Harvest "Bible" Chapel

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!