Archive for January, 2011

Sunday starts the signups for the Ping Pong Tournament.  On Saturday, March 5, at 12:30 PM, everyone is invited for the day as contestants will battle through a (sort of) official double-elimination ping pong (okay, okay… table tennis) tournament. Entry is $10 for adults and $5 for kids grade 6 and under. Match-ups will randomly selected by computer, and further rules will be added as time progresses.

Please consider helping the Teens of Faith earn their way to trips by either 1) signing up for the tournament, 2) bringing money for a donation at the tournament, and/or 3) purchasing food on the tournament day.  All activities will be held in the Fellowship Hall, and all food will be sold down there as well.  Signup in the foyer at the next church service!

NEEDED: Ping Pong tables!

We’re working through some random thoughts and topics for the next few Wednesday nights in the Teens of Faith.  We just finished up the Gender Series and are heading toward a Baptist Series, but in between the two we’re sprinkling in some random filler messages that I’m REALLY excited about!

GIVING

Last night’s message was a little bit like drinking water out of a fire hose! We did a quick exposition of 2 Cor. 8-9 and talked about giving; we want to be preparing for Faith Promise Commitment Sunday this weekend. Well, in this passage Paul’s talking about the grace of giving in the sense that it’s not about how little or how much you give (in terms of “dollar” amounts), it’s about the heart.

The Teens of Faith will definitely NOT be the Sunday school class that pays off our building debt! We’re NOT expecting a whole lot from their $8 annual salaries! (Don’t we all wish the Teens of Faith would hand out handfuls of Ben Franklins though?)

But… the fact is, whatever is considered “sowing bountifully” for each individual person (2 Cor. 9:6) is all God asks of you. “Bountiful” is not a dollar amount… it’s more of a proportion. Anyone truly giving bountifully out of an abounding heart of love for what God has done (2 Cor. 8:2, 8-9) will want to give. That’s the FAITH part.

The PROMISE part is basically from 2 Cor. 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give…” And the COMMITMENT part is what we do as a practical application to help “prove the sincerity of your love.” (2 Cor. 8:8)

I almost felt carnal in teaching the message, but if you really dive into the study yourself and think of just the word abound, you’ll find that God wants to give you so much that it’s spilling over! What a cool principle! I want to get in on that cycle. 2 Cor. 9:8-13… 1.) God abundantly blesses. (abundance, enriched) 2.) Our hearts our filled with gratitude and generosity. (thanksgiving, bountifulness) 3.) We desire to give to others. (bountifulness, administration, ministration, liberal distribution) 4.) God and the gospel are glorified. And the cycle starts all over again.

It starts with knowing everything you have is already God’s, and he LETS us be blessed in this way. You show me a joyful person and I’ll show you a giving person (2 Cor. 8:2). This Sunday, lets all purpose to know God’s will and get in on that cycle.

COMING UP…

The next few Wednesdays hold some really exciting times as we’ll be introducing some ways to be involved at church and in others’ lives. Further, we’ll be encouraging and teaching mostly on humble service, and the lessons will be on a few different topics relating to that thought.  Without giving it away I’ll leave it at that… but I can’t wait till next week! Until then… have a great day!

RR

I said it in the letter that I sent to the parents, but I’ll say it again because I know you might be thinking it… When it rains, it pours!

Plans are already in place to ensure that we’re not promoting so many big things at one time next year, but we’re mentioning all these things at once THIS year because we have to get our reservations, make sure we get good seats, or hotel, or dorm accommodations, etc. Once again, it may seem crazy, but we’re trying to reason out everything that we’re promoting, and we hope it’s all beneficial to the ones to which we’re promoting it.

Next up… Heartland Road Trip! This college survey trip will be Tue. – Sat., Mar. 15-18.  Another extensive post has already been written about that trip and the possibilities of Bible college, and I hope you read its contents. Basically, the ones attending the Road Trip will be a select few, and it’s not even expected that everyone goes to that.

Then… WCBC Youth Conference. I mentioned to the teens last night that I still look back on this conference as a pivotal time in my life when I was in high school. It’s a great opportunity for some great preaching, good fun, and memorable times.  The great preaching will be done by some men whom our kids have never heard, and one of the goals that I mentioned in a parent meeting a while back was for them  to fall in love with the Bible and with preaching. What better way to accomplish that then to encourage them to attend these conferences and then download the Mp3 later? It’s an exciting environment for preaching, and a fun time to hang out… they’ll even get to go to 6 Flags Magic Mountain! Can’t beat that!

• WHERE: West Coast Baptist College, Lancaster, CA
• WHAT: 3 days of great preaching, great activities
• WHEN: April 6-8. Leaving: 3:15PM (Wed.), Returning: 3PM (Fri.)
• HOW MUCH: $120 (Covers hotel and all conference costs. Includes meals.)
• SIGNUP: ASAP so we can get reserved seating.

Finally… Summer Camp! Now… I’ve already made a big deal about Summer Camp in another post, but this is the trip we don’t want to miss at all costs. And… it has to be promoted NOW! (Sorry. Everything seems urgent at this time.) I don’t like that everything slammed us all at once, but the March 1 deadline has been set by the camp and registration is due by then.

So those three events are what we’re pushing at this time. It’s all been reasoned out and plans are in place to avoid the congestion next year, but any overlap in events will maybe only affect one or two people. If, as always, you have questions, please let me know! If you have concerns about money, we’ll be doing lots of things to help that. It’s a REALLY exciting time of year as we’re already looking several months down the road.  If 2011 is anything like the last half of 2010 in terms of spiritual growth, I can’t WAIT to see what God does with these teens’ hearts.

Until next time,

RR

March is just around the corner (March 1 registration), and before we know it we’ll be loading up the bus to head to the desert this summer… Camp Ironwood!

For many, summer camp has been the most pivotal and life-changing spiritual event in their lives… for ME it was!  God used that one week every year in my life to break out the bad and build up the good, and He has done the same for countless lives for as long as I’ve been around (I’d suspect He was working before then, too!) Our preacher this year is the man who is preaching the 2011 Preaching Rally: Bryan Samms.  He is on staff at West Coast Baptist College, and has been involved in teens’ and college people’s lives for many years.  With morning and evening preaching sessions, a dedicated staff of camp counselors and helpers who love the campers, and a great environment in which the Lord can freely move, our young people will ONLY be helped by attending.

I hope this is the biggest part of everyone’s year. “Well,” someone might say, “…we might be going out of town that weekend.” If your other dates aren’t set yet, PLEASE make priority for camp! “Well, I’m not sure if we’ll have the money.” PLEASE let us know if you don’t have the money, and we will do all we can to get your teen involved in soul winning, working at the church, fundraisers, and other ways by which they will be able to attend.  Please do not let money be the determining factor!

Lots of excuses might come up, but we want to be aware of as much as we can so that we can see your child attend camp.  If you have any questions about Jr. High or Senior High camp, please see me or my wife.  Questions about the Jr. Camp (Grades 4-6 in Fall 2011) can be directed to my mom, Wendy Rench.

• PREACHER: Bryan Samms
• DATES: July 25-30
• REGISTRATION: $50 by MARCH 1!!! Please turn in forms to Ryan Rench, Jamie Rench, or Wendy Rench
• TOTAL COST: $285 (Includes March 1 registration fee. Cost is raised to $295 if registered between Mar. 1 and April 15. Raised to $309 if after April 15)
• WHERE: Ironwood Christian Camp (ironwood.org)
• WHO: All those entering 4th grade through 2011 graduates. (separate camps per grade: Jr. Camp, Jr. High Camp, and Sr. High Camp)

“House church:  Skip the sermon and worship at home.”

Pastor William M. Rench

August 2010

That was the headline of a recent AP article in The Californian, our local newspaper.

The story went on to tell of a group movement that is afoot to reject the church as it is defined by an organized entity with pastors, deacons, a doctrinal position, gathering for worship, instruction, preaching and carrying out the Great Commission.  In its place is a get-together in someone’s home with no more than 12 to 15 people for “sharing what’s going on in their lives,” according to the article.

One such gathering was described as follows:  “It was a lively, sometimes chaotic event, with noisy and mostly happy young children flitting about.”  There was a fellowship time, then “to the kitchen table to observe the Eucharist with prayer, pinched-off pieces of sourdough bread and red wine in plastic cups.”  Celebration continues with a potluck meal.  Then they gave a Power Point presentation about “corporate giving.”  Said the reporter, “The majority seem averse to a regular offering.”  The article went on to suggest that these anti-church gatherings are a backlash against all the “spectator sport” mega churches.  Most mega churches do have that character of being for the non-committed “spectator Christian” and are “doctrine-lite,” seeming to have a motto such as “come as you are, do as you please, stay like you were.”  These new era, house gatherings retain many of the flaws of the average mega church and add a few more of their own.

1.  They remain doctrine-lite. The emphasis is sharing rather than surrender to the will of the Word of God.

2.  The format is experience-based not truth-based.

3.  The formula lends itself to error of many kinds. For example, the article talked about how everyone in these groups was expected to teach.  So, 15 people throw out 15 perspectives on any given subject.  Lively discussion no doubt ensues and whoever is the dominant voice carries the day.  Little by little some form of doctrine surfaces but is arrived at by consensus of opinion and by the influence of the most persuasive individuals in the group.

4. They cultivate a disdain for any sense of biblical authority and leadership. It is of little wonder that over the process of time many of those who have chosen to reject the structure of a local church find their own children dismissing authority.

Some of the leaders in the “home church” movement have written articles attempting to respond to the significant number of homeschool parents who are shocked and hurt by their children rebelling.  Homeschooling can only be truly successful if the family is involved in and serving the Lord under the leadership at a biblical local church.

Our founding fathers found it necessary to throw off the bonds of an abusive and unjust secular authority represented by the King of England, but scarcely any of them ever dismissed the essential nature a connection with a local church.

5. They cultivate a disdain for preaching. Often central to the philosophy of these “home churches” is       what is reflected in the title of the news clipping I began with,     “Skip the sermon.”  Christians can gather for fellowship at any       time and most any place, but when we gather for church there        is to be preaching.  The Bible leaves no doubt as to God’s choice for communicating His Word to the world.  John the Baptist came preaching.  Our Lord Jesus came preaching.  The Apostles went out preaching.  God chose “the foolishness of preaching.”  These “home churches” join with the world when they decry the preaching of the Word as “foolishness.”  They wish to dispense with what God has chosen as His means to get His Word out to the world.

From Old Testament times, God has always chosen to call a man to stand forth and declare God’s Word and to “give the sense of it” to a congregation of people.  “Home churches” will search in vain to find Scripture to justify the dismissal of preaching.  Not once in Scripture does God command us to gather in small groups limited to 15 and share opinions and fellowship.

On the contrary we find local churches established as we read the New Testament.  These churches had structure, pastors, deacons, congregations, ministries, and missionaries.  They gathered together on Sunday and at other times.  They had preaching, teaching, worship, singing, prayers, giving, and going.  They had leadership.  The simplest biblical illustration of the New Testament church is one used over and over in the Bible.  It is that of a fold of sheep and a shepherd.  The “home fellowships” would like to dismiss the role of the Pastor.  When Jesus sought to describe a people headed for scattering and confusion, He described them as “sheep without a shepherd.”

Though it is true that some have abused the role of Pastor, it does not justify the desire of “home fellowships” to dispose of that biblical office.  God has ordained it, let not men put it asunder.  Though there are examples to be given of churches and ministers carrying on in ways which cannot be supported biblically, yet there are many churches large and small who are laboring to follow the example set forth in the Word of God.

A “home study fellowship” does not comprise a church, even if they decide to meet on a Sunday, sing some choruses, pray some prayers, read some Scriptures, and do some sharing.  Were there some churches that met in houses in the early days of the New Testament church?  Indeed there were, but they had Pastors, Deacons, preaching, praying, Missionaries, and a purpose to carry out the Great Commission given to them by the Lord Jesus Christ.  They did not limit their numbers.  They did not dismiss the offices of Pastor and Deacon.  They always wanted to reach more. They did not disdain preaching.  They always wanted to hear more.  Their goal was not to have happy family life, but to reach the lost world with the gospel.

The people in those early churches reached the world of their generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ by following God’s plan carried out through His institution of the local New Testament church, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”  Amen and Amen!  May our God help us to follow their example and not whatever the latest pop religious fad happens to be.

Sunday starts the signups for the “Heartland Road Trip!,” a college survey trip to Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, OK.  If you’re in high school and  you’re starting to consider God’s direction for your life (which you should be!), I’d encourage you to join us for this trip.  Pastor has always taught that it’s just a great idea for any young man or woman to graduate high school and then attend at least one year of a good, solid, Baptist Bible college in order to become grounded in God’s Word.  After a year, God can provide and lead elsewhere if He chooses, but so often, the most beneficial first step that a graduate can take is to go to a place surrounded by godly influences and intense Bible teaching.

Heartland Baptist Bible College is one of those places.  Several reasons determine our Pastor’s emphasis on basically only two Bible colleges: Heartland and West Coast (Lancaster, CA).  Mainly, these colleges are pushed because they emphasize rather than undermine the teaching that our teens have received from their church if they’ve attended any length of time.  For instance, our church firmly believes and teaches that the King James Bible is God’s Word, and yet very few colleges will support the King James with that kind of strength.  Further, our Pastor preaches warnings about the dangers of the teaching known as “Hyper-Calvinism,” and many colleges known for their academic excellence and large programs will lean in favor toward these teachings.  Ultimately, other good schools exist, but it is our persuasion that no other colleges will promote the same ideals as strongly as Heartland Baptist or West Coast Baptist.  Not to feel slighted, though, the academic integrity and excellence of the colleges we promote will meet or exceed expectations, and it would be difficult to prove that a so called “better” education is only found in a large university.

Much more can be said about the benefits of attending Bible college, but the root issue would certainly be that a young person and his or her parents need to listen to God’s voice and follow his leading.  Without the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance, if a graduate were to attend one of these good colleges against God’s will, it would still be wrong.  Let us never do anything with a self-serving attitude or without even a thought of God’s will!

This road trip is a chance to get out of the public and charter schools’ teaching that “the only way to succeed is to get a university degree,” and listen to God’s voice through a few days of college experience.  The teens and parents who attend will be able to see the college dorms (and, if we can work it out, the teens might even be able to sleep in the dorms!), sit in on the classes, experience the exciting chapel services, attend lots of fun activities, and get an overall feel for what Bible college is about!  What a FUN time it will be, but also what a spiritually beneficial trip to take!  As soon as you know that you can go, please sign up so we can know how to plan and exactly what to charge.

Parents are certainly welcome on the trip, and we would have to know exactly how many are coming as soon as possible.  Gas prices will vary as more people sign up, and we’ll do all we can to make sure the costs are as low as possible.  Further information will be added to this post as time goes on, but the details so far are as follows:

LEAVING: Tuesday, March 15 (tentatively at 7am)

RETURNING: Saturday, March 19 (tentatively at 6pm)

COST: About $200 (May vary due to number attending)