is useless because God’s Word never returns empty (Isaiah 55:11), but if you just read and don’t spend any time thinking about what you read, it’s close to worthless.

True family worship: Family worship must begin with the Bible.

Perhaps family worship is not something you have thought about much or even heard of. It is not a new concept. In fact, it was a part of regular life for the Christian family back in the day to have both morning and evening devotions every day. Men would open their Bibles and lead their family in family worship. When was the last time you opened your Bible and led your family ?

Go to Worship Matters Part One: Seeking True Worshipers

Go to Worship Matters Part Three: True Worship Requires Repentance

Spiritual Health, Worship

Worship Matters Part One: Seeking True Worshipers

July 29, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

True or false? Are you in danger of worshipping a false God? Are you a true worshiper of the true and living God? If your conception of God is not the same image of God that the Bible presents, you are worshipping a false image (Exodus 20:4-6).

A.W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us .”

The hour is coming and is now here when the true worshiper will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship.
– John 4:23

Worship has been a hot topic in the church for the last couple decades, even to the point of being called “worship wars.” The only encouraging thing about this battle within the church is that it means that someone, somewhere believes something. Unfortunately, most of the battles fought have everything to do with personal preference and very little to do with God’s expectations .

Worship matters. I stole this title from Bob Kauflin because it is so relevant. I hope this post is helpful in that it discusses worship matters, but also in convincing you that worship matters!

God has revealed in His Word that he cares about worship. It matters to him. It ought to matter to us. In Leviticus 9, Aaron worships “by the book.” The glory of God appears, God sends down fire from heaven that consumes his offering, and the people shout and fall on their faces. God accepted Aaron’s offering. It honored and glorified God because it was according to the very specific (and morbid to the 21st Century mindset) details that God had laid out for the priests. This is a nice passage that shows that God is particular and even jealous about the way he commands to be worshiped .

However, Leviticus 10 gives us a even more shocking picture of God’s passionate pursuit of his own glory and how serious he takes worship. Aaron’s sons get it in their mind that they know how to worship God better than God does. They offer up incense to God in a manner that was contrary to God’s decree. Once again fire falls from heaven. But this time, the offering is not consumed, Aaron’s sons are! God takes worship seriously. So should you .

A little exercise: Take a moment to consider the one thing that makes you most happy. Hold this activity in your mind. If it’s a person, think of spending time with that person, etc… Now, imagine that you take tomorrow off and do that activity all day long. Pretty exciting?! Now imagine taking two whole weeks and that’s all you can do is that activity. A year. Fifty years.

How long do you think it would take for you to grow immensely tired of that task? At first what was a delight slowly becomes duty and ultimately drudgery. This is the way any task in this world is. There is nothing in this world that can truly satisfy you, fulfill you, satiate you, complete you. That’s because you were made for another world!

“If I find within myself desires which nothing in the world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
– C.S. Lewis

God is seeking true worshipers who will worship him in Spirit and truth. Are you one of those worshipers?

Over the next four posts, I want to show four crucial truths about True Worship from Isaiah 6:1-8.

Worship Matters Part Two: True Worship Begins with the Bible
Worship Matters Part Three: True Worship Requires Repentance
Worship Matters Part Four: True Worship Is Jesus-Driven
Worship Matters Part Five: True Worship Motivates Mission

Until then, chew on these:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
– Romans 12:1-2

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
– Hebrews 12:28-29

Bible Intake, Heart, Spiritual Disciplines

You’ve Got a Heart Problem – The Great Physician Can Help

July 24, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12

The basic point of Hebrews is that Jesus is better. Chapter four discusses how not only he is better, but his message is also better. Any good news this world may offer, your doctor may offer, and even the Geico^© Gecko may offer cannot compare to Christ’s good news, the gospel. The message of the gospel is that if we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus Christ to save us we have eternal life and eternal joy. If we neglect or reject this offer, there is only “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:27). Run to Christ!

Even as Christians who have eternal life and joy, we still live in these sinful bodies. This means that we are subject to temptation from the world, the Devil, and ourselves. Scripture speaks of redemption in all three tenses: past, present, future: We have been redeemed, we are redeemed, and we will be redeemed. Until we are fully redeemed and are living in redeemed, resurrected bodies, we must fight against “all that is in the world: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (I John 2:16).

Think of it like this: We have heart disease. “Our heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9)? We need open heart surgery. We must allow the Great Physician to use His scalpel, the Sword of the Spirit, to change the desires of our heart to match His .

To carry this analogy (possibly) too far:

Reading God’s Word is changing your diet.

Memorizing God’s Word is taking the right medication.

Meditating on God’s Word is changing your exercise routine.

Studying God’s Word is laying on the surgery table under the knife of the Great Physician, allowing him to take out your old, cold, heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh; open heart surgery .

How is your spiritual health? What are you doing to change your spiritual lifestyle ?

“For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” – I Timothy 4:8

Spiritual Disciplines

Collaborative Rumination: The Benefits of Breaking Bread with Brothers

July 22, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

What did Jesus’ bro-night look like ? While he often slipped off to be alone with his Father, Jesus also made sure to spend quality time with his disciples. He often would take them aside to expound on the things he had taught to the masses. In one memorable scene, Jesus was praying with his disciples and one of them asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1-4). He took the opportunity to teach them the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer has been the template that generations of Christians have used to approach God in prayer both individually and corporately.

Jesus made sure that he and his disciples were meditating on Scripture…together! Their conversations did not just consist of the top plays from the Gallilee Giants vs. the Jerusalem Juggernauts game or Martha’s most recent roasted fish recipe. Jesus was always about the Father’s business (Luke 2:49), and this meant consistently directing the conversation toward the deeper things of God.

What do you chew on during bro-night or girl’s night out? I hope it’s not just chips and crack dip. Be intentional about chewing on the Word – together!

Often in our Christian circles, we associate fellowship with food and fun. In fact, the thought of having a time of fellowship with no casserole present is tantamount to blasphemy. While there is a precedent for fellowshipping over food (and wine for that matter) in Scripture, The necessary ingredients for biblical fellowship are neither food nor fun, casserole nor sports-talk . There are two necessary elements to enjoy godly, biblical fellowship: believers and the Word of God. Biblical fellowship is chewing the Word together!

Necessary Element for Biblical Fellowship # 1: The Bread of the Word

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
– Matthew 4:4

The most glaringly obvious omission in most churches’ fellowship gatherings is the Bread of the Word. There’s usually plenty of bread, but very little if any of the Bread of God. I am not suggesting a sermon or even a teaching time during your pot-luck. I am simply arguing that perhaps your pot-luck “fellowship” is not biblical fellowship at all.

True, biblical fellowship is the people of God talking about the things of God .

If there is no discussion of the things of God, you are not fellowshipping, you are socializing. As Christians, we need both. This is why socializing often takes up so much of your time before (and sometimes during) Sunday school or small group. We need to socialize, but we must press on to deeper subjects. Socializing is just the appetizer before the meal, the chips and salsa before the whole enchilada !

How can we be more intentional about generating true godly fellowship in our Christiancircles? It will take intentionality and maturity. The best way to cultivate biblical fellowship is to ask good questions. Asking the right questions steers the conversation toward deeper, godly topics. Here are a few questions one of my mentors developed that you can use to organically generate biblical fellowship during your next bro-night:

How is your [teaching, hospitality, deacon, etc…] ministry going?
What do you enjoy most about it?
What has the Lord been teaching you lately?
Have you had any opportunities to share the gospel recently?
Where in the Bible have you been reading lately?
What impact has it had on you?
How can I pray for you? – find the full article here –

Necessary Element for Biblical Fellowship # 2: Brothers

The other crucial element for godly fellowship is one or more brothers in Christ. This should be obvious, but for many Christians, they spend way too much time in and of the world and little to no time fellowshipping with their church family and fellow believers.

“That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
– I John 1:3

Our fellowship with fellow believers is directly tied to our fellowship with God. When I first began growing in my relationship with God, it all started with a deep study of the Word of God. My communion with God was fantastic. The intimacy I felt there cannot be matched by any worldly relationship. However, it wasn’t long before I discovered that as a Christian, I desperately need other Christians to encourage, uplift, and exhort, and even challenge, correct, and rebuke me !

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
– Hebrews 3:12-13

This text challenges us with this profound truth: we need each other! So where to start? Again, what we will need is intentionality and maturity. Here are some questions to chew on:

How can you be more intentional this week to meet with a brother or sister in Christ?
Who could you get together with bi-weekly or monthly to read and discuss Scripture together?
Who do you surround yourself with to hold you accountable to grow in your relationship with God?
Who do you trust with the deep things in your heart?
To whom do you confess sin so they can pray for you that you may be healed (James 5:16)?
What Christian brothers or sisters would be willing to meet you for a prayer breakfast where you can discuss how God is working in your life?

Go chew the Word! Together!

Worship

Praise Befits the Upright

July 17, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright. – Psalm 33.1

This Psalm is such a beautiful picture of what worship in Spirit and truth looks like. When the righteous man shouts for joy and sings the praises of his Redeemer, it is a glorious thing to behold. Praise befits the upright! It is fitting for the redeemed to sing the praises of the Redeemer. It is right. It is becoming of the upright to praise Him. When I read this verse, my mom’s voice rings in my ear. She was always saying, “that’s not becoming of a young man,” or “that shirt is not very becoming.” In the same way, it is not becoming of a believer when they speak curses. And it is certainly not becoming of a believer to praise God on Sunday and then curse people made in His image throughout the week.

But no human being can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father,
and with it we curse people
who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
– James 3.8-10

It ought to be just as odd to hear a Christian curse as to hear a cat crow ! When David prayed for forgiveness and repented of his sin, he recognized that his repentance included his mouth. “Then I will teach transgressors your ways…O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise” (Ps. 51). May our repentance be evidenced by our lips.

Which comes out of your mouth more? Blessing or cursing? #TestURself #OughtNotToBe #James3

Meditation, Spiritual Disciplines

Ruminate

July 15, 2014 Brian Joines Leave a comment

Growing up on a dairy farm had its joys. Getting up early enough to feed the calves before catching the bus was not one of them. But living on 200+ acres of land was awesome, and I learned so much about life and faith on that land.

One of the intriguing things about being around cows a lot was the fact that they seem to always be chewing. I mean, I understand the fact that they’re cows and they eat a lot (which is what makes calling someone a cow not so nice), but they even seem to be munching when they are laying down catching some shade from the hot sun under the big oak. As a young inquisitive boy who asked too many questions I was told they were “chewing the cud.” I didn’t find out what this meant until I was a teenager.

Cows are ruminants. They belong to a classification of mammals that regurgitate their food, re-chew it for a while and then swallow it again before digesting it using their four stomachs! They are called ruminants because of the way they chew. To ruminate is to chew on. So what are they doing out there laying under the old oak? They are vomiting up their lunch and chewing it up more! Gross and awesome at the same time.

But the most interesting reality about rumination is that God expects us to do it, too! Now before you go vomiting up your lunch as a mid-afternoon snack (too far?), the word ruminate also means ‘to think over, muse about, or meditate on.’

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” – Joshua 1:8

This specific command to Joshua applies to all Christians. We are not to live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. As the robin feeds her young the worm, so from the mouth of our Father the Word of God comes as life-giving nourishment .

So ruminate! Chew the Word. Think on it, meditate on it. Mull it over and apply it to your life every day. For the man that meditates on the Word day and night is the blessed man .

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of God and on his law he meditates day and night.” – Psalm One

RUMINATE: Chewing on Life and Doctrine