The Relevant Pastor Is Moving!

Hey everyone.  I'm going to be moving this site over to a different CMS system.  Blogger has been awesome, but it's time for a more professional site.  I'll be building the site over the next month and when it's finished I'll let everyone know!  Thanks for reading!

How To Impress Your Boss!

Have you ever wanted to impress your boss?  Here's one, sure fire, way to make sure your boss knows your serious about your work.  Here it is: Serve with excellence.

Photo by Kumar Appaiah

In his letter to Titus, the Apostle Paul gives some very important instructions to those who find themselves subject to masters. If you're an employee, you have a master—your boss. If you're a boss, you have a master—God. So here's what Paul says:

9 Slaves must always obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back 10 or steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way. -Titus 2:9-10

If you want to impress your boss, do what he/she asks of you! (Unless it is outside Biblical boundaries.)  Serve without getting angry or gossipping, don't steal from the office, and show yourself trustworthy. Then you'll be a person that's pretty hard to come by these days. More than that, by doing these things, you demonstrate your faithfulness to God because, ultimately, you're serving Him! And people will see Him working through you. Be aware, doing things with excellence makes those who don't, angry. You will probably undergo some persecution for honoring God in your work. Don't worry, your blessed. Jesus says so in Matthew 5:11-12.

Do everything with excellence, without complaining, and do what your asked, that will impress any boss! And God honors that!

Understanding Our Roles In Church Community: Young Men

Young men have a great responsibility when it comes to leading in the church community. Notice this isn't just for "pastors" or "leaders" in the church. This is for all young men who believe and are part of the Church. Here's what the Apostle Paul says in his letter to Titus:

6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. -Titus 2:6-8 NLT

Photo by Rennett Stowe

Paul knows that young men have a tendency to react quickly, courageously, and often maliciously to certain situations. That's why he begins with the exhortation for young men to be self-controlled. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Therefore, in order to become more self-controlled, we must live in the power of the Spirit. When we live in the power of the Spirit the next part comes naturally (or supernaturally, rather!)

Young men are called to be an example of good. Not worldly good, rather, the goodness of God.  That is, the grace of God demonstrated on the cross.  We're called to demonstrate God's goodness to others by the way we live! We are to teach with integrity, seriousness (seriousness is a lacking attribute that plagues young men), and soundness of speech that can't be condemned.

Why so serious?  Because the decisions we make, reflect the gods or God we serve. The small "g" gods are the gods that send us to Hell—selfishness, pride, and greed. The capital "G" God is our great God who saves us from Hell through faith in His son Jesus. Therefore, if our decisions look like Hell, we'll drive people away from the one true God and they may never experience the grace of God through faith. At the end of the day, the only thing we're taking to heaven is people.

As young men in today's world, we're facing more selfishness, pride, and greed than we've ever faced in all of human history. They take the form of distractions, unfaithfulness, and consumerism. Today, between video games, the internet, and wal-mart, young men face a slew of "easy" decisions. Easy decisions are not necessarily (actually, hardly ever) good decisions. Paul encourages us to be examples of goodness and truth.  We are to be Jesus to a world that is lost in selfishness, pride, and greed! We must live out truth (God's Word) and live in the Spirit so the Gospel we preach—Jesus and Him crucified—is realized in all its power!

Many young men are trading the truth of God for a lie.  Don't fall into the temptations of more, infidelity, and laziness.  Instead, let's rise up and stand for Jesus with all that we have.  Let's take Him at His Word and serve Him faithfully so those who oppose us may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us!

Young men, let's reject passivity and accept responsibility!

Understanding Our Roles In Church Community: Older Women

Older women have a great responsibility in the church community!  See what Paul writes to Titus below:

3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. -Titus 2:3-5 NIV

Photo by 23am.com

Older women have the honor to teach the word of God through serving.  This is not to be taken lightly.  Our savior, Jesus, came not be served but to serve.  Just like Him, all people are called to serve.  Older women, however, have a special calling to serve younger women by urging or teaching them to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands.

Being "subject" to a husband does not mean the wife becomes a slave to the husband, it simply means a wife honors her husband by serving when and where she can, and in the day of Titus it was at home!  In Titus' day,as well as today, women who stay home have a powerful impact on their children and on their spouse.  They are able to care for the home—the place of safety and provision for the family, instruct children in godly ways, and spend time with God and lead others to do the same.   Today, older women who work do so to honor their family and are busy, as Paul states, to help provide for the needs of their family.

Older women hold a powerful tool—their testimony.  Paul encourages them to use their testimony to teach the importance of purity and honor by not slandering other people.  Our world teaches women to slander one another and gossip about each other and certain situations in which others find themselves.  Paul encourages the older women to set the example and use their testimony to teach about the grace of God by abstaining from gossip and helping others through tough times.

When there are no godly, older women to teach the younger women, the family, and eventually society, crumbles.  Older women are so important to the family of the Church.  Older women serve by teaching and demonstrating how to love their families and those within the Church by teaching from their testimony and serving with the gifts God has given them.

Older women are the teachers of the testimony of the cross!