CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Archives

Grace On Tap

by

Grace On Tap

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth camethrough Jesus Christ” John 1:17

During the Great Awakening Jonathan Edwards was leading a massive prayer meeting of over eight hundred men when he received a message from a wife requesting that the men pray for her husband, whose “spiritual pride had led him to be unloving, prideful, and difficult.” Thinking that perhaps the husband was in attendance at the prayer meeting, Edwards read the prayer request to the eight hundred men, then asked if the man who had been described would raise his hand so that the rest of the men could pray for him. Three hundred men raised their hands.

A foundational principle in men’s ministry is recognizing that even though our men know Christ died for their sins, many, perhaps most, still feel too dirty and sinful to be loved by a holy God. No matter how good our programs are, how rich our Biblical insights may be, or how successful we are at helping men better connect, our men’s ministry will fall flat if our men’s guilt and failure make them doubt God’s love for them. Like Adam and Eve, their shame will drive them away from God unless their Christian life is built on the foundation of grace.

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what belief, if any, was unique to the Christian faith. They discussed the fact that other religions had some form of incarnation, and accounts of someone returning from the dead. The debate continued until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. Lewis asked what the rumpus was about, and heard that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s uniqueness among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

Every other religion teaches that we must earn God’s favor. In fact, just about every part of the world where our men live is about rewards they receive based upon their efforts. They pass their classes in school, find a good job, get promotions, and even win the heart of their wife through their effort. They know well the axiom, “there are no free lunches.”

The problem is that if they bring this “I have to earn God’s favor” attitude into their walk with God, it will destroy their potential for spiritual growth. They will focus on fixing their behavior, which will only lead to frustration, further guilt, and even anger with the God who demands perfection. Nothing poisons spiritual growth more than the inner belief that I have to be good so that God will love me.

The only way true spiritual growth takes place is for me to know that God loves me unconditionally despite my sin. Then my heart is free to respond to God’s love with my love. I become motivated to follow his commandments not to earn his love but out of gratefulness for the love I already have! A long term disciple-making ministry for men must reach their hearts. That is why we must create an atmosphere in our men’s ministry where men are taking constant gulps of grace.

gitg-small.gif
Article originally part of “Get in the Game”
a periodic email communication from CEP
October / November 2008 Vol. 4 No.4

The History of PCA Christian Education and Publications

by

cepbluelogo.gifEquip for Ministry
May/June 1998
Volume 4, Number 3

The Historical Overview of Christian Education and Publications

When the Presbyterian Church in America was established, Christian Education and Publications was one of the first three program committees put into place. Christian education is a God ordained covenantal process and the denomination established CEP to lead, nurture, and instruct its people. CEP’s purpose is simply stated:

To glorify God by serving the Presbyterian Church in America in its worldwide commitment to make disciples, teaching and training leaders in biblical church growth and vitalization principles, discipleship, family living, the development of a consistently biblical worldview and a holistic view of the church’s mission.


CEP is not primarily a publishing house, although it does some publishing. Our Sunday school curriculum is produced through Great Commission Publications (GCP), which is jointly owned by the PCA and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church since 1975. Today, approximately 60% of PCA churches use this curriculum in a variety of ways in their local programs. More than 40,000 pieces of literature are distributed each week to our churches. GCP also gives the PCA an opportunity to extend its ministry to other interested churches. Almost 30% of its curriculum distribution is to non-PCA and OPC churches. GCP also produces the denominational Trinity Hymnal, which used in a growing number of PCA churches.

Paul Settle, the first CEP Coordinator, served that post for three years. During that time CEP published the denominational news tabloid, Continuing; developed teacher training seminars; and Women in the Church (WIC) ministries. Under Settle’s leadership the joint venture, GCP, came to be. An annual pastor’s conference was also established at that time.

Settle was replaced by Dr. Charles Dunahoo, pastor and member of the PCA organizing committee. Dr. Dunahoo has served in that position since January of 1977. The CEP office, which was originally in Montgomery, AL relocated to the Atlanta area in the close proximity of the other program committees. During that time Continuing was replaced by The PCA Messenger. Arthur Matthews served as the first editor of that publication. The Messenger was a denominational magazine that was originally mailed without charge to individual members upon request. In 1986 the publication began to be available by subscription During the eight year period that the magazine was published, its circulation reached 60,000. Then in 1994, for various reasons, the assembly agreed to discontinue the publication. This enabled CE/P to develop its generic magazine, Equip for Ministry, designed especially for local church leaders. More than 8,000 copies are distributed bi-monthly to that select audience plus a few other interested readers.

Much emphasis was placed from the very beginning on seminar training that offered more than just educational leadership. The whole work of the church was generally the subject matter, including specific officer and general leadership seminars. Planning, management, and team operation became themes of the seminars as well as teacher training and general Christian education topics.

To help strengthen homes, seminars on marriage and family have been offered as well as training on identifying one’s gifts and their utilization in ministry. Continuing education was an early theme of CEP’s ministry. Ministers conferences have been held on a regular basis, and since 1982, when the PCA was joined by the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod, those annual and bi-annual conferences, Partners in Ministry, have generally included the pastor’s wife.

Annual conferences have been held under CEP’s oversight focusing on music and worship. Annual training for WIC leaders has continued to grow over the years. This past March more than 125 women from presbyteries and local churches met for 2

2008 Women in the Church Love Gift: An Opprtunity to Touch Your Future

by

Since the founding of the PCA, the Women in the Church have played a vital role in supporting the ministries of the various committees and agencies. Each year, a Love Gift presentation has been prepared and made available from the Christian Education and Publications office highlighting the particular project for the year’s designated offering. Contributions are sent to CEP’s Love Gift Fund during the year and presented to the receiving agency or committee at the annual WIC Leadership Conference dinner.

At this year’s conference, a check for $92,000 from the 2007 Love Gift was presented to Gary Campbell, President of the PCA Retirement and Benefits, Inc. The Love Gift will be used for RBI’s Survivor Assistance ministry. Upon notification of the death of a PCA Teaching Elder or his wife, Survivor Assistance will fund and immediately send a check for $1000 to the surviving spouse and any dependents regardless of their income to help alleviate immediate financial pressure that may accompany the death of a spouse.

Read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

The 2008 designee is Christian Education and Publications. As a ministry of CEP, WIC has been instrumental in enabling CEP to move forward with its women’s, youth, and children’s ministries. The 2008 Love Gift, You Can See It in Their Eyes, carries forth CEP’s mission of making kingdom disciples who pass on the faith to the next generations. The six and one half minute presentation is available both in DVD and VHS format, along with supporting materials for distribution by the local church’s women’s ministries. Ideas and suggestions for using the Love Gift are also available from the CEP bookstore or the WIC office by calling 1-800-283-1357. Suggested ideas for presenting the Love Gift include during a monthly women’s meeting, a family night church dinner, a Sunday evening service, at the conclusion of the Sunday AM worship service, or a presbytery PresWIC event or retreat.

You Can See It in Their Eyes is a challenge to the church to keep front and center on its agenda the need to carry out God’s instruction to pass on the faith to the next generations. “From Generation to Generation” was the overarching theme of the 2006 WIC Denominational Conference, attended by over 4,000 women from across the church; and CEP, including its WIC ministry, continues to be committed to that task.

Visit the Love Gift website at www.pcacep.org/lovegift to preview the video, order a copy for your church, or to individually donate.

2008 Women in the Church Leadership Training Conference

by

As the PCA grows, so do the opportunities for women in the church! The annual equipping event Christian Education and Publications provides for women in the church is the Leadership Training Conference. It is thrilling to see the great interest and diversity of age and regions that mark the attendees. The focus of Leadership 2008 was “The Big Picture: Our Purpose and Privilege,” with women from twenty-six states and two Canadian provinces in attendance.

Since this is a conference for PCA women in the church, we began by defining our context as women in God’s family, and by lifting high the King and His church. This year, Dr. Roy Taylor, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCA, led the opening session. Dr. Taylor used I Timothy 3:14-16 to remind us that living as Christian women in the church is a symphony and not a solo. As Reformed, Bible believers, we are part of something bigger; we are part of the church universal and the church triumphant. As women in the church, we are to love, live, and take the Gospel message to a needy world in word and deed.

Read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

Having women meet with others from their region played a central role in this year’s focus. The time spent in their eight US and Canadian regions were some of the most productive and appreciated elements of the weekend, according to the participants. In each region, representatives of the Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee (WASC), joined by CEP’s WIC trainers, modeled and equipped women for regional discipleship and community building.

Alan Johnson from Old Peachtree PCA in Duluth, Georgia, taught the joy and value of the “Centrality of the Word” in hearts and ministry. Workshops, panels, and woman to woman discipleship rounded out the rest of the weekend. Susan Hunt, former CEP Director of Women’s Ministries and current CEP WIC Consultant, ended this outstanding weekend calling the women to “Live out the Purpose and Privilege as Women in God’s Church.”

We were excited and encouraged to have PCA Ruling Elder Preston Hicks, from Lexington, KY, attend with his wife. In his local church, Tates Creek PCA, Preston is the liaison between the session and women’s ministry. (See his response to the conference below).

CEP, the 2008 recipient of the Women in the Church Love Gift, hosted the denominational dinner in which the PCA administrators and coordinators, their wives, and some staff joined the women in prayer for the PCA and its various ministries. This is a night that always elicits excited responses and this year was no exception – it is “our privilege!”

The 2009 Leadership Training Conference will be held at Covenant College, March 10-12, and will be followed by the 2009 Mercy Conference, jointly sponsored by Mission to North America and CEP, held at New City Fellowship Church, March 12-15. Look for more updates on www.pcacep.org as information for both conferences becomes available. CDs of the plenary sessions and workshops of the 2008 Leadership Training are also available. See www.pcacep.org for details.

Here is what some attendees had to say about this year’s conference. We trust these will encourage local church leaders, pastors, presbytery CE Chairman, and women’s ministry leaders as you evaluate the value of this discipleship event.

“I have been spreading the good news of God’s kingdom work through this [women’s] ministry work of the PCA. I am praying for other elders to participate in future meetings-the experience certainly enlarged my vision of the educational work (fostering and facilitating biblical thinking and covenantal living) of the WIC organization.” Preston Hicks, Ruling Elder

Senior Citizens’ Day – September 14, 2008

by

How young people relate to older people and how the older relates to the younger is a good thermostat on the health and strength of a nation. It has been said by many that a lack of respect for the elderly is a sign of a nation in upheaval.

As a church committed to covenant theology, family is an important concept that is a much broader term than simply a reference to the so called “nuclear family,” a mom and dad and 2.5 kids. Growing old has numerous ramifications and many of them are not biblical. The generational divides that we hear about so much today, which seem to accent the boundaries of the various generations, have a biblical response. Older men are to teach younger men and older women, younger women. God intends for family members to show respect for one another. Just as the older teach the younger, the younger are to be an example in their youth to the older.

Read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

While the church cannot afford to gloss over the generational groups today, it cannot at the same time allow one generation to be isolated from another. David prayed in his old age that he would have the strength to pass on the faith to the next generation. That implies that the next generation would relate to and listen to him.

Sunday, September 14, 2008 is Senior Citizen’s Day in the PCA. Our desire is to see our PCA churches focus on the covenant aspect of its church members. Below is a list of eight ideas that we suggest as possibilities to assist you in observing that day. Serving and Challenging Seniors is a manual developed by Dr. George Fuller, who assists CEP with the ministry of training. This resource is available either through a senior citizen seminar by Dr. Fuller or the CEP bookstore and also contains many suggestions.

1. Offer praise to God for all the generations, especially the seniors, in the Sunday worship.

2. Provide special education and training classes for seniors and announce them on that day.

3. Encourage seniors to be available to be involved in the church’s ministry.

4. Pick up on a theme listed in Fuller’s manual: “The purpose of Older Adult Week is to help congregations recognize aging as a natural part of living, involving life from birth to death, and to affirm the worth of persons in all stages of development and at all functional levels.”

5. Consider preaching on a passage such as Psalm 71, Psalm 78, or Ecclesiastes 12 on that day. A message on honoring your father and mother would also be appropriate.

6. For the more creative, you could plan an intergenerational event during the Sunday school time.

7. Check the chapter “Mobilizing for Ministry” by the late Edmund P. Clowney in Fuller’s manual for suggestions.

8. Give an award for longevity in service and/or faithfulness in present service to a senior member of the congregation.

Older people have much to offer and thanking the elder generation continues to express a desire to have good relationships with older people, including parents.

Men’s Updates by Man in the Mirror, Inc.

by

ACTION POINTS for Committed Dads


Turn off TVs, iPods, cell phones, and computers and gather your family around the dinner table for a good, old-fashioned card game or board game. You don’t need electricity to have energy in the room.

Take note of what your teenager spends his time doing and start a conversation by asking open-ended questions like, “What makes you so good at ____?” or “Why do you like ___ so much?”

“Give action” to your young child; get down on his or her level to play cars, have a tea party, build with blocks, etc. If you have your kids for the weekend, tell them to bring along their favorite game to play. Talk to them about it during the week and build anticipation and excitement for the weekend.

What’s your favorite sport or hobby? Think of ways you can use the language and concepts of that activity to help keep you motivated and on track as a father.

Click here to read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

Pew Research Better Than Reported


A lot of press has been given to a recent Pew Research study showing that 44% of American adults “have left the faith of their childhood.” But that’s not really the whole story. 16% out of that 44% simply left one Protestant denomination for another, meaning only 28% of adults have left the faith of their childhood. Add to that that some of those 28% left atheism or other religions for Christianity, and the picture looks even brighter. So perhaps the best way to say it is, “72% of all American adults have stayed in the faith they were brought up in, including those who changed denominations within the Protestant Church.” Now it sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

The full article is available at http://pewforum.org/

Factoids for Prison Ministries to Men
The U.S. has more people in prison than any other country. Approximately 1% of all adults in U.S. are in jail or prison, 2,319,258 out of almost 230 million American adults, or one out of every 99.1 adults. In one state, the crime rate has increased only about 3% in the past 30 years, while its inmate population has increased by 600%.