Counting Your Ishmaels

1. Counting Your Ishmaels The Danger of Helping God

2. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. Genesis 16:2

3. “Helping” God to Evangelize the World • God chose Christians and the Church to evangelize the world • Acts 8:1-4 begins the pattern seen throughout the New Testament • We see no organization in the pattern larger than the local church

4. “Helping” God to Evangelize the World “There is now heard from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South, one general, if not universal, call for a more efficient organization of our churches. Experience, than which there is not a more efficient teacher, decides and promulgates that our present cooperative system is comparatively inefficient and inadequate to the exigencies of the times and the cause we plead…” (Alexander Campbell, “Church Organization” Millennial Harbinger 1842)

5. “Helping” God to Evangelize the World “A church can do what an individual disciple cannot, and so can a district of churches do what a single congregation cannot.”(IBID)

6. “Helping” God to Evangelize the World “A church can do what an individual disciple cannot, and so can a district of churches do what a single congregation cannot.”(IBID)

7. “Helping” God to Evangelize the World “A church can do what an individual disciple cannot, and so can a district of churches do what a single congregation cannot.”(IBID)

8. “Helping” God to Evangelize the World “A church can do what an individual disciple cannot, and so can a district of churches do what a single congregation cannot.”(IBID) Ishmaels of the Missionary Society • Creeds • Denominationalism • Complete Divergence from the New Testament Pattern

9. “Helping” God to Edify the Church • The New Testament pattern is that of autonomous churches edifying saints as they see fit • Acts 8:1-4 begins the pattern seen throughout the New Testament • We see no organization in the pattern larger than the local church

10. “Helping” God to Edify the Church

11. “Helping” God to Edify the Church

12. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel • The Christian is one who must be willing to suffer for their faith (Acts 9:15-16) • The Believer must truly imbibe the life of the disciple (John 6:53-56) • The Gospel calls for a complete submission of self (Mat 8:18-22)

13. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel Visit the “how to” sections of the local bookstore Periodically, examine issues of Time, Newsweek and USA Today, as these publications tend to be on the cutting edge of the felt needs and fears that people are facing Practice composing practical, catchy titles for your messages from biblical texts Limit your preaching to 20 minutes, because baby boomers do not have much time to spare. “Different Times Require Different Messages” (Murren, 1990,pp. 217-218)

14. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel “And don’t forget to keep your messages light and informal, liberally sprinkling them with humor and personal anecdotes” “Different Times Require Different Messages” (Murren, 1990,pp. 217-218)

15. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel "Our great gospel needs to be packaged in ways the culture can understand and receive,” Ronnie Floyd Pastor First Baptist Church Springdale AR (Arkansas Times)

16. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel "Putting a talking head in front of kids for an hour doesn't work," the children's minister told the magazine. "This is a visual generation. We need to use technology to the max." Ronnie Floyd Pastor First Baptist Church Springdale AR (Arkansas Times)

17. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel “I don’t think we will see spiritual awakening until our people hear directly from God without any middle men,” said Cole. “God is always speaking, we’re just not listening.” “Preaching and the House Church Movement” (www.preaching.com)

18. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel “Do we really think God is such a poor communicator that we need some­one else to translate it?” While he is not against scholarship, Cole said that a dependency has been created for scholar­ship and as a result, people are not intentionally seeking to hear directly from God.” “Preaching and the House Church Movement” (www.preaching.com)

19. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel ‘The unique baptistery, created by Disney designer Bruce Barry, is part of a $270, 000 high tech project for the church’s children worship area which includes… Ronnie Floyd Pastor First Baptist Church Springdale AR (Arkansas Times)

20. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel ““…video games, a light show, music videos and a bubble machine, according to Christianity Today. When a child is baptized in the fire-truck-shaped baptistery, sirens blare and confetti is fired out of cannons” Ronnie Floyd Pastor First Baptist Church Springdale AR (Arkansas Times)

21. “Helping” God with a Better Gospel ““…video games, a light show, music videos and a bubble machine, according to Christianity Today. When a child is baptized in the fire-truck-shaped baptistery, sirens blare and confetti is fired out of cannons” Ronnie Floyd Pastor First Baptist Church Springdale AR (Arkansas Times)

22. “Helping” God with a Better Wisdom • God has supplied us with Divine Wisdom Prov 1:1-6 • “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” • This wisdom is intended to shape our every thought 7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7 (NASB95)