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TueTuesdayMayMay8th2012 10 Categories for Prayer
Posted Tuesday, May 08 2012 @ 10 AM byEric Posteluk Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment
Once Jesus died on the cross - the temple curtain that blocked people off from entering into the Most Holy Place was torn in two -from top to bottom. God did it. Now, every person who gives their life to Jesus by faith is able to meet with God in the most intimate ways. Prayer is one main avenue through which we can do this.

In order to take full advantage of God's offer for you to pray to Him, it's important that you think about prayer correctly. Here are 10 Categories for prayer to help -

  1. Intentional Prayer - As Jesus planned ahead and intentionally set aside time to pray - you should as well. Mark 1:35, 6:46.
  2. Extended Prayer - As Jesus spent extended amounts of time in prayer - you should grow in doing so as well. Luke 6:12
  3. Biblically Consistent Prayer - Your prayers should line up with God's promises and commands and teachings in the Bible. Keep reading and studying the Bible. James 4:3
  4. In the Spirit Prayer - You should position yourself - through humble dependence - to be empowered by the Holy Spirit as you pray. Pray to pray.  Ephesians 6:18; Jude 20; Ephesians 5:18
  5. Persistent Prayer - You should continue to pray for what you believe God wants you to have. Luke 18:1-7
  6. Invitational Prayer - God invites you to pray to Him any day, any time, any place! You should take full advantage of His Open House. You should also understand that certain things will not happen UNLESS you RSVP to His invitation and pray.  Matthew 7:7-11; James 4:2 
  7. To God's Glory Prayer - God created the universe to glorify Himself - to display His greatness. Your prayers are to be directed by a passion to bring glory to God. 1 Corinthians 10:31; Isaiah 43:6-7
  8. Scriptural Prayer - You should continue to grow in being guided by the "specific" words and phrases from the Bible as you pray. Acts 4:24-26
  9. God is Sovereign Prayer - God is sovereign; He rules and reigns over all and therefore He has ultimate say so in all that occurs. As you pray for specific things that God doesn't guarantee He will give you (wealth, health, perfect marriage, perfect children, stellar job, avoidance of all tragedy) you should rest in His final decision regarding what is best for you. You should always seek to learn what God is teaching you through the trials your face. God does promise to give you joy, peace and hope in all situations, and therefore, you should expect these things as you seek and trust in Him! James 4:13-16; John 16:33; Luke 22:39-42
  10. Pray for me Prayer - To be a strong Christian you must learn to humble yourself and ask other Christians to pray for you. As our example, the Apostle Paul repeatedly did this. 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Colossians 4:3-4.

Jesus has opened up the way for you to take full advantage of praying to God. There are things He wants to change in your life that will ONLY occur when you pray. There are things He wants to change in others peoples lives that will ONLY occur when you pray. Take full advantage of this unspeakable privilege God has given you in Jesus Christ. It's not that you HAVE to pray - it's that you GET to pray.

TueTuesdayAprApril17th2012 Hate Hatred!
Posted Tuesday, April 17 2012 @ 9 AM byEric Posteluk Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment
"...Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." Luke 6:27-28

Jesus' teaching on loving our enemies is not very popular. People are good with his teaching on "loving" people - but the rub comes when He says that we are to be loving our enemies. Until our hearts have been deeply impacted by the fact that we "ourselves" were God's enemies (in our B.C. days) and that He loved us to the point of death on a cross - we will ALWAYS struggle with loving "our enemies". This is what Romans 5:8, 10 teaches - "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us... while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son..."

Because Jesus loved me while I was His enemy - I should extend His love to my enemies.

Question: Who is my enemy?

Answer: Anyone who I am at odds with at the moment. This can include: co-workers, neighbors, in-laws, spouse, children, criminals, the guy who just cut me off on the expressway, the rude person behind the counter, the telemarketer calling, the lady who has 35 items in the 10 items or less lane (who's counting?!) etc...

Jesus commands us that whenever we are at odds with another - we must RESOLVE in our hearts to keep loving them. Because Jesus loved me in my antagonistic state against Him - as His follower, I MUST do the same for others. To know that God loved ME when I was His enemy and then for me not to extend that love to others is a contradiction of the love that was freely given to me.

8 tips on loving our enemies:
  1. Pray for them: Pray for their blessing. You will not WANT to do this at first. You still need to
  2. Pray for yourself: You will need God's help to do the impossible - LOVE your enemy from your heart. Jesus isn't talking about "pretending" outwardly to love your enemy - He means - to TRULY love them.
  3. Let it go: Depending on your relationship with them and the severity of their sin - many times we pray for them and ourselves and just let it go.
  4. Address in love: Depending on your relationship with them and the severity of their sin - some times after praying you should humbly address your concern with them. It's typically best not to try to address every single thing you're concerned about. Try to boil it down to one main thing. Begin to talk with them about it and how their action has affected you. Don't DEMAND that they understand your concern immediately. Sometimes we are blind to our sin and therefore we may need a little time to process what has been shared. Let them chew on your comments. Keep praying for them if they're not seeing clearly at first.
  5. Motivated by love: Like a heart surgeon - you must critically examine your own heart to make sure it's being motivated by the desire to bless the other person and not hurt them back. If you are going to love your enemies - you must seek to benefit them (helping them to be more considerate and kind by addressing their sin is to their benefit). Make sure that you are not in attack mode. Make sure that you are not looking to spew out bitterness and irritation on them. 
  6. Speak to bless: Look for every opportunity (without being a phoney) to express your love and care for the person. Use words when speaking with them that will melt their cold heart. When others convince us that they love us regardless of our sinful actions by how they speak to us - it tends to convict us of our sin and melt our ice-cold hearts. Also, don't start gossiping or slandering that person to others behind their back. That is not loving your enemy - that is hating your enemy.
  7. Take responsibility: If you need to apologize for your 1% of sin compared to their 99% of sin - humble yourself and take responsibility for your actions. Many times people will apologize after the other person apologizes. Don't expect the person who sinned greatest to apologize first - they may be too spiritually immature to do it at that time. Take responsibility, and be encouraged that your humility brings showers of blessing from God onto you - James 4:10.
  8. Trust God: Know that God is using the other persons sinful actions against you to actually benefit you! God is sovereign over all things, and He uses ALL things to bless you and make you more like Jesus. Romans 8:28.

"...Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you..." Luke 6:27

TueTuesdayAprApril10th2012 PULL OUT THE FANGS
Posted Tuesday, April 10 2012 @ 9 AM byEric Posteluk Tagged No tags 1 comments Add comment
2 Corinthians 10:5 "...take every thought captive to obey Christ"

We think. We think a lot about many different things. We have mini-conversations in our minds as we assess situations we face daily. Some thoughts act like refreshing water in a dessert place to us. Other thoughts act like poisonous venom that needs to be stopped before it spreads in us and through us.

What do you do with venomous thoughts? Examples:
  • I will NEVER forgive that person
  • If people don't start appreciating me - I'm leaving!
  • I know EXACTLY what that person is "thinking" about me (fyi - you can't read minds)
  • I don't FEEL like doing what I should do...
  • If only I had THIS (fill in the blank) I would finally be happy
  • Why do these types of things always happen to ME?

We all face myriads of tempting thoughts. While we live in this world - one thing is for sure: venomous thoughts will sink their teeth into our minds and cause great harm unless we deal with them in a godly way. Being more like Jesus means "thinking" more like Jesus - taking "every thought captive to obey Christ."

3 things to keep the poison out of your thinking: Recognize, Resist, Redirect

Recognize: You need to grow in discerning what is a venomous thought and what isn't. This can be difficult. Why? Because it's easy to be lazy regarding what we allow ourselves to think about. We think: I'm not saying anything out loud. I'm not doing anything about it." True - but, if you ponder something long enough you will say "it" out loud and you will "act" on it. And - God knows your thoughts. The key here is to allow the Bible to inform your thinking.

Resist: Once you "recognize" your thinking is venomous - you need to pull the fangs out immediately. Snakes bite to harm and so do these thoughts. "God, help me to stop thinking this way." Or preach this to yourself - "What I'm thinking is not going anywhere good - I need to stop this immediately!" Or, confess your thinking to another person who cares about you.

Redirect: You've recognized, you're resisted - but that's not enough. The empty mind will quickly fill up with something. And chances are, that thought will come back again shortly. So, to truly resist it long term you need to direct your thinking on what God says about the subject and pray for Him to help you think the way you ought to.

(Compare to above)

  • As Jesus has forgiven me - I will forgive them as well: Colossians 3:12
  • God sees and rewards me for all good I do - therefore I don't have to be appreciated: Ephesians 6:8
  • Only God knows what other people are thinking and what they're being motivated by: 1 Samuel 16:7
  • I don't base my life choices on what I "feel" like doing - but on what God says I should do: John 14:21 
  • The only thing I truly need to be happy is a close relationship with God through Jesus: Psalm 16:11
  • God has good purposes for allowing trials in my life that make me more joyful and like Jesus: James 1:2-4

Recognize, Resist, Redirect. What you "think" ALWAYS affects how you "live." Don't kid yourself.


2 Corinthians 10:5 "...take every thought captive to obey Christ"
TueTuesdayAprApril3rd2012 Pry My Fingers Free
Posted Tuesday, April 03 2012 @ 10 AM byEric Posteluk Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

2 Corinthians 1:8–9 - For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Because of our sin, our most basic struggle is depending on God. Our most natural instinct is to depend on ourselves. This is why the Bible is filled with language that exhorts us to "trust" God and "believe" and "rest" and "wait" and "hope" and have "faith" in Him.

The problem with depending on ourselves is
1. We are not in control of the world - God is. 
2. We often don't see things correctly - God does.
3. We grow tired and weary - God doesn't.
4. We cannot handle the responsibility - God can.

So, God in His mercy will allow, or bring about circumstances into our lives that are extremely difficult to manage. These circumstances are so heavy - we begin to realize that we cannot carry them. We see clearly that our shoulders are too small. We need God-sized shoulders. And so - God (like a surgeon), pries our fingers free from clenching onto our ways and our abilities - and redirects them to clench on to His ways and His abilities.

He does not do this to harm us. He does this to liberate us from self-dependence ONTO God dependence. His ultimate goal is to show us that we not only need to cling to Him for the BIG devastating things life - but for the daily ....little... things in life as well.

The heart directed toward dependence on God - through Jesus - is one that is full of Life.

"Father, pry my fingers free from me and redirect them to You. In Jesus name - amen!"



WedWednesdayMarMarch28th2012 You Got to Open
Posted Wednesday, March 28 2012 @ 5 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged No tags 1 comments Add comment
"And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in your believers."
1 Thessalonians 2:13

God not only exists - He speaks. He speaks! He speaks every day to millions of people around the world. He teaches, and guides, and comforts, and informs, and gives perspective - all through the Bible. God appointed prophets and apostles to record His words through their personalities. Today we have a collection of 66 books that are put together to make the one Bible. God's divine library.  God's book out sells every other book in the world - literally.

I still remember when I first began to read the Bible. It blew me away. I could not believe how spot on it was regarding "me" and the world around me. I was seeing things through the divine grid and my interest only increased.

God's word isn't merely interesting though - it is powerfully transforming! I am a living testimony. The people I grew up with are usually shocked to hear I'm in ministry. I say - "it's not me! Jesus Christ came and changed me through His truth."

God wrote the Bible to TRANSFORM people. When you humbly open up the Bible to hear from God - He takes His truth and renews your thinking and your perspective on life. I can't count how many times I've been discouraged, or had lost perspective, or had fallen back into a pattern of sin - when God's word literally REVERSED my thinking (and following my thinking - my emotions!). Sometimes the reversal has been within minutes.

He is still speaking. He is still transforming. He still guides. He still teaches. He still gives perspective. He still removes fears. Here's the deal though - for this to happen -

YOU GOT TO OPEN THE BOOK AND READ. 
MonMondayFebFebruary1st2010 Unloading Condemnation
Posted Monday, February 01 2010 @ 4 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Applying the Gospel 3 comments Add comment

When we live our lives resting in the hope of the cross of Jesus Christ, we will not live under the weight of condemnation.

What is condemnation exactly? Here’s how CJ Mahaney puts it in his book The Cross Centered Life: Living with, “a sustained sense of guilt and shame over sins for which you have repented to God and to any appropriate individuals.” p 38

Living under condemnation works greatly against our spiritual growth in Christ! If we don’t learn to “unload” our condemnation onto Jesus and what He’s done for us on the cross, we will – Despair or Deny:


  1. Despair over our sin and quit seeking holiness (the pain of our guilt is too great to keep trying)
  2. Deny our sin and quit seeking holiness (the pain of our guilt is too great to acknowledge our sin)
Connected to denying - we’re more likely to focus on other people’s sins                     since this can temporarily distract us from the pain of our own guilt and shame


As Christians, our Father doesn’t intend for us to live with a sustained sense of guilt and shame when we’ve repented. The Lord doesn’t want us to despair over our sin or deny our sin. He wants us to humbly acknowledge it, turn from it, and rest in what Christ has already accomplished for us on the cross. Repent and Rest. R&R.  As we repent and rest in the cross, our joy and gratitude toward God will increase since we’ll see how kind He is to be completely committed to us is in spite of our daily battles with sin.








MonMondayJanJanuary25th2010 Our Prayer Pillar
Posted Monday, January 25 2010 @ 12 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Prayer The 4 Pillars 1 comments Add comment

At Harvest Bible Chapel we have Four Pillars that guide all of our ministry.
  1. Proclaiming the authority of God’s Word without apology - 2 Timothy 4:2
  2. Lifting high the name of Jesus through worship - John 4:24 
  3. Believing firmly in the power of prayer - Colossians 4:2 
  4. Sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness - Ephesians 6:19-20
I’d like to take a moment to talk about our Pillar on prayer. Why do we have prayer listed as an essential Pillar that upholds our church? Let me give you some reasons:
  • It’s commanded in Scripture
  • It’s modeled in Scripture 
  • It reminds us how much we need God 
  • It reminds others how much they need God 
  • It’s a major way that God works out His plans on earth
  • It increases our awareness of God 
  • It increases our love for God 
  • It increases our love for others 
  • It increases our faith for good things to come
  • The youngest to the oldest can participate 
  • Those young in their faith can be used mightily! 
  • The uneducated can be used disproportionately to their education 
  • It unites families, friends, churches, and communities
…It glorifies God by showing our weakness and His power

Prayer uniquely shows our weakness and God’s power. It’s possible to know the Bible from cover to cover and yet to be minimally aware of our need for God. Sad but true… For sinful people like us, knowledge can puff us up big time! We can forget that we’re not even in control of our next heartbeat or breath… Prayer tends to remind us – again, and again, and again (I need the reminders all day!) of how much we need God. Don’t get me wrong – keep reading your Bible, keep learning, keep memorizing, keep mediating – for sure!

But… don’t do that without growing more and more as a person of prayer. When you think of the Bible, think of prayer. When you think of prayer, think of the Bible. These two blessings from God are meant to go together!

Prayer is one of the 4 Pillars of Harvest Bible Chapel Joliet. “Lord, may we be a church that prays and prays and prays! For Your glory and our joy – in Jesus name, amen!”

Prayer is a privilege. The more you pray, the more you pray…

MonMondayJanJanuary18th2010 A Church "of" Small Groups
Posted Monday, January 18 2010 @ 4 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Small Groups 0 comments Add comment
I love Small Groups and I want you to as well!

It’s hard to overstate the benefits that can be had from a strong Small Group. HBC Joliet will not be a church with “some” Small Groups; rather, it will be a church “of” Small Groups. Our Sunday worship service is the most important event of the week. However, Small Groups wonderfully compliment it by accomplishing things that it cannot.

What is a Small Group?
A Small Group is a regular gathering where Christians (5-12 typically) seek to grow more in loving the Lord and each other. Small Groups happen outside of the church facility, typically in someone’s home. Small Groups are a practical way for Christians to live the Christian life “together" - the very thing Jesus intends for us to do!

Three Things Central in Small Groups
  • The Bible
  • Prayer 
  • Relationships 

Small Groups are effective because they offer a setting where we can...
  1. Learn what’s going on in each others lives
  2. Develop life long Christ-centered friendships
  3. Ask biblical questions 
  4. Discuss biblical topics 
  5. Pray for others 
  6. Be prayed for
  7. Learn from others who have gone before us 
  8. Be comforted by others
  9. Comfort others
  10. Be challenged to grow spiritually by others
  11. Lovingly challenge others to grow
  12. Enjoy relating to people who are different than us
  13. Gain perspective from people who are different than us
  14. Laugh and have fun together - thank God for humor!

Small Groups have the potential to offer Christians a little taste of Heaven on earth. HBC Joliet will be a church “of” Small Groups. I'm looking forward to being in one!
MonMondayJanJanuary11th2010 The 3 W's
Posted Monday, January 11 2010 @ 11 AM byEric Posteluk Tagged 3 W's Serving God Small Groups Staying Connected 0 comments Add comment

At Harvest Bible Chapel, we try to keep things simple. When things are simple, they’re more easily understood, and therefore, more easily remembered, and therefore more easily applied. Simplification encourages -- application, which brings about -- transformation. Make sense?

At HBC Joliet, we will have 3 W’s that will be kept central in our church life. I believe that each “W” is critical in the life of a believer. Here they are:
  • Worship
  • Walk
  • Work
Here’s a simplified definition of each “W.”

Worship – be engaged in our worship service on Sundays
Walk – be engaged in a small group
Work – regularly serve the Lord in HBC Joliet

Pretty simply right? I think so! Worship, Walk, Work. When we start HBC Joliet, one of my focuses will be to help every believer live out the 3 W’s. I think many understand why the “Worship” “W” is important, but some may not understand why “Walk” and “Work” are.

Walk – attending a small group at HBC Joliet will be critical for believers because small groups enable us to live out the biblical model of love in a way that attending a Sunday worship service doesn’t. Our small groups will typically meet 3 times per month in someone’s home with a group of 5-12 people. In a small group you’ll have a chance to be known and know others – both are important in any godly relationship. Your small group will give you an opportunity to learn God’s truth from others, to teach God’s truth to others, to be encouraged, and to encourage. Your small group will also help you to fight the ongoing battle with sin that we all face in our mutual ministry time. It’s far too easy to be filled with a sermon on Sunday morning and to leak it all out Sunday afternoon. God tells us in His word to be “doers of the word.” Small groups are wonderful structures that help us to “do” just that. (John 13:34-35; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25; James 1:22)

Work – regularly serving the Lord at HBC Joliet will also be critical for spiritual growth. When I say “serve”, I’m referring to Christians regularly working to glorify God through our local church. Depending on our spiritual gifts and the present needs we may find before us, this work will vary greatly. Here are some “initial” areas of service that we’ll have at HBC Joliet: children’s ministry, worship ministry, prayer team, technical ministry, greeters, ushers, small group leaders etc… Those types of service are primarily what is meant when we say "Work". However, other service at HBC Joliet will certainly be things like: a word of encouragement, wise advice, patient listening, various displays of compassion, making a meal, evangelism, counseling someone, praying on the spot for someone etc… When we all serve the Lord together we strengthen our local church so that the individuals will be strong as well. This is the basis for a God honoring church that we can bring others into. We get strong on the inside so that we can help others get strong from the outside. (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:7; Ephesians 4:12; 1 Peter 4:10)

It’s important for everyone who is a part of HBC Joliet to realize that our service to God is not to be something that we do grudgingly. That does not honor God. That is serving God in our strength, not in His strength (1 Peter 4:11). When we serve God in His strength it will have a number of effects:
  1. Realization that we are ultimately serving “God” as we do this
  2. Excitement and joy about the role God has given us 
  3. Freedom from complaining or bragging about our service 
  4. Ever increasing excellence in our area of service
  5. The blessing of others
I’m fond of saying: “My service TO God is my gift FROM God.” It's a privilege to serve the Lord because He empowers us with joy as we serve Him. God is not honored by miserable servants. If everybody at a company is miserable – what does that tend to say about the president of that company? It communicates the same thing about God.

God is honored by joyful servants! Our joy in our service to God shouts out how wonderful He is. That is glorifying God (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Harvest Bible Chapel Joliet, a place where believers:
  • Worship - Christ
  • Walk – with Christ
  • Work – for Christ
You will be blessed as you live out the 3 W’s!



Summary of Training Center last week:
  • Leadership discussions
    • leading by example
    • being empathetic
    • decision making
    • using authority wel
  • Bob Hogart from HBC Granger - discussions of preparing for Launch Sunday
    • organization
    • attention to detail
    • various leadership roles needed to launch church
  • discussions of church scenarios

MonMondayDecDecember28th2009 Expository Preaching
Posted Monday, December 28 2009 @ 3 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Preaching Staying Connected 0 comments Add comment
I hope you had a Merry Christmas --

Preaching is absolutely critical in the local church! Once Harvest Bible Chapel Joliet launches I will be preaching expository sermons on a weekly basis. Some may be familiar with this term and others may not be. Let me help to clarify.

What is an expository sermon?
Here is the definition that Haddon Robinson gives in his well known book Biblical Preaching:

“Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through the preacher, applies to the hearers.” p. 21

When I preach at HBC Joliet, I will have studied a passage of Scripture and understood it’s historical (how did the original hearers understand the passage?), grammatical (what do the various words and phrases mean in the passage?), and literary (is the passage a poem, a story, an epistle/letter etc…? And how should this knowledge impact my interpretation?) context. It is critical that I understand the proper context of the passage so that I give the proper interpretation.

Also, as I study the passage and prepare to preach it, my first focus is for the Lord to change me through the text. I count this as one of my greatest privileges of being a pastor. God’s word is powerful – I look forward to the transformation that He will bring in my life over the years! Then, out of my studies and personal transformation I will seek to proclaim the truths that the Lord has shown me to the congregation of HBC Joliet. I count this as an immense privilege as well! Being a part of supernatural transformation in the lives of people is one of the most exciting things to me in life!

I will typically preach through one book of the Bible at a time - 1 passage at a time.


Why preach expository sermons?
Preaching expository sermons helps to guide the preacher in his preparation to make sure he’s getting and giving the most accurate interpretation. If a preacher isn’t committed to doing the extensive study that an expository sermon requires, he is likely to misinterpret God’s holy word and therefore teach things that God doesn’t want taught. Accurate teaching is crucial to God’s church. God wants His children to know certain things. My job is to make sure that those certain things are being communicated.

Expository preaching protects preachers (including me!) from:
  1. Preaching Bible verses out of context
  2. Avoiding difficult (and there are many) subjects in the Bible
  3. Only emphasizing things that are to his liking 
  4. Giving into to cultural ideologies that are not taught in the Bible 
  5. Reading to simply get head knowledge 
  6. Explaining the Bible without applying it to those listening

I trust that there will be much transformation occurring in the city of Joliet and beyond as a result of God's word intersecting with our lives in the years to come!


Below is a brief summary from my training in the Training Center last week.

Summary
-Discussions on Leadership
  • top down management
  • servant leadership
-Ministry Leadership Team meeting
  • discussions about future church-planting strategies
  • discussions on leadership and urgency
  • discussions on principles and definitions of leadership 
  • recommended books for leadership
MonMondayDecDecember21st2009 Harvest "Bible" Chapel
Posted Monday, December 21 2009 @ 2 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Staying Connected The Bible 0 comments Add comment
Last week was an eventful one at the Training Center. We are now in the Leadership phase of our training; we’re hitting that topic from a number of different angles. The church will rise or fall because of godly or ungodly leadership. What one godly leader can bring about is amazing! Consider: Augustine, Athanasius, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, DL Moody, Charles Spurgeon, George Mueller etc… Godly leaders tend to produce godly disciples and ungodly leaders produce ungodly followers. We must be careful who we choose to follow! In the Scriptures, the Lord reveals His high standards for leaders. I’m thankful that these high standards are taken seriously at my place of training – HBC Fellowship.

Below is a summary of my training last week and then following are some thoughts on our position on the Bible at HBC –

Summary
  • Various discussions of leadership
    • Shepherding
    • Building and maintaining relationships
    • Being trustworthy 
    • Managing
    • Taking initiative
    • Making wise decisions 
  • Finances in the church 
  • Facilities (types and fees) 
  • Case study of a church issue that needed resolution (we acted as an elder board and sought to come up with a resolution) 
  • Successful Christian businessman Earl Seals gave his testimony and a talk on leadership
  • Examples of attendance and offerings from other HBC churches
  • Discussions on creating a budget 
  • Discussions on qualifications of an elder (1Tim 3 and Titus 1) 
  • James MacDonald taught us on outlining a passage for a sermon
  • Tony Caffey, the pastor of HBC Arthur spoke to us about leading his church
  • Ryan Hall, the pastor of HBC Palos Hills spoke to us about the process he went through to get his church launched in Sept 2009


Scripture
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

We call ourselves Harvest “Bible” Chapel for a reason. The Bible, or the Scriptures, or the Word of God are central to everything that we seek to do. Without the Bible I ultimately have nothing of substance to say. My words cannot ultimately change anyone – that’s what the Scriptures are for. Here are some key things that we believe about the Bible at HBC:

  1. There is no single book in the world like - the Bible
  2. The most important book in the world is  the Bible
  3. All people should seek to know the Bible above all other books 
  4. God Himself wrote every single word in the Bible “through” prophets and apostles 
  5. The Bible is without error in the original manuscripts 
  6. God reveals Himself through the Bible 
  7. God confirms to readers that He wrote the Bible by the Holy Spirit 
  8. Since God is a loving God, everything that the Bible teaches is for our benefit
  9. The things in the Bible that society agrees with are true
  10. The things in the Bible that society does not agree with are – true 
  11. The teaching of the Bible is in line with logic and reason, and never contrary to it 
  12. As people made in the image of God, we have the ability to understand what He has written for us 
  13. Regular exposure to the Bible will make:
    • The weak strong!
    • The discouraged encouraged!
    • The confused sure!
    • The blind see!
    • The enslaved free!
    • The depraved pure!
    • The hopeless hopeful!

All ministry that flows out of Harvest Bible Chapel Joliet will have God’s word as the foundation. This is The Book that changed my life – by God’s grace it will do the same for many others who join us at HBC Joliet!

MonMondayDecDecember14th2009 Preach the Word
Posted Monday, December 14 2009 @ 3 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Preaching Staying Connected The 4 Pillars The Bible 0 comments Add comment
Preaching is on my mind. I just finished my second phase in the Training Center on it. During this phase we covered numerous things regarding preaching: studying and preparation time, boiling down the main point of a passage, outlines, explaining the text, illustrating the text, applying the text, intros and conclusions, delivery and most importantly having a heart for the Lord through the process. Believe it or not it is possible to study the Bible, prepare a sermon, and even preach a sermon, and not be focused on the Lord! It is absolutely crucial to guard against that. A preacher’s heart needs to be aflame with God’s truth! There are two other phases coming up. The phase that I’m currently in is on leadership in the church.

Here’s a little summary of some of the things that happened last week in my training:

Summary
  • Discussion with spouses on marriage and ministry
  • Sermon prep time
  • All 6 of us in the Training Center put together a 1 hour service where someone gave announcements, worship was led, and we preached (video taped)
  • Christmas party at HBC Rolling Meadows
  • I counseled a young couple

Scripture
“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2

One of the 4 pillars at Harvest Bible Chapel has to do with preaching the word of God. As the pastor and preacher for Harvest Bible Chapel, God has given me the role to publically communicate what the Bible teaches. There are some things in the Bible that many people like: be a good listener, be a wise person, be generous, be faithful, love your spouse, love your children, love your neighbor as yourself. There are others things in the Bible that many other people don’t like: all people are sinners, everyone will be judged after death, Jesus Christ is God, we are utterly hopeless apart from Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf, hate sin and love righteousness, be willing to be mocked for Christ etc...

God has called me to teach everything that the Bible has to say – whether it is popular or whether it is not. God has a message that He wants the whole world to know. My job is to proclaim that entire message. I am not to pick and choose what seems best to me. Sometimes people will immediately like what I preach about. Other times, people will dislike or even hate what I’m preaching on. This should not be a surprise to me since Jesus and the apostles experienced the same thing. If every single person likes what I preach about, I’m not communicating everything that God wants me to communicate. My job is not to try to figure out what will make people most comfortable when it comes to preaching God’s word, my job is to simply preach it and allow God to work and allow people to respond. Yes - I am to preach with love, but love doesn’t always mean that people don’t get offended.

The Truth is what changes people, the Truth is what brings people to God, the Truth is what leads people to heaven – the untainted Truth is what I plan to preach at Harvest Bible Chapel – “God help me!”


MonMondayDecDecember7th2009 Trust & Joy
Posted Monday, December 07 2009 @ 12 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Joy Staying Connected 1 comments Add comment
We’re still going through our section on being trained in preaching in the Training Center (where I’m being trained for ministry right now at HBC Elgin). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it! David Jones is leading us; he’s doing a wonderful job breaking down all the various aspects of preaching an effective sermon.

I can’t imagine where I’d be spiritually if I hadn’t heard good preaching for all the years I’ve been following Christ. By the Holy Spirit, those preachers have made the word of God come alive for me; I hope to do the same for many others for the rest of my life. I count this an immense privilege.

Here’s a summary of some of the things that went on in the training center last week for us.

Summary:
Sermon prep time throughout week
Visited some property that “might” be given to HBC and had a church service where James MacDonald preached
Delivery in sermons
Use of notes in sermons
Practiced delivery before classmates
Reviewed classmates sermon
Reviewed my sermon with classmates


Scripture:
“…our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.” Psalm 33:21

There is a direct connection between our joy and our trust. When we trust God to take care of us on a moment by moment basis, we will find joy in Him welling up inside of us. When we trust in other things to take care of us or to ultimately comfort us, we will find our joy diminishing. God is trustworthy; anything apart from Him – isn’t. God created us to trust in Him for our every need, and the result of that is for us to be continually joyful in Him!

We can trust in God because He is “holy.” He is utterly unique, the one and only true God. One God made and rules all things. He is the one to look to; He is The One to trust.

The glad heart is the trusting heart, and the trusting heart is the glad heart. As trust rises, joy rises.
TueTuesdayDecDecember1st2009 Rejoice in our Sufferings
Posted Tuesday, December 01 2009 @ 4 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Joy Staying Connected 0 comments Add comment
Hello everyone!

I’m running a couple days late on getting this blog out  since I was in Florida with Barbie. Last week was a shorter week in the class room so my summary will be shorter than usual.

Summary
  • discussions on introductions for sermons
  • listened to various recordings of pastors giving introductions 
  • practiced creating intros and presenting them before our classmates
Scripture
“…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope….” Romans 5:3-4

In our world suffering is a reality. Either we recently have come out of suffering, we’re currently suffering, or we’re about to enter into suffering. As Christians, we should not despair in our suffering.  Since we're spiritually alive in Christ (born again), we continually live under the purposeful and loving hand of God. God is sovereign (in control) over our sufferings. He is wonderfully molding us through them. Our suffering is never futile. It has purpose.

As we rest in the fact that we live under the purposeful and loving hand of God, we can actually rejoice in our sufferings. God brings about this kind of joy in our hearts when we're gripped by the truth that He has a good purpose for us. As we trust God through the pain,  He supernaturally enables us to rejoice while we’re still suffering. The pain is still there -- but underneath the pain we are able to have joy.



MonMondayNovNovember23rd2009 Back from Davenport
Posted Monday, November 23 2009 @ 2 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Staying Connected 0 comments Add comment
Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great week in the Lord. A lot happened last week. My week ended by making a trip out to the church plant in Davenport Iowa with my family. A kind family took all six of us in for the night. We all had a great time. Barbie and I learned a lot, and we left encouraged by how powerfully God is working at this local church!

Summary:
  • discussions on commentaries 
  • sermon preparation time 
  • leadership discussion with Kent Shaw
  • Spent time in the studio as James MacDonald and Wayne Shepherd as they recorded for “Walk in the Word” (the radio program)
  • APAC (All Pastors All Campuses) meeting discussion on:
    • elder governed churches
    • salvation
    • charismatic issues
    • women in ministry
  • Leadership discussion with Bill Mollinari 
  • Worked on info for James MacDonald’s sermon
  • Evaluated sermon of classmate 
  • Visited a family to bring food who had their house purposely set on fire by their 31 year old son while his 2 yr old was in the house (all kids safe, most of the house is burned) http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=338702
  • Professional speaker/ trainer came to talk to us about public speaking
  • Visited Harvest Bible Chapel in Davenport with my family and the Training Center team (this church started 5 years ago and now has 2,000 people / many have been converted in this church)
  • http://www.harvestdavenport.org
  • announced our church plants at all 3 services 
  • various discussions with pastors at that church 
Scripture:
“In the beginning, God…” Genesis 1:1
God has always existed…. He is ultimate reality. All of reality is contingent upon Him. Everything depends on His deciding that it exist – including you and me. The most simple and complex things in the universe all began from the One who has no beginning. Since God has always existed, He is self-sustaining. He will never grow tired, nor will he ever be needy.

Key thought – God is INFINITELY more awesome than we think! We will NEVER cease to be in awe of Him for all eternity. Let that truth grip you today. It will put EVERYTHING in perspective. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
MonMondayNovNovember16th2009 Future reward brings present joy
Posted Monday, November 16 2009 @ 9 AM byEric Posteluk Tagged Evangelism Joy Staying Connected 0 comments Add comment
Hey everyone!

Below are some updates from last week in the Training Center for me and a couple verses to mediate on.

Summary
  • practiced telling personal stories – illustrations 
  • discussions on the application of biblical texts (ancient world to modern world) 
  • exegesis (getting the meaning out of the bible verse) on verses from Revelation for James’ preaching series 
  • the Pastor from the Gurnee, IL church plant came and talked to us about his experiences over the last 2 years as a senior pastor
  • listened to various pastors apply biblical texts 
  • reviewed and critiqued a class mates recent sermon 
  • several administrative times
  • discussions regarding a “potential” moral failure of a lay-leader at one of the Harvest church plants (the situation is in the news in this area… very sad) 
  • a number of discussions and decisions regarding selling our church property 

Scripture
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven…” Luke 6:22-23

Jesus calls us to think radically different than we would normally think…. Our world would does not have a category that includes suffering and joy together. Jesus however does! As we live with an eternal perspective on life, we will too.

When we step out in faith and seek to engage people with the gospel (the good news that sinners can be forgiven and go to heaven) we will run into situations where people don’t appreciate what we’re trying to do because of their spiritual blindness to the gospel. If these people hate us or revile us etc.., we don’t have to base our joy in their response. Rather, in the midst of this form of suffering (though many in the world are being beaten and killed to advance the gospel message) we can actually REJOICE! Why? Because God Himself will reward us! His rewards will never fade. No one can take them from us. Realization of His future reward will bring present joy! This realization enables us to have a category for how suffering and joy can go together.

Let’s allow Jesus’ promise to spur us on to greater and greater obedience. Let’s allow His promise to free us from the fear of rejection. And let’s reach those around us with the good news that they can personally know God now and forever through faith in Jesus Christ! We’ve only got one life to live  – let’s make every day count. “Father, please help us in this!”

Grateful for you all!
TueTuesdayNovNovember10th2009 Astonished At His Teaching
Posted Tuesday, November 10 2009 @ 4 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Staying Connected 0 comments Add comment
Hey everyone!

It is getting a little cooler out there. We actually saw a house with Christmas lights up yesterday! First time I’ve ever seen that! :-) Also, my wife and I were at the parenting seminar at Harvest in Rolling Meadows and “out of the blue” bumped into Jp and Diane! It was so unexpected that I just stood there in shock. There were 100’s and 100’s of people everywhere and yet we connected. That was pretty cool.

Here’s a summary of what I was involved in last week.

Summary
  • working through James’ sermon while he taught us how he puts together his notes
  • discussing financing issues in the local church 
  • Listening to and evaluating 2 different classmates sermons
  • Discussed hospital visits 
  • Discussed baptisms and practiced them in a tank 
  • Met with a pastor from Humboldt Park/ Chicago (where my parents are from) and learned about their ministry to prostitutes – VERY touching! 
  • Involved in Management Leadership Team (discussions of various things happening on all 5 HBC campuses) 
  • Website discussions
  • Counseled a 19 year old (while his family was present) regarding his recent theft, drug use and possession of marijuana (pray for him!)

Scripture

“…and they were astonished at his [Jesus’] teaching, for his word possessed authority.” Luke 4:32

What a privilege to possess the authoritative word of God! What a privilege. It’s easy to take this privilege for granted. We are surrounded by a world of people who look to themselves as the final authority instead of the word of God. What a sad plan... As people, our perspectives are without question – limited. God’s perspective on the other hand has no limits. He always sees clearly and therefore He always speaks accurately. When we read the Bible – we can rest assured that it has ultimate authority! No need to look elsewhere. We got it! Let’s take advantage of our privilege and seek to know and understand the Scriptures better than we ever have. We don’t have to wonder if we’re missing out by not reading the next self help book.



God has spoken – let’s be astonished and listen!





So thankful for each one of you,



Eric Posteluk
TueTuesdayNovNovember10th2009 Pray Like Jesus
Posted Tuesday, November 10 2009 @ 1 PM byEric Posteluk Tagged Staying Connected 0 comments Add comment
Hello everyone!

On Tuesday of this week we had to put our cat down. My girls were pretty upset... My 4 year old said, “It’s tearing my heart out!”

The “very next day” my girls told their bus driver what happened and she said that her daughter just found a kitty. A couple days latter we picked him up. The whole family loves him! I’ve affectionately named him “Kojak” J Through this all, I’m reminded how God takes care of us, even in the “little things” (Eph 1:11). What a comfort to know that God sees everything and is always leaning toward us in infinite love.

Here’s an overview of what happened last week. My training has been such a blessing!

Summary

  • Meeting with Kent Shaw (he oversees Harvest Bible Fellowship for church planting) and Bill Mollinari for discussions regarding launching HBC Joliet
  • Sermon review of a classmate 
  • Researching verses in the book of Revelation for James’ sermon 
  • Various discussions of illustrations in sermons
    • practiced telling personal stories
    • practiced crafting illustrative stories 
    • listened to various well known preachers giving illustrations
  • Worked on refining Harvest’s doctrinal statement 
  • Worked on outlining James MacDonald’s new sermon with him 
  • Went out with Rick Donald (founding pastor with James MacDonald ) and his wife Lynn to meet with 3 different lay-leaders at Harvest
Scripture

“…he [Jesus] would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” Luke 5:16

What an example we have in Jesus! What a blessing to be able to read about His life in the gospels. Jesus knew the sweetness of praying to God the Father. He was a man of prayer. He took time to get away from His responsibilities in life so that He could seek God in prayer. In the Greek (the original language that the book of Luke was written in) it’s clear that this is something that Jesus was doing on a regular basis. We could say that Jesus was “regularly” withdrawing to desolate places to pray.

Let’s follow our Saviors example and regularly take time to get away by ourselves to seek God in prayer. God is jealous for our hearts. He wants to reveal more of Himself to us than we can imagine. He wants to increase our joy and peace regardless of our circumstances. Let’s become more like Jesus and seek God more regularly in prayer!

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