tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry, Missions

Three Things Christians SHOULD Learn from Mormons!

mormonmissionaries

I must place a disclaimer here: I do not believe the LDS (i.e. Mormon) Church is a Christian church. Their doctrine differs significantly from historical Christianity to such a degree that they are outside of orthodox faith. For more information on this, I encourage you to watch this video by Ravi Zacharias.

I met with three members from the LDS church (Mormon church) this morning to talk about Jesus. Although I disagree strongly with their doctrine and view of God, there are at least three things we can learn from the Mormon church.

1. We need to emphasize the importance of missions!
Virtually every young man in the Mormon church embarks on a 2-year mission between the ages of 18 – 25. This mission is self-funded and often takes these young adults to different parts of the world. In preparation for the mission field, many of these missionaries learn to speak in a foreign language to effectively witness about their faith.

On the contrary, many Christians this age are content with playing beer-pong and watching pornography. It is an absolute shame that we, who have been entrusted with the message of the Gospel, do not take sharing our faith as seriously as Mormons!

2. We need to seek to do GOOD to our neighbors!
These young men I visited with were well aware I was not going to become a convert. They understood that I am a pastor attending seminary and was interested in simply hearing their stories and challenging them with some thought-provoking questions.

NEVERTHELESS, these young men offered to help me move over the next week. Mormons understand the absolute necessity of serving other people through practical acts of service. As part of their 2-year mission, they devote themselves to community service in order to add value to the city they are called to.

What if we as Christians searched for practical ways to serve our neighbors? What if we offered to help total strangers move? What if we were known by what we were FOR rather than what we were AGAINST?

3. We need to understand WHAT we actually believe!
One of the vital doctrines that puts Mormonism outside of Christianity is their view of the Trinity. Historical Christianity teaches that there is only one God who exists eternally in three distinct persons. Mormonism teaches that there are 3 gods who make up the “Godhead” and if we obey the commands of the church, we can also become gods.

Here’s the thing… these fresh-faced teenagers could actually articulate to me what the Mormon church teaches about God. Although they are wrong, they at least thought through who God is!

The vast majority of Christians’ eyes gloss over when someone mentions the Trinity… or the Atonement… or Propitiation…. or Eschatology… or Ecclesiology… (you get the point!)

DOCTRINE IS IMPORTANT!

I disagree greatly with the Mormon church. I believe Mormons need to turn from their false religion and embrace Biblical Christianity as revealed through Scripture and thousands of years of church history. Nevertheless, there are many things the Mormon church does far greater than our churches… and it’s to our shame!

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

Your Life NEEDS Margin!

margins

I absolutely love to read. Books give us the possibility of entering into a conversation with people we will never meet. These authors teach us about life, marriage, faith, and the art of story-telling. Yet a badly designed book can have devastating consequences on the ability of the reader to enjoy it!

On the left, right, top, and bottom of a book is white space. This white space is known as margin. If the text in a book filled up the entire page – which seems as if it would accomplish more – the book would be a nightmare for the reader.

The same way that margin is vital for a book, it is essential for our lives.

Many of us believe that constant activity will produce extraordinary results. This simply isn’t true. Those of us who feel the need to constantly work are slowly eroding our families and destroying our marriages on the false altar of productivity. Our need to work 60-hour weeks says less about our work ethic and more about our desire to be a god. God does not sleep… He doesn’t have to. He is infinite. We are finite.

We get this confused far too often.

One of the greatest ways to build margin into your life is by practicing a regular Sabbath. I have been using Saturday as my Sabbath for the past year and it has been incredibly refreshing and healing.

I want you to pick a day of the week that you can spend time resting with your family. After you select this day you need to guard it with passion! If you do not fight for margin in your life, no one else will. There are not a bunch of legalistic rules you need to keep on your Sabbath; instead, I would encourage you to seek out activities that allow physical, emotional, and spiritual rest (I’d also encourage you to do this with your phone OFF!)

For me it means I spend a lot of time reading fiction. I love being pulled into a good story rather than being occupied with the current stress of my ministry. Fiction allows me to experience exotic places and incredible stories without leaving my home!

I also love nature. As long as it is not -30 outside, I will go for a long walk to breathe in fresh air and slowly watch birds, squirrels, rabbits, and insects enjoy the day. This reminds me that I’m really not that important. If God sustains the creatures of the earth with food and shelter, He will provide me with everything I need.

During my weekly Sabbath I commit much of the time to hanging out with my beautiful bride. Here’s the truth I live by: The Rescue Church in Garretson can have many different pastors, my wife and (soon to be) daughter only get one husband and father. I will willingly lay down formal ministry if it becomes a god which ravages my family through workaholism.

Can you say the same about your career? Or is your family being ripped apart by the incessant demands at work? Anything or anyone other than the Living God is extremely destructive to worship.

I’m afraid many of us are sacrificing self-care and the health of our families for the false gods of productivity, career, financial security, and materialism.  

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

A Daily Death (New Message)

Current Series

A Daily Death (Click to Open)

Many people view the Gospel as a means to become rich and achieve supernatural health. The has been propagated by ministers who preach the so-called “prosperity gospel.” This false teaching has been spurred into popularity by the materialistic society which exists in the western world.

In opposition to this, Jesus teaches us that an invitation to follow Him is actually an invitation to come and die (Luke 9:23). I unpack this truth and it’s implications for our lives in this message.

(If you are reading this in your e-mail, you will have to go to the actual page to hear the message.) 

 

tylerramsbey Ministry, Seminary Assignment

Clergy Aren’t Respected Anymore… Is That Good?

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Those who hold the title of clergy have been experiencing a fall from popular culture. The image of a pastor has transformed from a caring individual, dedicated to bringing hope and restoration into a community to a televangelist bent on stealing money from the poor through the prosperity gospel.

This seems like a new phenomenon.

It’s really not.

This utter lack of respect for clergy began in the early 19th century. Nathan O. Hatch mentions this time of transformation by quoting from the 3rd Epistle of Peter… at least that’s what it was called. Alexander Campbell mocked professional clergy with this fake letter. In it, “Peter” instructs ministers to “live well, wear the best clothes, adorn themselves with high-sounding titles, drink costly wine, and fleece the people.”

This destructive seed which was planted in the 19th century is now coming to full bloom in the 21st century. As a member of the so-called clergy, we can respond to this in two ways.

One way is to get angry. I mean REALLY angry. This is how many of the pastors in the 19th century responded.

This doesn’t work.

Pastor, you do realize that we serve a crucified Savior right?

Have you forgot Matthew 10:25?
“It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul (or Satan), how much more will they malign those of his household.”

The Gospel will be administered under the shadow of the cross. Ministry is not a call to respectability but to death. The Apostles themselves were treated as the scum of the earth, why should YOU be treated any better? This leaves us with the second option…

Pastor, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us…” What if instead of getting mad at those who accuse us of fleecing the sheep, we laid down our lives (and time) sacrificially for those who malign us? What if, instead of bemoaning the lack of respectability for clergy, we loved the very people that hate us?

The ministry is one of crucifixion.

You will receive a crown… but not from the culture.

You will experience resurrection… but not from those who don’t know God.

The rewards you will get for faithfully fulfilling the ministry God has given you far outweigh every negative word, unfair rumor, and false accusation you will ever experience.

Pastor, keep your eyes on Jesus… He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Chief Shepherd – minister from HIS strength and power – not your own.

tylerramsbey Church Planting, Leadership, Ministry, Seminary Assignment

Three Ways to Shut the Backdoor of YOUR Church

backdoor

This post is the fourth of a series posts of my reflections on the Small Town, Big Church Roundtable event I attended at The Rescue Church. I encourage you to read the first three:
1. It Takes ALL Kinds of Churches…
2. Three Reasons Your Church is Struggling Financially
3. Hiring Church Staff with No Money

Every church seems to have a revolving backdoor. In other words, a small church may see 50+ guests every year with many of these people becoming permanent members while continuing at the same attendance. This happens because people who have been attending the church regularly leave.

Watching people leave your church, especially when the reason is unknown, is one of the most painful parts of being a pastor.

This backdoor was a major problem at The Rescue Church. After reading the book Sticky Church, we have begun to search for solutions to the problem. This was also a topic which was brought up at the roundtable; below are three ideas that resonated with me:

1. You need excellent small groups!
If you are like many pastors, you may have audibly groaned when you read those two words: small groups. As pastors we hate to talk about small group ministries because we aren’t very good at them (that’s saying it nicely!). This has also been brutally true of the church I help lead.

We are currently experimenting with sermon-based discussion groups. These meetings have been effective in connecting people to each other and to God. An average group for us looks like this:
(30 minutes) – We have a meal together.
(15 minutes) – We share what is REALLY going on in our lives and pray for each other.
(30 minutes) – We spend time going through the discussion questions from the bulletin.
(15 minutes) – We close with prayer.

It is a simple but effective format. If you are interested in this, you NEED to read Sticky Church!

2. You need to personally follow-up with visitors!
It’s terrifying to attend a new church for the first time. After the service, the person will have an internal (or external) debate on whether or not to attend the following week.

If you want visitors to return to your church, you NEED to follow up with them personally. This means you need to have a way of gathering their information. We have “Connection Cards” which people can fill out and have a welcome gift mailed to them.

If you have their phone number, I highly recommend giving them a call. Thank them for attending the service and answer any questions they might have. Explain that you would be honored to have them join you again the following week!

3. You need to have a relational church!
The primary concept which continued to come up in our discussion was relationships. People stay at a church because of the relationships they have forged there. If the people in your church have the mindset of a country club and refuse to welcome guests to the service, your church will not grow!

You need to cultivate a deep love for guests in your congregation. This is more than going to grandma’s house after church with the same people every week. The people in your church should intentionally look for ways to welcome guests!

We have a “First Impressions” team at The Rescue Church. These are our greeters, ushers, coffee bar severs, etc. Although we have an official team, we are clear that EVERYONE is on the First Impressions team. This is something that we embed into the DNA of every person who attends our church. One of the greatest compliments I hear from first time guests is how genuinely friendly everyone at the church is!

Have you noticed that your church has a backdoor? What are some things you have learned to help close it? Let me know by leaving a comment!

tylerramsbey Church Planting, Ministry, Seminary Assignment

It Takes ALL Kinds of Churches…

smallchurch

This post is the first of a series posts of my reflections on the Small Town, Big Church Roundtable event I attended at The Rescue Church.

This past Wednesday, I had an incredible opportunity to connect with other pastors and leaders in small churches. This was both encouraging and challenging. One of the ways I was deeply refreshed by this roundtable was the variety of denominations and churches represented. Rather than hurling rocks at each others’ churches through jealousy and bitterness, we joined together as brothers and sisters in Christ united by the Gospel.

Leading a small church can be incredibly lonely. If you do not guard your heart, the toxic effects of discouragement and disillusionment will rob you of your joy and shipwreck your ministry. On top of this, many pastors struggle with forming friendships with other churches in their area due to minor arguments.

This reminds me of what Paul instructed the immature church in Corinth:
“For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe’s household, that there is rivalry among you. What I am saying is this: Each of you says, ‘I’m with Paul,’ or ‘I’m with Apollos,’ or “I’m with Cephas,’ or ‘I’m with Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?” – 1 Corinthians 1:11-13

Conflict and rivalry infiltrates our churches through secondary matters. Often when small church pastors begin to build a community with leaders from other denominations, their hope for friendship is crushed against a brick wall of secondary issues.

Let’s keep the main thing the main thing. Let’s set our eyes upon Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Let’s celebrate the Gospel and the beauty of God revealed in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s stand side-by-side, laboring together to advance God’s message of love into the brokenness and darkness of our communities.

In essence, it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. We are on the same team!!

Have you ever experienced the pain of churches attacking each other over secondary matters? Why do YOU think this happens? Let me know by leaving a comment!

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

Let’s Work Together.

Bible Picture

I desire to add value to the lives of people by teaching the Bible in a way that is understandable, truthful, and relevant. We live in the midst of a culture that is biblically malnourished. Even within the church, we have people who can quote Scripture but have no idea how to live it out in their daily lives.

I want to see that changed!

I would love to work with you in order to begin that change in your community. If you are part of a church, youth group, Bible study, or any other group that would find it beneficial for me to share from the Bible, let’s work together! I would encourage you to check out my Recent Messages to have an understanding of how I communicate.

Are you interested? Head on over and Contact Me so we can begin planning and praying together!

We will discuss rates & travel when you contact me. I desire to work with people on all budgets and am willing to be flexible on speaking fees. 

 

tylerramsbey Ministry

What Am I Doing in Seminary?

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If you keep up with my blog, you would have noticed that I do not post nearly as often as I did before. I can promise you that I am still writing and creating content more than ever! Most of the content I am creating is for assignments I am doing at Sioux Falls Seminary. Although you may not be interested in academia, I have created a page to share my assignments. These assignments have been categorized by the different classes I completed them in and have titles specifying the content.

Feel free to search through my virtual school folder for anything that may be helpful in your life. My prayer is that the content of the assignments would encourage you to love Jesus and His church more than you do today.

(If you do not like academic papers, don’t worry! I will continue to post devotional thoughts on my main page – just not as often due to my academic workload.)

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

Are Traditions Bad?

tradition

Many in contemporary churches brush aside tradition – myself included. We pride ourselves on rejecting ancient practices in order to remain relevant in an ever changing world. We upgrade our sound systems, preach through catchy sermon series, and capture the emotions of those in our churches.

None of that is bad, but I would argue we are making a grave mistake by blindly discarding the value of tradition.

When it comes to Christianity, tradition has numerous benefits. Although you may not find all traditions life-giving, it is foolish and arrogant to assume that those in more “traditional” churches somehow love Jesus less.

Below are some of the benefits of tradition:

1. Tradition connects us to a “cloud of witnesses”.

The writer of Hebrews refers to a “cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:1. This cloud of witnesses is a reference to those who have gone before us. Specifically, the writer encourages us to consider these faithful saints who have endured the hardship of life and finished the race successfully. According to Hebrews 12:1, looking to these faithful men and women will enable us to:

  • Throw off everything that hinders us in our own race.
  • Kill sin which entangles us.
  • Encourage us to run our race with perseverance in the midst of trials and persecution.

2. Tradition prevents chronological snobbery.

The phrase “chronological snobbery” was first coined by C.S. Lewis. According to Lewis, this special type of snobbery is defined as, “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited.” We cite technological and intellectual advancements and neglect to study ancient material since we do not find it “relevant.”

The opposite is often true.

If something has been around for hundreds (or even thousands) of years and people still talk about it, it holds immense relevance and truth for the 21st century. Rather than accepting the next self-help book because it is on the best seller list, acquaint yourself with the classics. By reading classic Christian literature and even the church fathers (writings from early church history), you will gain a deep appreciation for the person and work of Christ which extends across generations.

3. Tradition exposes cultural idols.

When we come to Scripture, we do not come with a blank slate. Some people erroneously claim that we should allow the Bible to interpret our theology rather than allowing our theology to interpret the Bible. That sounds great on paper but is impossible in practice.

All of us, whether we admit it or not, bring assumptions, experiences, and cultural assumptions to our understanding of God and Scripture. The same way a fish does not know what water is because it is surrounded by it, we do not see our cultural idols because they are deeply embedded in our being.

Reading the works of those who lived in different periods of time with a variety of backgrounds will help us see the “water” we swim in. God will use the writings alongside of Scripture to expose the disgusting idols we willingly sacrifice our time, finances, and abilities to.

I would encourage you to read a Christian author this month who lived outside of the 21st century. Below are some of my favorite authors whose works of literature are considered classics. Some are older than others; all of them will add great value to your life. 

  • Jonathan Edwards
  • C.S. Lewis
  • Thomas Aquinas
  • John Bunyan
  • Augustine
  • John Calvin
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

How to Read: Parables

parables

This is part of a series of posts based on the book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. To see the previous posts in this series, click below:
Are You Reading the Bible Wrong?
How to Read: New Testament Letters
How to Read: Old Testament Narrative
How to Read: The Gospels

One of the concepts that frustrated me about English class was the way teachers push meaning into irrelevant parts of books. Even if what the teacher says is true, I leave puzzled and with a migraine. For example, often a character in a book is described as wearing a certain color of clothing. I remember having to answer questions such as, “What is the significance of Peter wearing a blue shirt to the grocery store”. My answer: He put on a blue shirt and went to the grocery store. The teacher’s answer: Peter’s blue shirt is the author expressing his sorrow over having to work at a grocery store in his early years in order to financially support his family.

Uh.. What?

1. You do not need secret interpretive keys to understand parables.

Parables seem to be the type of literature that we over-complicate the most. We have a tendency to think we are wise by attaching significant spiritual truth to irrelevant details in Jesus’ parables – much like my frustration with English class. Simply put, Parables are simple stories that illustrate some type of spiritual truth. Jesus was a master of teaching through parables and they were one of the primary ways he spoke about Kingdom realities.

Almost every parable has one main point. Jesus is teaching in such a way that people understand the concepts in the parables. For example, the parable about the Good Samaritan teaches that all people are considered your neighbor, regardless of race or religion. The parable of the Prodigal Son is that the heavenly Father rejoices when lost people return to him. It is bad Bible reading to attach significant spiritual truths to small details in the parables.

Even those we consider spiritual giants have misread parables in this way. Many people rightly look to Saint Augustine as a hero of the Christian faith. Unfortunately, he would have done an excellent job in my English class according to his interpretation of the Good Samaritan.

2. Find the points of references.

In order to understand the parables, you need to identify what the points of references are in the story. As we discussed above, the parables are stories which illustrate a greater spiritual truth. This is done by telling a short story with multiple characters and a plot. Each of these things, when rightly understood, are points of references which illustrate the main point Jesus is trying to express.

Keeping with parable of the Good Samaritan, the points of references would be the following:
The man who was robbed
The priest and the Levite (religious leaders)
The “good” Samaritan (a people group hated by the Jewish people for apostasy and mixed race)

As indicated by Jesus’ question in Luke 10:36, Jesus is illustrating the duty of all mankind to help those who are hurting and in distress – regardless of race, religion, or vocation. We come to this conclusion by studying the points of references and bringing ourselves into Jesus’ question that closes out the parable.

3. Who is the Audience?

As stated above, Jesus often taught through the use of Parables. As an excellent teacher, Jesus would form his parables around the people he is speaking with. Having a proper understanding of the audience of Jesus’ parables, you will begin to see the reason for each parable’s use. For this example, let’s look at the popular parable known as the Prodigal Son. In essence, Jesus tells the story of a son who forsakes his father, spends all of his money, and then returns to his father. His father then throws a celebration and the rebellious son’s older brother is both jealous and angry that the father is celebrating the prodigal son.

This story takes on significant meaning when you understand that Jesus was speaking to an audience made up of two types of people:
1. Tax Collectors and “sinners”
2. Scribes and Pharisees

The first group of people were those that disregarded much of Judaism through their sinful lifestyles. The second group of people were those that tried tediously to follow the commands of the Law. Combining both the audience and the points of references, we can come to the following understanding of the Prodigal Son:

  • The son who forsook his father and squandered his inheritance can be identified with the tax collectors and sinners who each forsook their Heavenly Father for the things of this world.
  • The older brother who is mad at the father for accepting the prodigal son back into the family can be identified with the Scribes and Pharisees whose obedience to dead religion had turned their hearts cold to the rest of mankind.

Both learn a significant truth through the parable: that God forgives and accepts sinners who return to him; regardless of how “religious” people feel about it.

What is your favorite parable? Who is the audience and what are some points of references that would help you understand the main teaching of the story? Let me know by leaving a comment!