Bible Teacher. Pastor.Educator.

Transitions and Expansions!! Southside and Northside.....

                 I wanted to officially inform you all that I am stepping away from my responsibilities as a Youth pastor at New Beginnings Church on August 12, 2018. After spending two years with this organization, I have had the opportunity to learn so much about myself, inner city ministry, and strategies for reaching unchurched teenagers. When the Lord called me to move to Chicago I know that being a part of New Beginnings Church was definitely a part of His plan.

It has become a home away from home and the kindness that I experienced there when I arrived is exactly what I needed for that season in my life
                  That being stated, a lot of evolving has taken place within myself this year and I as I prayed for God to show me the next steps, He opened the doors for me to extend my ministry to the North Side of Chicago! After much prayer, I have accepted a position at North Side Gospel Center as their Associate Pastor of Evangelism and Outreach! I have also accepted a position to serve with the non profit organization, Slingshots, as their Assistant Director. Both of these opportunities will be under the leadership of my long time friend and mentor, Bob Anderson. I was unsure about these moves initially because it will be such a huge change in my life, however I realize it is a chance to grow in my leadership and it gives me a broader audience of teengers to reach. 

           Even though my primary church will now be on the North side of Chicago, I will be continuing to facilitate club events and do ministry work with Youth for Christ on the Southside! This new transition is the Lord’s way of enlarging my territory and blessing me with the responsibility of working on both sides of the greater Chicago area! I am excited about God’s Will for my life and I have to follow His directions. There were parts of me that were hesitant, but I know that just as I was blessed at New Beginnings, I will be blessed at North Side Gospel Center.Please keep me and both churches in your prayers! I greatly appreciate you all! 

Respectfully 

Pastor James Owolabi! 

 

Preach with a pin, not with a hammer. ......by Scribblepreach..

One point. One single point. So here’s our principle: Preach with a pin, not with a hammer. A pin is a narrow, focused point designed to penetrate through surfaces. A hammer has a wide, flat surface, and its designed to bat around and flatten the outer layers. If we want preaching that penetrates the heart, we must preach with a pin. See what I mean below:

1. A single point forces good editing. If nothing else, preaching a single point is a brilliant help in editing content. The single most important question the preacher can ask himself when creating a final manuscript is: “How does this information contribute to my single homiletical idea?” If the preacher is honest, most of the interesting things we find in exegesis - the stuff that is fascinating, interesting, or relatively relevant – has to be thrown out. We don’t like to do that, because the course of the week digs up so much gold its tempting to put it ALL on display. This is where character comes into play – am I preaching for me, or am I preaching for them? Do I want to show off how much I know, or be funny and entertaining, or do I want to change lives? Lectures delve into details; preaching gets to the point. This is a painful process. At the end of the week, we know so much about the text that we’re often tempted to lump it all into one gigantic, vague “point” of the sermon. Sharpening and defining our point helps us resist this temptation, and limits our preaching to only what people need to hear in order to understand and receive the main point.

2. A single point guides listeners through the sermon. When digging deep into a text, we really do find a lot of great, fascinating information. WE know how it all fits together. But the law of the “curse of knowledge” tells us that we often impose our assumptions on our audience – THEY don’t know how it all fits together. In order to help them follow along, we need a single hook to hang all the points we’re making on. We need a single stake to which the congregation can be drawn back, again and again, so we can say – “See? This is how it all relates.” Even if you don’t give your main point away until the end (inductive preaching – that’s what I prefer), the audience can sense the difference between a focused message and scrambled eggs.

3. A single point makes a better argument. When we lay out several different points in a sermon, we don’t have time to argue well for any of them. When we come up with a boatload of applications, we don’t have time to flesh them out. But when we pick a single point, we have the time we need to make a solid argument for that point, and to flesh out in detail exactly how it looks to live it out.

4. A single point is memorable. Finally, preaching a single point is memorable. A couple of months ago I preached a sermon in which I asked several questions, then answered them. That was fine, but I never heard about it again. The next sermon I preached, I picked one single point, and was amazed at the result. WEEKS later, people were still mentioning that sermon, thinking of specific applications, still chewing on the truth presented that morning. Did I say everything I wanted to say? No. But I said everything I needed to say, and that’s enough. Preaching one point allows us to feed the sheep throughout the week. That is a beautiful, satisfying feeling for any Shepherd.

via scribblepreach.com

"Stuck CHURCH or ME " by Pastor James Owolabi

    One of the biggest fears in my life is being part of a local parish that is “stuck spiritually.” Have you ever been stuck at an airport over night, or has your luggage ever been stuck in another airport? It seems there is no quicker way to ruin a good vacation than to lose your belongings during a flight. It leaves you empty inside and disorientated mentally. For me, what’s worse than this feeling of disappointment is being stuck in a Church that is “stuck.”

    A “stuck” church is one lacking an understanding of authentic, biblical, Christ-centered, private and corporate worship of God the father led by work of the Holy Spirit. It’s a church that feels like a religious country club. There are no godly men and women led by the Holy Spirit and committed to disciplining the next generation, in a healthy way.  These kinds of churches are a spiritual desert of humanistic driven “empty worship”.Worship in this Church is filled with passionless evangelism, mundane prayer meetings and un-engaging discipleship. In this church, worship is limited to songs and lyrics that are not heartfelt by the singers. In this church, the exculsively talented proffessional music minister, or hypersentitive american eagle tight-jean-wearing worship leader, is a mere performer who is paid to entertain the morning spectators who like shareholders simple evaluate the service as though they were gods in a land of their own choosing. The worship produced is emotionally driven and style centered and magnified above the glory of the savior of the world, Jesus Christ our Master and King. This kind of worship does not include passionate humble supplication during corporate prayer, or private consecration before God in  practicing the spiritual disciplines.

    A church like this reminds me of the words Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day when he quoted the prophet Isaiah in Matthew 15:8. “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” God!!!! My heart cries. Deliver me from a church that is does not have a heart of God that is stuck in manmade or women affirming traditions.

    Preaching in this kind of church is strictly individual-centered and has no doctrinal depth or value to the chosen of God seeking God with a pure heart. Christ is not preached from the pulpit. There are no conversions through the glorious display of the power of the Holy Spirit who is calling the Elect of God from the kingdom of darkness through the bold witness of Christ-centered believers. This church celebrates expressionless mantras with no doctrinal depth or clear specific application of biblical truth.

    One of the cries of my life is for God to deliver me from a Christ-less Christianity and from men and women who would rather criticize than pray for their brothers and sisters. Christians who would rather whine and complain about the children’s ministry rather than worship God in their homes and in their place of work or assist in single father in parenting his daughter. Worship is not about music. Worship is not about me neither is it about you. It is definately not about me.  

    Worship is a lifetime of responding to God, reflecting His character in our daily lives so the unrighteous might repent of their sins and cling to the cross. A church that does not lift up the name of Christ, is not led by the Spirit of God and is not under the authority of word of God is "stuck in a SHAM" .  Dear Pastor.....Are you stuck, Is your church stuck....?!!Repent.

 

 

 

Elma Update Pictures and video: Prayers needed this Easter Sunday......at First Baptist Church Elma, WA. Check out this video.

1. This morning I read Isaiah 38, and wow!!!....God is super amazing  AND SO......really Gracious. He sees our tears, He knows our pain and He can change our destiny...God is so gracious and kind....check this out.

Isaiah 38 ---In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”( God sees us when we hurt)

 ² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³ “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ( God knows when and where it hurts)

 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: ⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city ( God can change your destiny). AWESOMENESS!!!!!!! Our God is greater......

 

1. Hey Church!!!!!Thank you all for your praying and investing in our community and church!!!.
2. Continue to pray for Easter Sunday 2012 at First Baptist Church Elma. ( I love this Church)!!!!!

 

 

 

 

1. Pray that God will move in power and save lives through the preaching of His word.
2. Pray for those getting baptised this Easter Sunday.
3. Pray for those who have been invited!!!!!!
4. Our average attendance for the month of March is over 65.
5. Attendance my third Sunday in December of 2011 Sunday was 39 people.
6. Keep praying....the negative forces in my life  say: "it just the honey moon"....My spirit says " Celebrate what God is doing".. Guess what!!! I will celebrate what God is doing......
7. We are praying for over 80 people for Easter. I am planning on showing this movie this Sunday as a teaser for Easter.
8. Pray for God to use this service  this Sunday to hook people to Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives...
9. Pray that God will use these service to assist us in embracing the greatness of the cross and reality that the tomb is empty.....
10. Take some 20 minutes to watch this video and pray that as I show it this Sunday as part of my 40 minute sermon God will use it to ignite in people a passion for God.

 

 

 

Grace and Peace 
Pastor James Owolabi  3-19-2012.

Really cool slide show...kinda 2012 Middle School Ministry North Mason Bible Church 2012........