In my church we elect elders and deacons. They hire our pastor who is apart of staff at the church.

            The highest position in my church is elder. Then it goes to pastor then to deacon then the congregation. The following is instructions the bible gives each.

Elders

( Cecil Peterman, Ed Neds, Ron Smith and Alex Myers)

We currently have 4 elected elders in my church. The following verse gives the first two instructions for elders….

2 Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 1 Peter 5:2-3

1. They must shepherd the flock.  (1 Peter 5:2) The elders in my church are always willing to lend some advice and give guidance.

2. They watch out for their congregation.  A rule also shown in the verse 1 Peter 5:2. The elders in my church show this by how much they look out for us and take care of us by doing things that may seem pointless at the time. Such as trying to keep the peace when there is a dispute.

3. They must live as examples.  (1 Peter 5:3) I know very well that the elders in  my church are perfect role models and lead by example.

14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:14

4. Anoint and pray over the sick.  (James 5:14) They might not anoint people but I do know that elders in my church have visited and prayed for sick members of the congregation.

17 Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well,[a] especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. 1 Tim. 5:17

5. They are supposed to teach. (1 Tim. 5:17) The elders in my church sometimes speak before communion or offering. Or preach a sermon if the pastor cannot make it.

2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. Acts 15:2

6. They must act as judges. (Acts 15:2) Just in the example given in Acts the elders in my church are burdened by having to make very big decisions. They should be highly respected. I’m sure its not easy I mean you can’t please everyone

Pastors

(Terry Rhoads)

We have one pastor at my church. My pastor is an amazing man. Though a little old fashioned in my point of view he’s a truly amazing leader.

5 I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. 6 An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife,[a] and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. 7 An elder[b]is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker,[c] violent, or dishonest with money. 8 Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. 9 He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong. Titus 1:5-9

Basically to me I see pastors as just being another kind of elder. At least that’s how it is in my church. In my church the preacher is like a part of the staff of the church but he is also an elder. He is only slightly below the elders because they have the power to hire and fire him.

Deacons

(Unknown)

In my church we have at least 6 deacons. They are voted in by the congregation just like the elders.

8 In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. 9 They must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience. 10 Before they are appointed as deacons, let them be closely examined. If they pass the test, then let them serve as deacons. 11 In the same way, their wives[a] must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do. 12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he must manage his children and household well. 13 Those who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. 3:8-13

Deacons have just about the same rules as elders but there job is different. Deacons are put over the different jobs that elders don’t do. Some examples may be… ministry, building, finances and budget, outreach and some others that have escaped my mind right now. The word deacon actually comes from the word servant. But in my church I am sure that nothing would work right without the deacons.

Congregation

Then of course you have the congregation cause lets face it you can’t have a church without a congregation.

Conclusion

This is how my church structure works it goes from elders to the pastor to the deacons to the congregation. To illustrate I have a diagram.

If you have any comments please feel free to leave them below.

    As far as predestination itself I do think god predestines us in a since he knows who we will become but I don't believe he like shuns people. But there are something's in Calvinism that I do not believe in. To describe what I believe I'm going to use T.U.L.I.P.

Total deprivation

I do believe that everyone is born with a sinful nature and in the fact that we can do no good without god. 

Unconditional Election

I do believe that God chooses us and we don't deserve it. 

Limited Atonement

I do not believe that Jesus only died for some people I believe he died for EVERYONE because he loves everyone. I don't believe he sits in heaven going I love you but not you I love you oh but not you.

Irresistible Grace

I do believe God knows what I like but I also believe humans are stubborn and could deny him no matter what.

Preservation of the Saints 

I do not believe in this. Reason being like I said before humans are stubborn and we could push god away.


This is what I do and don't believe about Calvinism and predestination. Comment below if you want to give me some feedback.

Authority

I believe the most applicable for not only our school but everywhere is the exhortation on authority. This is Romans 13:1-7. Before I get into how this applies to our school I want to explain this section first.

Romans 13:1-7 goes on to talk about how we should obey the authorities we have over us. One example given was the government. Yeah I know that might be a little difficult. But God wants us to obey our authorities that are in charge of us. And he wants us to obey the laws put in place.

This also needs to be used at school too. Our teachers deserve our respect and we need to respect their authority even if it means bad news bears for us. We need to show them we respect their authority by listening and paying attention during class that is my challenge to you.

The next place authority should be respected is the church. You need to respect your elders and decons and especially the pastor. Even if you feel the urge to fall asleep during church don’t do it. Or if a decon or elder makes up their mind on something you don’t like don’t throw a fit about it just talk to them.

These are my applications and challenges to ALL  of you.

I'm going to try to get deeper in this topic instead of just trying to slide by. Even if it means getting a little off topic. But as many of the people reading this post knows that's what a good discussion has... tangents.

Now starting off on topic though... Romans. I am starting with chapter 3. So, Romans 3-10 it touched on a lot of different points which made me feel overwhelmed so I broke it down.

Romans 3

• Everyone is a sinner but because Jesus died for us we don't have the punishment of death

Romans 4

• God declares us "not guilty"

Romans 5

• The holy spirit helps us become more like Jesus

Romans 6

• Sin has no power

Romans 7

• We are  to obey God's laws even if it means breaking other laws ( but don't steal from Casey's and say God told you to)
• All humans struggle with sin

Romans 8

• God will make us all brand new in heaven

Romans 9

• God chooses people for specific purposes

Romans 10

• Salvation is for everyone!

Two of these I want to go into detail with and try to explain. The one I think would be the hardest to explain and the one that would be the easiest to accept. 

Explanations

I believe trying to explain that sin has no power may be the hardest. Imagine if your talking to someone who struggles or has struggled with lust or drugs. Those sinful things had or have a lot of power over their lives. How do  you just explain how that have no power.

I believe the easiest to accept is the fact that God has a purpose for everyone. This being because everyone wants to be needed. So telling someone God has a purpose for them most likely they're going to cling to that.

Conclusions

I hope I did good at explaining things that I have an opinion on today. Below I have a link to an "I Am Second" video you should check out. 

A Purpose in Life

The Death Thing

Death... A topic not many people feel comfortable talking about. But we all end up dying at some point unless we are lucky enough to still be here when Jesus returns. But were not discussing resurrecting we are discussing death what is believed about it in Christianity and in other religions too.

As Christians we believe that when we die we go to heaven to be with The Lord. But in other religions people believe in reincarnation. That's basically when you die you come back as something else. Sound kind of crazy huh?

Now atheists believe wen you die you die. Your dead your gone your "worm food" YUCK! But who would want to believe that? Wouldn't that be scary knowing when you die that's it?

Now I want to know what you think about death? I didn't write much but maybe you have some good insights you could share in the comments.

        As a teenager it can be very hard to understand some things the bible says. I  know I have many questions when it comes to 3 key topics.

• Sex *pausing for uncomfortable and nervous giggles*.
• Marriage
• Being single

      12 "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.   


        Sex the only word that can make a teenager flee faster than if they were being chased by a flesh eating monster. Obviously as you just read in the following passage from 1 Corinthians you should not be sexual immoral. But what exactly does that mean? What if I screw up? Will God still love me? But I have faith that as Christian children we have an advantage to knowing there's a greater love then that. A great person we can be one body with who will show us the truth and we can live with for  eternity in heaven. The one who never stops loving us. 


Now American culture is a whole other story. There are kids who are having sex at only 12 years old! People are saying it's normal to experiment with porn. If that's the case then why not experiment with drugs? Or hey here's a beer why don't you go ahead hop in the car go for a little drive while your at it!? Seriously culture is saying sex is ok. If you love each other you can have sex its ok. They also say being gay is ok. But as Christians we know that's not the case.

To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.  11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

The majority of things I have questions about has to deal with divorce. Obviously if a man was beating on his wife she could leave him. Right? You are supposed to work it out if you can. But what if they cheat on you again and again and again? What happens then?

As Christians we get divorced as a last resort. But in American culture we have people getting divorced with the claim that they "fell out of love" or that they "married the wrong person".  Here is a very clear difference between Christians and non-Christians. But it is far from the only difference.

Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.

^8-9 I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. But if they can’t manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single.




As Christians we believe it is fine to be single just as Paul says. But culture today says your weird if you don't date when your a teenager. They act like its taboo. I once walked up and was talking to a girl who looked around my age and when I told her I didn't have a boyfriend and I've  never been on an actual date she looked at me like I had 2 heads but I didn't care I know that being single for now until I find the right person to try to date is fine.

                                                       

Now as a closing I'd like to show how these three key topics are related....






Sex is something intimate that as Christian we wait to have when the time comes for Marriage.
Marriage is when we find the right person and will never be Single again.

The Second Coming

               In 2 Thessalonians Paul teaches about the 2nd coming. It's like he's talking about some sort of  antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2 "Now, dear brothers and sisters,^a let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness^b is revealed—the one who brings destruction.^c 4He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

5Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

9This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth." Some people believe the antichrist has already been born and is living among us somewhere on earth.

 

 

 

 

           But also a popular belief is what is portrayed in the left behind books and movies. Some think that when God calls us it will happen in the blink of an eye. Which Ironically is one of the movies I've seen where the rapture happens. It is believed that Christ will come and everyone will be taken to heaven straight away. In the movie a man is on a boat with some friends and the rapture happens then he cant find his wife.

 

Another modern day application to the rapture is the new left behind movie. A man is flying on an airplane when the rapture happens and all they find of the passengers who were taken (a lot of children) were their clothing.

 

 

Now my challenge to you is to read the Bible and make your own opinion of what you think it's saying will happen. Will it look like these movies? But most importantly....

Will YOU be ready?