Keeping in mind the truths of Scripture which center on living a life of authenticity is important while we shepherd the flock of God which He has given to us. One way to do that is to remind people of Satan's goal of division and the other is to implore them to be alert and proactive in being authentic believers by fulfilling the "one-another" verses.
https://g3min.org/unity-an-essential-mark-of-a-local-church/

Here in this blog article by G3's Dr. Josh Buice we find some really vital truths related to encouraging and even challenging God's people to live out authentic Christianity. My immediate experience upon graduation from seminary was helping my church, which has sent and supported us for seminary and ministry, to close their ministry doors forever.  The selling off or giving away of everything the church had.

We then went and had fruitful ministry in a church plant not too far away from home. But the experience of that church closure still lingers in my mind and I don't want to ever see that kind of division cause a church to do that again if at all possible. I think this article helps us renew our commitment to unity in the local church setting.

My father always told me "It's never too late to start doing what is right". May the Lord help us to renew our devotion to unity in the church in a biblical manner.
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Blessings! Pastor Rob

I am learning much about biblical shepherding these days.  It seems that many of my thoughts about what biblical shepherding are being confirmed through God's Word, various experiences, authors I have been reading, and the influence of other preachers and shepherds about this essential role of a pastor-missionary in a cross-cultural local church setting.  I still have much to learn!  My hope is that what I find in my own journey for stimulating myself to greater shepherding excellence will also benefit you.
https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B101225/~

Here you will find the link to part 1 of a 2-part series on from Grace to You Blog about Why Shepherds? I hope it is for you an inspiration and gives you insights you didn't have before.
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Blessings! Pastor Robert

This is the first of what I hope will be many posts related to "Knowing the Times". The title is borrowed from 1 Chronicles 12:32, "Men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do."  It is borrowed too from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' book of the same name. Dr. Lloyd-Jones had a "God-given ability to put his finger on the essential issues and to apply the burden of God's Word."

We too need to develop not only in our ability to know and understand the times, but in the discipline of watchfulness as well. Watchfulness is only enriched and enhanced in our walk of faith according to our real knowledge and obedience to God's Word.

Now, the church in my opinion is not Israel, but we are certainly the church because of what God has done in and through Israel and His Old Testament. No one can deny that the Lord Jesus came to us because of God's work and prophetic preparation and initiation of sending His Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this world through Israel to do His great work on the cross and to raise from the dead.  And we are grafted in and adopted into His kingdom.

We should be developing in these last days a discernment and watchfulness as we serve and extend the gospel and His church.
http://www.brianghedges.com/.../watchfulness-requires...

In his book "Watchfulness: Recovering a Lost Spiritual Discipline", Pastor Brian G. Hedges says, "...watchfulness is as necessary to a healthy spiritual life as meditation and prayer. Jesus tells His disciples to "watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation (Matt. 26:41)...and Hebrews commands mutual watchfulness and exhortation while also reminding us to obey those leaders who keep watch over our souls (Heb. 3:12; 13:17)...All believers, regardless of their station and season in life, need to be watchful."
Here is a blog post by Pastor Hedges which speaks to how our watchfulness is closely related to our wakefulness.  Click on the image below or the link above to read the blog article by Brian Hedges.
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Blessings! Pastor Robert

This is from my FB Mentoring Group "The Penny Pulpit"!, which I began in December 2020.  Here I explained the reason and how it came to be called this.  My prayer is it is a great encouragement to all.  

Ideas come from interesting sources. The Idea to create a new group known as The Penny Pulpit, came by the inspiration I received while reading on the life, ministry and legacy of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Spurgeon has come to be known as "the Prince of Preachers" or "the Peoples' Preacher". It was in his head early in his ministry to have his messages transcribed by several secretaries. Then on Mondays he would assess and edit their transcripts of his sermon and send it to be published on paper and to be sold on the street corners or sent around the world. In this way he was able to advance and multiply every sermon for influence around the world.

My desire here in this group is to link by posts to key and influential messages which I find on the internet. They will be sermons from Lloyd-Jones, MacArthur, Lawson, Dever, Mohler and many others.

These will be anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes in length...full sermons really, which is different from my tendency in the other posts of other groups. I wanted this to be a quick-stop-spot for members to find full length sermons from famous men of God from their own pulpits. I want it to be a place for you to come back time and again if you desire.

I am not charging a penny for each...this title just serves as a token or symbol for the idea of what Spurgeon did and to continue it for today and beyond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bu57RWUNEE

Here we have the first of these Penny Pulpit sermons and it is from Dr. John MacArthur, "The First Sacrifice". I especially was intrigued about his exposition of Adam's faith in God after he had sinned.

There are many today who doubt Adam's existence and if they concede Adam existed, then they don't believe that he was saved or that his faith was counted to him as righteousness. Dr. MacArthur skillfully provides us with the elements of the gospel from Genesis 3:20-24. You can find this message on Grace to You and there is a transcription of the whole sermon.

May the Lord richly bless you as you learn from the messages posted here at The Penny Pulpit group.
Blessings! Pastor Rob

I work each day to find new blogs which will provide me, and subsequently those who read this "Exalting Christ" Blog, a greater degree of confidence in God's Word, that I may become a better witness for Him and His gospel, and continue to thrive in grace as one who is an obvious follower of Christ.  I am in essence on a quest, until time on this earth ends or Christ returns, which is to help myself and others to develop and grow in their faith.  
https://thecripplegate.com/how-do-i-evangelize-someone-who-says-that-they-dont-trust-the-bible/?fbclid=IwAR03OF3-0BGAF3x-I5iUzg9vk0AQiakL6O-yJ2AxLOOaco9VFVKZPYO2lrU#more-222708
Here is a great blog known as "The Cripplegate".   You can read the reason why they call it this on their website.  The Cripplegate guys are solidly focused on God's Word and serve in various places across the world.  I first found them in 2019 and they have been an inspiration to my life in Christ and development as a biblical shepherd. I have placed the link here or you can click on the Dr. MacArthur quote below to find the article page.  May this short blog article be a boost to your walk of faith and preparation to be a witness for Christ.  

Blessings!  Pastor Rob

My greatest aim and desire is to exalt Christ in all things to the best of my ability as a man who is a sinner saved solely by His grace through faith.  As I have reflected on this, the ministry opportunities the Lord has provided my wife and I and further ministry efforts, I have come to realize that this blog can be a central location for directing that ministry of equipping and discipling others, even while I pursue a life of being equipped as a Christ-follower.  

The painting in this ministry blog's header is a reminder to me that as a result of Christ's "magnum opus" of dying on the cross in our place, He has shown Himself to be Lord of all and especially Lord over death.  His death on behalf of worthless and desperate sinners to satisfy God's justice and bring about His love has been accepted by the Father.  How do we know this?  The Resurrection! Simply because He rose from the dead as He said He would, we can be confident and assured that His death in our place was accepted.  It is with assurance that we now can live this new and living way (Hebrews 10:19-20).
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May the Lord richly bless you!