1 Tim 5 Taking care of our own

We are enjoined to take care of our own in this passage. A number of questions came to mind. Please respond to these and/or add your own.

• 1. Who are our "own"? Does it mean only blood relatives, does it include the local Body of Christ, the larger Body..?
• 2. Are we really to live like Acts 2?
• 3. Would Christ ask us to change any part of our personal agenda's to make room to serve others. If so, how do we test and evaluate what we heard Him say, what are to do?

1 Timothy 4 "For this we labor and strive"

I'm looking forward to seeing you 21-Jan at Starbucks Barkley, 5 P.M. Please study 1 Tim 4, pray and share your thoughts on the following verses and/or respond to someone else's comment.

• 1 Doctrines of demons?
• 4 nothing is to be rejected?
• 6 in pointing these things out...
• 8 bodily discipline, not?
• 13 a command?

We met at Starbucks Barkley and had a good discussion regarding the above questions. Our discussion included:

• Rom 3:31 and Rom 7:7 The Law is good for guidance and to expose our fundamental sin nature
• John 8:44 Satan is the father of lies, and a very real and present adversary. It is important to deal with him head on as we disciple men.
• 1 Cor 6:19 Spiritual fitness is good; physical fitness is also an important element, both in serving others and as part of our larger witness
• The critical discipline of time in the Word and prayer: In helping men who are not spending frequent time in the Word and prayer, start with the heart, not the Law. What are their core beliefs, what emotions are driving their choices, etc?

We closed with a prayer walk along the path behind Barkley - it was very satisfying to experience the Holy Spirit leading all of us in a coordinated time of prayer.

The Holy Spirit and the story

Met at Starbucks, Barkley, the traces of last night's snow in furtive pockets and treacherous slick spots.
One of our members has entered into a discipleship relationship with another man; we discussed some of the practical points of starting such a relationship well, and agreed on the following:

• Being clear that you both desire a mentoring and discipleship relationship
• Centering any advice, counsel, correction or other suggestions around the Word
• Spending regular time in prayer
• Agreeing on who Christ is, the fundamentals of the faith, including the need for salvation
• Understanding the story behind the behavior and relying on the Holy Spirit to provide insight

We moved on to discuss "How do you know if someone is saved", discussed some of the key attributes and qualities of mentors/leaders as outlined in 1 Tim 3, Psa 15 and a few other references.

Closed with a prayer walk along the path through the woods. Numerous runners went past, with head lamps providing light for their way, the Holy Spirit graciously provided His light for our way of prayer. God is indeed worthy of praise!

Mark P.

Prayer - there is no other way

Back in the corner at Adagio, twas good to talk about: Prayer, walking as men of integrity; our behavior - Psa 15, our speech - Matt 12:36-37, and leading other men in these areas by example and teaching. In discussing 1 Tim 2, we spent some time on the call to prayer, and the different root words for "men" in vs. 1 and vs.8. Please add your thoughts / research on these words / passages to this blog.

It all ties together

30-Dec-2010 2 Tim, Psa 15, Col 1:9-10

Hello brothers,
I'm looking forward to seeing you again 3-Jan at 5 P.M. at Adagio on Railroad. As I was studying 1 Tim 2 and thinking about the call to pray, Psa 15 and Col 1:9-10 came to my attention. Please study these passages, ask the Holy Spirit for insights, and share with us on Monday what you see. I noticed a couple of things:

• Psa 15 - our behavior, walking as men of integrity (or not) impacts our relationship / access to God


• Col 1:9-10 The daunting, high call of vs. 10 is predicated on vs. 9 - can we really live this way?

21-Dec-2010
Here is Toby's email from a couple of weeks ago. I've added some notes at the bottom, please add your thoughts, research, comments, suggestions etc.

"As I was looking through different passages that discuss what it means to be a disciple, I found several. However, I also just started at the beginning of 2 Timothy to refresh my memory on the context of the original passage 2 Timothy 3:16-17. I actually had a great time just reading through the entire letter! I think a lot could be learned about discipleship just in studying through the few short chapters of 2 Timothy... I will just pull out a few verses that stood out to me as I read through the letter.

-2 Timothy 1:3, Paul serves "with a pure conscience." I know I do not have consider myself having a pure conscience before God, so to be able to make that statement is a testament to Paul's devotedness (discipleship) in body and mind. I'm not sure I even know what a pure conscience is!
-2 Timothy 1:8, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord..." A disciple should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ and should be willing to share that testimony.
-2 Timothy 1:9, God, "who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace..." To be true disciple, we must understand that our salvation comes solely from God and not our works, and that our calling as a disciple is to be instruments for His purpose on this earth - not our agenda.
-2 Timothy 2:2, As disciples, we should pass that which we've heard (the Scripture, the teachings of God's chosen pastors, etc.) to other "faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
-2 Timothy 2:15, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Discipleship is akin to work, and hard work at that! Even though 2 Tim 1:9 says that it is not according to our works that we are saved, we are still clearly called to "work" by spreading the gospel and understanding the Scripture. I think this is what it means, perhaps to have a pure conscience before God - to not be ashamed of His gospel.
2 Timothy 3:12, We are told by Paul that as a disciple, "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." However in vs. 14, we are encouraged to "continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of..."
2 Timothy 3:16-17, The passage that you outlined for our discussion, encourages us as disciples to study to Word so that we may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work...that comes through the working of the Holy Spirit in us.
2 Timothy 4:2, This may perhaps be the pinnacle of the letter - "Preach the Word!" he says to Timothy. Although some disciples are called to be pastors, teachers, prophets, etc., it seems that we are all to be "preachers" or evangelists (i.e., the Great Commission)."

2 Timothy 4:2 "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."

Preach: Strong's g2784 kēryssō

Word: Strong's g3056 logos (I love this! Logos is the root translated in John 1:1 as "the Word" and in other places referring to Christ)

Acts 4 - satan meets Faith

Acts 4 provides some insights into how satan attacks us, responds to the Gospel being communicated, and how we are to respond to him.

Peter and John were with the man who had been miraculously cured, explaining the Gospel, and many people in the crowd were coming to faith.

Satan response:

• Brought the religious authorities and the guards to attack and imprison them, to stop the teaching – he uses worldly authority.


• Gathered in a crowd of like-minded people opposed to the Message – he is a coward.


• Surrounded Peter and John and began verbally attacking them – surround and attack is a common tactic.


• Recognized that Peter and John as “having been with Jesus” – when we spend time with Christ, it is apparent.


• Summoned them again, and told them not to speak the Gospel – satan will keep attacking if we keep communicating the Gospel.


• Satan continued to call out to them, to threaten them – he never tires of opposing God’s elect.

Faith:

• Peter and John were proclaiming that Jesus was the risen Christ.


• People listening heard and believed, joining the fellowship of faith.


• Peter responded to Holy Spirit's prompting and explained the miracle, giving credit to Christ.


• Peter and john ignored satan’s threats, and continued “speaking about what we have seen and heard”.


• Reported to the other Believers what was happening, glorifying God.


• The Believers were encouraged and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness and power.


• They gave out, sharing all they had, not pulling inside themselves in fear.

Be bold, respond to the Holy Spirit's leading, expect the attack, and respond in faith. Christ has ALL the authority!