{"id":2850,"date":"2012-02-29T11:57:13","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T17:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/?p=2850"},"modified":"2012-02-29T11:58:47","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T17:58:47","slug":"biblical-church-leadership-sheep-and-the-blood-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/biblical-church-leadership-sheep-and-the-blood-of-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Biblical Church Leadership, Sheep, and the Blood of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Dever, pastor at Capital Hill Baptist Church<\/a>, has published a fine little book, A Display of God’s Glory: The Basics of Church Structure<\/a><\/em>, which unfolds the Bible’s teaching on how the church should be organized and led. Dever also founded\u00c2\u00a09Marks Ministries<\/a>, a ministry devoted to\u00c2\u00a0helping churches pursue biblical priorities and so reflect the glory of Christ.<\/p>\n

9Marks Ministries<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0has published numerous books<\/a> to this end. A new book by Thabiti Anyabwile, Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons<\/a><\/em>,\u00c2\u00a0will be our third free book for those who attend Clarus<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0(Book 1<\/a>, Book 2<\/a>). Anyabwile helps churches reflect the saving wonder of the cross in the selection of biblically qualified leaders who faithfully shepherd God’s blood-bought flock.<\/p>\n

Do you like the smell of sheep?<\/p>\n

I don’t mean the smell of lamb chops roasting in the oven. And by “Sheep” I don’t mean the imaginary animals conjured and counted by insomniacs. I mean the living, bleating, woolly animals roaming in green pastures. . . .[On a visit to Scotland] I learned that it is not really the snell of sheep that need concern you. It is what sheep indiscriminately drop around the pasture tha tposes the greater threat!@ With vistas as breathtaking as those in the Scottish highlands, the sheep-herding nvice has a tough time keeping his eyes down to watch his step. But you should. Sheep are messy and shepherds need either good work bookts or careful footing!<\/p>\n

Repeatedly the Bible describes Christians as sheep. It is not a flattering description. But it is an accurate one. Christians are messy people. Our lives are filled with brokenness, waste, trouble, and sticky situations. We are timid, and we sometimes wander. . . .This is why we need shepherds, men who know what to do with sheep, how to care for us, lead us, and navigate our mess.<\/p>\n

And here’s the really good news: in the Bible God reveals himself as our Shepherd. . . .[And], as a gift to his flock, the Chief Shepherd appoints godly men as under-shepherds to tend the flock that he\u00c2\u00a0purchased\u00c2\u00a0with his blood (Acts 20:28). We know these under-shepherds by various titles used interchangeably, including: pastors, overseers, bishops, and elders. Like the Chief Shepherd, elders or pastors watch over the flock entrusted to their care (1 Pet. 5:1-3) by leading, feeding, and protecting the sheep.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Visit the 9Marks<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0website\u00c2\u00a0for more helpful reading on the subject of biblical leadership and church life, and look forward to conference discounts on numerous\u00c2\u00a09Marks titles<\/a> in the Clarus Books and Resources Room.<\/p>\n

Clarus<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0is a Regional Conference of The Gospel Coalition taking place March 9-11 with speakers D.A. Carson and Fred G. Zaspel. Visit the\u00c2\u00a0Clarus page<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0for more information or to register<\/a> for this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Dever, pastor at Capital Hill Baptist Church, has published a fine little book, A Display of God’s… Continue Reading ›<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2850"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2920,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850\/revisions\/2920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}