The process of getting men into the office of elder and/or deacon starts when they are nominated by members of this congregation. In the past, our nomination period has occurred in late spring, but because the offices of deacon and elder are so vital to the health of a church, the elders have decided to move the nomination period ahead a few months so that more time can be devoted to training throughout the year.

So, here’s the plan: we will receive nominations for elder or deacon between today and March 21. The elders will review those nominations and then recommend candidates for training, which will last from April through December. While we welcome more nominations to the office of deacon, we would ask that you give special attention to those men you think are qualified to serve as elder.

The office of deacon is one of “sympathy and service.” Deacons are responsible for maintenance of the church building and grounds, as well as ministering to those in need (Acts 6:1-4; I Tim. 3:8-13). Elders are responsible for spiritual oversight of the church, including discipleship, shepherding, Sunday morning worship and church discipline (Acts 20:28-31; I Peter 5:1-4; I Tim. 3:1-7).

Here’s how to make a good nomination: read the passages listed above to understand the Biblical qualifications for office. Pray for wisdom and guidance as you discern whether the person you have in mind is a good candidate. Give consideration to persons who are faithful on Sunday mornings; who exhibit godliness, maturity, humility and love for the church; who have a firm grasp of the Gospel of grace, and a commitment to the doctrine of the Reformed tradition. Of course no one lives up to these standards perfectly, but you should consider whether the person’s life is generally characterized by these traits.

You must be a member of New Life to make a nomination. Also, seek permission from the individual before you nominate him, and make sure he also is a member of the church. If he agrees to be nominated, write his name on one of the forms available in the foyer, and drop it in the white box in the foyer by March 21.

Of course we ultimately trust in Jesus, the Head of the church, to lead and guide us into the future, but we also believe God has delegated authority to certain godly men to take part in leading local congregations. This nomination period, therefore, is an opportunity for you, the members of this congregation, to play a vital part in determining who leads us forward in pursuing the exciting and good plans the Lord has ordained for us.

My love to you in Christ,

Bob

There was definitely an aspect of this mantra running through the preparation and festivities associated with the missions conference this past week. This was New Life’s second missions conference, and as opposed to last year’s one-night service we tried to stretch this year’s conference into a five-day event. Unfortunately, due to the weather Jon and Sarah Pfeil, missionaries from Japan (more on them later), had to cancel their meeting with the AWANA kids, but we still had the pleasure of their company Thursday through Friday. However, we still had the pleasure of hearing from the Pfeils at one of the Life Groups on Thursday, and they also gave different presentations at the Friday night missions dinner and the services on Saturday and Sunday.

It was such a blessing to meet Jon and Sarah and their children. They both share a strong passion for missions and a deep conviction to minister, plant churches, and form relationships with the people in Japan. It was so encouraging to meet a couple that is so Kingdom minded. They are faithfully serving God in Japan, but are just as eager and excited to hear what He is doing at New Life and in our Presbytery. In one of his presentations Jon explained that their plan for ministering to the Japanese people takes place primarily through forming relationships and raising up people and communities to plant churches and reach out to others around them. If you would like more information about the Pfeils and their ministry, please pick up a copy of their prayer letter in the magazine racks in the foyer.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make the conference this year possible. There were so many people that donated their time and resources to help with the dinner on Friday and the service and desserts on Saturday. Many of our high school and college students

volunteered their time and

resources to prepare food, decorate the church, and participate in various parts of the service. We had several volunteers who read scripture verses in foreign languages, and Jason Leist gave an incredible message on the need for missions and a charge to respond to our call to serve the Kingdom on a global level.

Throughout the conference we were reminded that we have a calling to serve God and reach out to the lost all around us. We heard about several missions trip opportunities such as Campus Crusade working in East Asia and New Life’s trip to Mexico this coming July. God uses these trips not only to reach out to the lost in other areas, but to strengthen the church and our relationship with Him. I have been extremely blessed through the missions trips I have gone on in the past. They are visual and physical reminders that God is in control and that He is my strength, and not only that but they are unique experiences that bind you together with the people you share them with. If you have a desire to see the Kingdom grow and become more connected and involved at New Life, coming on the missions trip is an incredible opportunity that cannot be passed up.

Overall, it was an extremely encouraging week serving and focusing on missions and all that God is doing. Throughout Jason’s message on Saturday night and Chris Sarver’s message on Sunday we were charged to support missions and be willing to serve the church and our Christian Body around the world. There is really nothing I can add to what we heard other than to encourage all of you to experience the joy, excitement, and growth that come from getting involved in our call to missions. To quote Spurgeon once again, “Forward! In God’s name, FORWARD!”

In Him,

Adam

Jim, who is professor of philosophy at Taylor University, is a clear, engaging and thoughtful writer, and we are rejoicing with him in this most recent achievement. He has also written the following titles: Gum, Geckos and God; How to be Good in a World Gone Bad; and The Benefits of Providence.

Check out our book table and pick up Jim’s new book.

I wanted to take time here in Lifeline to report on two developments from the meeting: First, all three men who were on the ballot for election to the office of deacon were overwhelmingly approved by congregational vote. Our three new deacons are Larry Harting, Paul Nagelkirk and Mark Parkison. They have been elected to three-year terms and will join Randy Thompson and Mark Bergman on the deacon board.

There were no new elder candidates this year. Bob Clark’s three-year term expired, and since he chose not to serve a second term, that leaves the session with Wendell Conner, Tony Guinn, Scott Jordan and myself. Please prayerfully consider whom you might nominate as an elder candidate this year.

The second development is related to the congregational survey about overflow space in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. In December, we sought input from the congregation on how to respond to the space limitations we have been dealing with.

George Saunders compiled the results (59 people responded) and discovered that your first choice was to add a third worship service, which would take place on Saturday nights. Coming in a close second was a simulcast overflow room in the new building. Third was to offer a third service on Sunday morning. There was a weak response to the other two options: building a new sanctuary or starting a new congregation.

After reviewing the results, the elders and deacons unanimously decided that we should create an overflow room in the new building where the service would be shown by simulcast video (second service only). In the meantime, we will continue to explore the option of offering a third service.

Among other things, the Saturday night service was not chosen at this time because we would need twice as many volunteers to make it happen — especially given the fact that we’re already strapped for volunteers on Sunday mornings.

If you have any questions about this, or if you would like to see the survey results, let me know. In the meantime, praise God for his guidance and presence among us during our annual meeting.

My love to you in Christ,

Bob

The first part of the class will be held on Friday, March 5 from 6:30pm to 9pm, and the second part will be Saturday, March 6 from 9:00am to noon at Bob and Mary’s home. Participation in the class does not obligate you to become a member. If you are interested in the class or have any questions please contact Pastor Bob at Obannon@newlife-pc.org

It may surprise you to know that this type of conversation is rather common for churches like ours in a rural area and closely connected with their community. Perhaps even worse, this conversation might not surprise you at all. In fact, you might even agree with it.

Right now you may be getting defensive, or you may be thinking to yourself “Preach it, brother!” Regardless of how the concept of foreign missions causes you to react, we as Christians must come to terms with these facts: 1) recent statistics show that the Christian church in United States is stagnant and starting to decline, 2) the Christian church in United States is losing an average of 3,000 churches a year, and 3) the Christian church in other countries is becoming so vibrant that they are starting to send church planters and missionaries to the United States to evangelize and to start revival.

The Francis A. Schaeffer Institute conducted a survey where they studied the growth of forty-four churches over the course of fifteen years; and while many factors influenced the churches’ growth and failures, all the churches in the top 40% were heavily missions minded.

With this in mind, I would like to strongly encourage you, brothers and sisters, to come to New Life’s second annual missions conference, February 10–13. During the conference we will have the immense privilege of getting to hear from the Pfeils, a missionary family we support working in Japan. We will hear from some of the Campus Crusade staff from New Life about their experiences with (and the importance of) missions, and we will get to enjoy foods and displays from various countries and missionaries.

There will also be a special program for the children where they will get to experience what it is like to travel to other countries and learn about what God is doing there as well as play games and activities related to that culture. It will be a really fun and exciting time of celebrating the universality of the gospel and the God we worship, as well as fellowship with our congregation and brothers and sisters serving Christ from all around the world.

It is important for us to realize that while we have a duty and a calling to our people and our communities, we also have an international calling and role as the bride of Christ. Kingdom work is a global calling not just an individual role.

In Him,

Adam Delaplane

The movie did downplay the fact that it was a Christian family and it was their love for Christ that motivated their actions. And this fact seemed to motivate an email I recently received explaining more of the religious significance of the movie and urged me to tell the story to as many people as I could so that “just as the young man in the movie reached his full potential, the truth of this gospel tale can succeed in being used as the evangelistic tool it was meant to be.” This email, and the hype surrounding movies like this, is a clear example of a trend in Christianity to overemphasize the use of media in evangelizing.

First of all, let me be clear on two things. I am not against the use and media in Christian efforts such as evangelizing. This is the 21^st Century and I believe that we are called to use the tools of our culture to engage it. I am also not discrediting the movie The Blind Side. From what I have heard it sounds like a great inspirational story of grace — an inspiration to how we should act as Christians.

But that’s exactly my point: I have seen far too many Christians use movies like this as if they were the greatest evangelistic tools known to man. In fact, when the movie The Passion of the Christ came out, I heard several Christian friends say, “We have to buy as many tickets as possible and bring as many non-Christians as we can because this is the greatest witnessing tool our culture has ever had.” While they may not realize the loftiness of that comment it does reveal the faith we have in the power of media in evangelizing over scripture, our personal walks with Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

The Blind Side is an inspirational depiction of the type of mercy and grace Christians should show to the people around them, BUT it is not a substitution for that calling! I feel too many Christians try to live for Christ through this kind of media and they miss our calling to actually live a life that honors, glorifies, and embodies the humility and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Movies, music, television, and books are all incredible media and great tools to use to engage our culture, but they are not the things we should rely on. God has given us people and opportunities to show His grace and humility to those around us, and He has given us the scriptures and the Holy Spirit to encourage and give us strength in this calling.

My New Year’s resolution this year is to seek these opportunities and put my faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to use me to impress the truth of the gospel in the hearts of those around me, and to be eager to respond and be used in that calling. It is my prayer that we at New Life, and Christians around the world, would be eager to respond to this calling as well.

In Him,

Adam