Missionary Gas

Next translated offering from Ayuda Pastoral (Help for Pastors): Is it right to have a system of local church membership?   What principles are there for a balanced view of such a membership? The New Testament does not give us detailed information about local church practices.   We don’t know the times and forms of services nor what were the customs about admitting someone to church membership or even if such a list existed.   These things need to be worked out in our own context.  However there are some biblical principles involved: There existed a system of recognizing church members .  Passages which deal with church discipline show that there was a way of knowing who belonged to the church (Matt. 18:17;  3 Jn.  1:10).  Of the 75 uses of the word “church” in the New Testament,   most refer to a local one with people recognized as belonging to it. Basic knowledge about Christ was required for membershi...

Next entry on Ayuda Pastoral is: What biblical principles would you recommend to a pastor or church leader to instruct their congregation about a Christian approach to the use of social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace? Social networking sites are a gift from the Lord. God is our creator and the maker of what we see around us.  We benefit from nature, music,  technology and the social networking sites on the internet.  As Paul comments,   " All things are yours" (1Cor. 3:21) and we can freely enjoy them. Beware,  there are dangers Paul also warns that dangers exist even amongst legitimate things in the world,  "'I have the right to do anything,' you say--but not everything is beneficial" (1Cor.  6:12) .       Being robbed of time.  Time flies when we are in front of the computer,   and unfortunately it can be time badly used.  In contrast to that the Bible says that we s...

Early morning,  Lenzie Midday,  Perth Afternoon,  Aberdeen coast Evening,  Para Handy,  His Majesty´s Theatre,  Aberdeen What an interesting life,  Lord,  thank you

Recently the Spanish website Ayuda Pastoral (Pastoral Help) started up a weekly problem solving column. They give you a maximum of 300 words to respond to an issue and you must be biblical. This week's was: What steps would you recommend to a church leader or pastor to free someone addicted to pornography.  And my tuppence worth ... 1. Convince the person that pornography is sin Matt. 5:28; Rom. 1:27; Col. 3:25 Within marriage sex is a gift of God and a blessing. Outside of it:  a disaster. Even though someone is a Christian, if they do not remain faithful in their living,   potentially their end will be catastrophic, as in the case of Judas. 2. Persuade the him or her to repent Mark 1:15; Rev. 2:5 The tense of the verbs in Mark 1:15 implies a continual sense. We believe and keep on believing. We repent and keep on repenting. Faith and repentance are not just conversion experiences, they are for the rest of the Christian life. 3. ...