Index
Prologue ............................................................. page 5
A Painted Picture .............................................. page 8
Leading or Misleading ..................................... page 11
To Preach or Not to Preach .............................. page 18
Teaching One Another ..................................... page 25
Ecclesiastical Office ........................................... page 32
Consensus Governance .................................... page 39
Adding to God’s Word ..................................... page 46
The Money .......................................................... page 53
A Warning .......................................................... page 59
Complete in Christ ............................................ page 65
Should We Follow Paul’s Model ..................... page 71
Appendixes ........................................................ page 76
Recommended Sites .......................................... page 86
Author Bio .......................................................... page 87
Credits
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible ®, copyright ©
1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman
Foundation used by permission.
When Greek words in this essay are defined, definitions come either from
New Analytical Greek Lexicon by Wesley J. Pershbacker copyright © 1990
from Hendrickson Publishers or New American Standard Exhaustive
Concordance copyright © 1981 from Holman Publishing.
Greek texts were taken either from Interlinear NIV Parallel New
Testament by Alfred Marshall copyright © 1976 from Zondervan
Publishing House or Greek to English Interlinear New King James
Version New Testament by George Ricker Berry copyright © 1981 Baker
Books from World Bible Publishers, Inc. There were no variances of
Greek texts in the above mentioned references pertaining to any of the
Greek words discussed in the following pages.
Underscores added to Scripture for emphasis were not part of the original
Scripture text.
Bridgepointe Publishing Company
1929 Spillway Road, Suite B
Brandon, MS 39047
Published 2008
Revised 2011
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009901013
ISBN 978-0-615-26282-6
ISBN 0-615-26282-1
Jack Fortenberry left his book as a free PDF for the Body of Christ, but it's getting quite hard to find.
So I feel to put up the whole book to remind everybody what the Bible actually says about ministry rather than what is practiced by ecclesiastical ministries , Pastor synagogues / evangelical churches, or charismatic pastor synagogues with worship bands.
Because it used to be easier to download I only put up Chapter one before as a taster.
Here is the prologue and then a link to chapter one.
Prologue
The inhabits of earth said, let us make for ourselves a
name, Genesis 11:4, as they purposed and built the
Babylonian tower. But Jesus says, I am the vine, you are
the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears
much fruit.
The purpose of this essay is to encourage a biblical
examination of the role of Christian preacher and
teacher in order that we may enjoy the one-on-one
relationship with our Savior that He designed.
The absence of a New Testament model for the present
role of preachers or leaders has not slowed the
prevalence of the current model of one or two elders
leading a congregation of followers since the time of
Constantine. But Scripture warns us of being
defrauded of our prize by following leaders in the
church. Not just bad leaders but leaders.
By eliminating our use of a favorite teacher and turning
to New Testament commands in order to grow in the
knowledge of our Father, we will have an unobstructed
view of Christ. By our progress in understanding and
trusting the person and character of Jesus Christ, God
will grow us into conformity with His joy, holiness and
loving kindness.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the
glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
Page 5
from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. II
Corinthians 3:18
Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything
pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge
of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. II
Peter 1:3
Sometimes in zeal for sanctification and to find favor
with God my attention has been on teachings and
regimens of prayer or bible readings and even church
duties. But II Corinthians 3:18 and II Peter 1:3 tell us
that our transformation is being accomplished through
the revelation of the character of Christ. The character
of our Lord is revealed by the truths of Scripture and
also in the application of our knowing and trusting
Him. This is where I hope to stay.
I believe the result of this one-on-one relationship of
trusting and loving Jesus will then be evident in our joy
and fellowship with God’s children. The one who loves
his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for
stumbling in him. I John 2:10.
A Painted Picture - LINK
No comments:
Post a Comment