Iron Men resumes this Saturday at LCBC

Men,

I hope you enjoy some quality time with your ‘Valentine’ last night (or sometime this week) in the spirit of striving to be an “Exemplary Husband.” As we talked about during Sunday School may we encourage our wife and kids with at least one thing each and every day.

After two months off from men’s leadership class it is time to get back to work. God allowing, I hope to see you this Saturday at 7 am.

You have now had a few months to read and to get all caught up on any missed chapters. For those wondering why you should keep up with your reading assignments as well as completing your "Exemplary Husband" notebook, let me offer up the following list:

1) Because you signed up knowing what you were getting into and are all men of very high character.

 The Bible says, “let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.” As Christians our word is our bond.  You said "yes, sign me up for this."  Enough said.

2) Because the reading will reinforce important biblical principles which will deepen your personal convictions. 

 A man once said, If you have courage, you will influence people based on your convictions. If you lack courage, you will influence people based on your comfort zones. Courage will take you anywhere God is leading you. Without courage, you will only do/go what you are comfortable doing. Joshua 1:8-9.

3) Because effective leaders are disciplined readers. 

 It as simple as this: We cannot offer what we don’t have/know. We can’t provide sound biblical counsel if our spiritual wells are shallow or dry. Come therefore let us reason together.

4) Because these books have been handpicked to help us better understand what Christ wants from His Church and His people. 

 Special attention is given to what God’s kind of man looks like in his own home and within His own local church setting.

Is Seminary Really Necessary Before Assuming Leadership in a Local Church?

D. Min lecture with Dr. MacArthur at TMS

Why Seminary? Is formal bible training really necessary before becoming a Lead Pastor at a local church?  Though there are a select few exceptionally gifted and uniquely committed, self-taught, Preacher-Pastor/theologians... such as the brilliant Spurgeon and D.M. Lloyd-Jones. In general, those called to preach (see 2 Tim 2:15; Titus 1:5f) should receive the highest level of seminary training available to them. Would you undergo surgery from a surgeon who hasn’t been to medical school? Why not?

James Montgomery Boice said if he knew Christ were returning in 4 years he’d instruct young men to spend 3 years in intense pastoral training (seminary) and only then preach!  Too much is at stake and church history has too many examples of well intentioned (unprepared) pastors, teachers, and evangelists who failed the Colossians 1:28-29 mandate because of sloppy exegesis and faulty interpretations. Good communication skill alone is not enough. Clint Archer makes some helpful points in his article posted below.

Here's a snippet of Archer's blog post, "The question of whether seminary is necessary is one that perennially resurfaces among those who sense the urgency of the need to preach and feel compelled to dive right in, but also understand the benefit of thorough training, and want guidance about the balance.