Biblical Pattern for Pastoral Ministry: Part 9 :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard

1 Timothy 4:8-16: ‘Take Heed to the Ministry”

“If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:8-16, NKJV).

If you’ve been reading these studies and you believe that the Lord Jesus has called you to serve Him full- time, and you think that you can accomplish all of what is expected of you without the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, you are not going to make it no matter how clever or knowledgeable you may think you are. Nothing of what Paul presents to Timothy in this letter comes from an attitude or thought of being able to do any task for the LORD in and of his own strength. A minister of the Gospel must rely on Christ if he is to accomplish anything of worth or value for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

If you take the time to read all of Paul’s letters and the instructions presented to the respective churches, you will find that he had to lean on Jesus for everything and that nothing he did was based on an ego trip or a philosophy of self-reliance. He counted himself and everything he had learned as a Pharisee to be on the level of waste if it didn’t honor or glorify His Lord (Philippians 3:1-11). Paul was redeemed by the mercy and grace of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and it is this act of saving power that propelled Paul to do all he did in the years that Jesus gave to him.

Paul had suffered much for the sake of the gospel (2 Corinthians 1:8-11, 11:22-33; Galatians 6:17). He knew that he was on borrowed time, and there was no way on Earth that he would allow any church to dwell on anything but the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified as long as he had breath to do something about it. His letters and the time he poured into training elders and pastors such as Timothy were the means given to Him by the LORD to ensure that future believers would be grounded in the standard of the Word and the doctrines of the faith.

In the history of the church, especially the first four centuries, too much blood and tragedy came upon our spiritual ancestors for the sake of the Gospels and the works of the apostles for anything less than what they were assured of was the authentic Word of the living God. Fables and inaccuracies don’t produce martyrs, and people who would rather face the point of a sword or spear than to deny the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ as presented in the Scriptures.

I am convinced that critics of the structure and development of the New Testament, that is often the subject of choice in the swamp of skepticism, are guilty of ignoring this incident of church history, and that their assumptions that we don’t have the real New Testament are an insult to those early believers who lie in martyr’s graves for the sake of what they were convinced was true and real as far as what God had given to the authors of the Word. It is an affront to objective biblical scholarship and somewhat of a blatant arrogance on the part of the skeptic to assume that the early believers did not possess accurate copies of the original texts, spelling and grammar variants included, which did not change in any form the essential truths of Christian teaching or doctrine. To my knowledge, even the well-known Biblical scholar and skeptic Dr. Bart Ehrman has admitted this fact.

It is true that we do not possess the original copies, but the work of textual scholars (people who investigate and compare the earliest copies of the New Testament) tend to agree that the copies, some of which date back to the 2nd century, are similar in structure and composition. It would be in your best interest to examine the work of biblical scholars such as the late Dr. Bruce Metzger, F.F. Bruce, Daniel Wallace, Gary Habermas, Richard Bauckham, and Darrell Bock to see how their studies assured them of the accuracy of the copies of Scripture that are in existence today. It is men such as these who have carried the apostle’s torch and helped to press on in the cause of Christ.

Pastors, heed what I’m going to say. The Book that is in front of you on the pulpit is the true, eternal, absolute, inerrant, all-powerful and sufficient Word of the living God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; John 17:17; Hebrews 4:12). Anyone who says otherwise is a liar, a fool, someone not to be trusted, a false teacher, an antichrist, and an agent of the devil. I will not alter or change my stand concerning this issue. To deny the God-breathed words of Scripture is to call God a liar, pure and simple. Ignore this at your own risk.

Paul tells us that we who are called to the sacred office are to examine ourselves spiritually, to see if what we are proclaiming is God’s truth. Even he did that when he met with the apostles after years of preaching. He wanted to meet with them and see if what he had taught was the authentic Gospel (Galatians 1:18 -2:10).

If Paul, the author of one third of the New Testament and one of the godliest men ever to grace the stage of history, had this kind of concern and attitude, it would be rank arrogance and foolishness on the part of any man who would enter the Gospel ministry to rely only upon his own experience or self-analysis of how he believes effective ministry should proceed. Every man of God worth his calling needs the input, advice, and admonishment on occasion from mentors, peers, and godly members of his flock to keep him on track spiritually and within the will of the Sovereign Lord if he will but listen and learn.

When I read these verses, this is what I see Paul essentially advising Timothy to do as he grows in his calling and reliance on the direction of the Spirit of God through prayer and study.

The prime responsibility for Timothy, as well as any pastor, is to read, study, and proclaim the truths of the Scriptures to the flock (Luke 4:16-20; Acts 13:15, 15:21; Colossians 4:16; Romans 12;8; Hebrews 10:24-25).

He was responsible to preach the doctrines of the faith. Any individual who claims to be a minister of the Lord, yet downplays the need for doctrinal study and emphasizes “the movement of the Spirit,” or “a fresh word from God,” or “a new revelation,” or “we don’t need to get bogged down in all that legalistic doctrinal junk,” needs to be rebuked, avoided, and thrown out of the church. He is a false teacher and an agent of the devil. Doctrine matures and strengthens the church (1 Timothy 4:6; Hebrews 5:12; Titus 2:3-4) and guards against deceitful practices.

Timothy was to exercise the gifts that the LORD had bestowed upon Him and do so in a manner that honored the LORD and the office into which he was called (1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

How do we apply what Paul has written to us who are believers and are part of the church in general? Dwell on spiritual truths and teachings as presented in the Scriptures. Read them, memorize passages, encourage each other, and discover and use the gifts that God has given to you. He didn’t leave you empty or forget to adequately equip you for service. We all have a function in the body of Christ, each with a specific part to play.

As we progress further in this study, we’ll look at the task of pastoral care, and how all members can be a part of that gracious service to each other and for the glory of the great King, our Lord Jesus Christ.

drwhitchard@aol.com

www.donaldwhitchard.com

In France: Smoke Pot-Kill a Jew-Go Free :: By Geri Ungurean

Jewish flesh is cheap. It always has been.

On April 4, 2017, in Paris, France, a 66-year-old Jewish woman, Sarah Halimi, was thrown from her third-floor balcony. Before the plunge to her death, neighbors had heard her screams for at least an hour.

She was being tortured by a Muslim migrant, Kobili Traoré. How was she tortured? All the bones in her face had been broken: mandible, maxilla, frontal bone, nasal bones, and zygoma; some by a hard object, maybe a hammer, and her body had been punctured 22 times.

Then Sarah was thrown from her balcony to her death as if she were trash.

The police were called by frightened neighbors. Nine police came, but when they heard the man in the apartment shouting “Allahu Akbar!” they ran downstairs like cowards and waited for reinforcements.

Never mind that Sarah was having her face crushed inside her apartment.

When Kobili Traoré finally surrendered, he said I killed the “sheitan” (Arabic for Satan). While torturing Sarah, he said he had recited verses from the Qur’an, and the Qur’an had “ordered him to kill a Jew.” He said he had spent the previous day in a nearby mosque.

Do you think that the imam had coached him on killing a Jew? Rhetorical….

He was placed in a mental institution (not jail??) where he told a psychiatrist that he had smoked marijuana.

Murder not mentioned in any French News Sources

The murder was not mentioned in the newspapers. A French Jewish organization spoke of a “distressing anti-Semitic crime” and organized a silent demonstration in front of Halimi’s building. It was only then that a few articles were written. The French presidential election was about to take place, and journalists from the mainstream media apparently did not want to speak about an anti-Semitic murder committed by a Muslim.

The judge assigned to the case, Anne Ihuellou, at first refused to acknowledge that the murder had been a hate crime. It took the Halimi family’s lawyers more than six months to get her finally to concede, on February 27, 2018, that the motive for the murder had in fact been anti-Semitic.

*****Not a Hate crime? Are the French completely daft or just EVIL?

The judge also refused to organize a review of the events of the case, and agreed to question Traoré only briefly. She called in a psychiatric expert, Daniel Zagury, who said that at the time of the act, the murderer had been in a state of “acute delirium” due to the consumption of cannabis, but fully “accessible to a penal sanction.” Seemingly dissatisfied with Dr. Zagury’s conclusions, Judge Ihuellou asked for two more opinions by experts — both of whom, contradicting Dr. Zagury’s conclusions, said that Traoré was unfit to stand trial.

********SO, the Nazis in Hitler’s Germany were stoned? Never heard that one.

On July 12, 2019, the judge dismissed Dr. Zagury’s report, declared that there are “plausible reasons for concluding that the murderer is not criminally responsible,” and stated that the attack had not been anti-Semitic.

******WHAT????? Murderer is not criminally responsible and attack was not anti-Semitic????

Realizing that Traoré could soon be released without trial, the Halimi family’s lawyers requested that the case immediately be transferred to a court of appeals.

That court, issuing its decision on December 19, declared that Kobili Traoré had “voluntarily killed” Sarah Halimi and had thereby committed a murder. The court also acknowledged the “aggravating circumstance of anti-Semitism,” but added that due to a “temporary abolition of discernment,” the murderer was “criminally irresponsible,” could not be tried, and therefore had to be released.

The president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF), Francis Kalifat, remarked that “an anti-Semitic murder could become the only murder excused by the courts on the basis of the use of drugs, while in all other cases, drugs are an aggravating factor.”

A lawyer for the Halimi family, Francis Szpiner, said that a “Sarah Halimi jurisprudence” has been created: “anyone who suffers from a delusional puff because of the use of illicit and dangerous substances will be exempt from criminal responsibility.”

Another lawyer for the victim’s family, Gilles-William Goldnadel, expressed his “disgust,” and said that “if the victim were not Jewish and if the murderer were not a Muslim, the decision could have been different.”

A member of parliament, Meyer Habib, commented that the court’s decision was a “judicial scandal never seen in France” and added that there is “an obvious desire on the part of the French judiciary system to exonerate an anti-Semitic Islamic murderer.” “Releasing an anti-Semitic murderer without trial sends a horrible signal to French Jews,” he said. He recalled that, in the recent past, Traoré had been sentenced more than ten times for violent assaults, and said that if the judicial system had done its job before the murder of Sarah Halimi, the murder would have been avoided.

A psychiatrist, Claude Bloch, noted that the ruling may “allow anyone with fierce hatred for Jews to murder them with impunity.”

The eminent historian, Georges Bensoussan, said in an interview with Le Figaro:

“… the French judicial system chose to avoid a trial so that no one will talk about an immigration which is not well integrated, and, in certain cases today, is undergoing the effect of a process of re-Islamization.

“… a trial would have shown the disintegration of the nation, questioned the reluctance of the authorities who did not give an order to intervene during the ordeal of this woman which lasted nearly an hour, and questioned the silence of the media in the days that followed. All this sent the Jews back to their loneliness, and makes anti-Semitism (the Jews are 0.7% of the French population and are the target of half of all racist acts committed in France) a Jewish affair.

“… the decision taken by the justices leaves the impression that, in high places, powerful persons are ready to sacrifice the most fragile individuals to save a semblance of social peace. Such capitulation indicates to Jews the direction of the exit. It also shows the conspirators who fantasize night and day about ‘Jewish power’ the emptiness of this power in a country where 62% of the compatriots of the Jews say they are indifferent to their departure.”

On January 5, French Jewish organizations organized a protest to demand that the judiciary reverse its decision. All the French political organizations remained silent; none joined the protest. The mainstream media observed virtually a total silence on the subject. Only Jews came to the demonstration.

Sarah Halimi’s brother, William Attal, addressing the protestors at the Place de la République in Paris, spoke in detail about what Halimi had suffered. The details of the autopsy report were excruciating. As I said, all the bones in her face had been broken, mandible, maxilla, frontal bone, nasal bones, and zygoma; some by a hard object, maybe a hammer, and her body had been punctured 22 times. He denounced the inaction of the police, the cowardice of the justices and the silence of the media. He reported facts which, until then, had not been revealed: one of the police officers who had gone to the crime scene had not come back downstairs with his colleagues. Even though he was armed, he had stayed behind the door. He had not moved. He had just listened to the murderer shouting and the victim screaming in pain.

The judge had refused to hear the police officer. Although Traoré told the psychiatric experts that he had called people while he was torturing Halimi, the judge also refused to search his phone. The mosque frequented by the murderer was apparently also frequented by many who had gone to carry out jihad in Syria.

Only Jewish newspapers and magazines reported what Attal said.

In an open letter, the Chief Rabbi of France, Haim Korsia, asked the Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet, to intervene, in order not to “deprive citizens of one of the most precious rights in a democracy: the right of appealing to justice to shed light on an act of violence and hatred.” He said that he “usually compels himself not to comment on court decisions,” but he suggested in this case, “a serious breach of trust.” He added: “Should we deduce that any drugged individual would have a license to kill Jews?”

It is doubtful that Nicole Belloubet will even reply. Judges and lawyers immediately said they were outraged by Haim Korsia’s open letter and claimed that he wanted to “undermine the independence of the judiciary.” Philippe Bilger, a well-known retired magistrate, accused Korsia of “incitement to violate a fundamental rule governing the organization of our powers.”

In an article published by Haaretz, Shirli Sitbon wrote:

“In France, perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks claim insanity to elude justice. The mental illness defense has become more prevalent when it comes to hate crimes in France. And it seems to be working.”

She went on to say, citing precedents, that a sinister series of events had begun with the murder of Sebastien Sellam in 2003. Although the murderer, Adel Amastaibou, had told the police, “If he’s dead, I’m so happy, that f ***ing Jew, that dirty Jew,” Sellam was declared not responsible due to “mental problems.”

In 2006, Ilan Halimi, a 23 year-old French Jew and a distant relative of Sarah Halimi, was abducted, tortured for 24 days, and then murdered by a Muslim anti-Semite, Youssouf Fofana, and the “gang of barbarians” he led. His suffering and the cause of his death by torture created a huge emotional shock in France. His mother, Ruth Halimi, said on television: “I want the death of my son to be an alarm.” The alarm, it seems, was not heard.

Similar cases followed.

Less than a year after the murder of Sarah Halimi, on March 23, 2018, another Jew, Mireille Knoll, was murdered in Paris. The main suspect, Yacine Mihoub, was accused by his accomplice, Alex Carrimbacus, of having stabbed Knoll as he shouted “Allahu Akbar,” because “the Jews have money.’” Mihoud’s lawyer said that his client had not been in a “normal state” at the time of the crime, but added that it was an anti-Semitic murder. He did not explain how Mihoud was sufficiently aware of his actions to go to his mother’s apartment after he murdered Knoll and asked her to wash the knife he had used to kill his victim. (Mihoud’s mother is now accused of complicity in the murder.)

Muslim anti-Semitism has long been ignored in France. The only book in French devoted to the subject — A Survey on Muslim Anti-Semitism: From Its Origins to the Present Day by Philippe Simonnot — actually justified Muslim anti-Semitism by claiming that the Jews living in the Muslim world had supported European colonizers, and adding that Jews support Israel, a “new colonial enterprise based on Muslim land theft.”

A “manifesto against the new anti-Semitism,” by a journalist, Philippe Val, and signed by 250 politicians, writers and artists, was published in Le Parisien on April 21, 2018, less than a month after the murder of Knoll. Perhaps driven by a desire to spare Islam and not to say clearly that the actual victims of Muslim anti-Semitism are Jews, Val wrote “Muslim anti-Semitism is the greatest threat to 21st century Islam.”

A few days later, in Le Monde, a text signed by thirty imams was published, saying that “Islam is not guilty,” and that the problem comes from “harmful ignorance.” The text added that there was a solution: “reading the Qur’an.”

Since then, nothing has changed. In a recent book, France Without the Jews, a sociologist, Danny Trom, analyzed the growing insecurity suffered by the Jews in France, the willful blindness of successive governments and courts, and year after year, the departure of more Jews:

“Now the possibility of one day having to leave is integrated into the perspective of every Jew, no matter how he defines himself or how he relates to Zionism. The departures reflect not only a growing and very real feeling of insecurity, but also a feeling of loneliness and abandonment in the face of adversity.”

In a recent article in Le Figaro, Celine Pina wrote:

“When one kills in the name of Allah, the excuse of mental imbalance does not hold. If there is one thing in common in all of this blood that keeps flowing, it is the implantation of Islamists on our soil, their network of mosques, their propaganda through books, satellite dishes, their speeches which permeate many districts and territories, their shows of strength…. the situation is not under control.”

Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.

  • “In France, perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks claim insanity to elude justice. The mental illness defense has become more prevalent when it comes to hate crimes in France. And it seems to be working.” — Shirli Sitbon, Haaretz.
  • Muslim anti-Semitism has long been ignored in France.
  • “The situation is not under control.” — Celine Pina, Le Figaro
  • A French court recently ruled that Kobili Traoré would not stand trial for torturing and murdering Sarah Halimi, a 66-year-old Jewish woman, saying that Traoré had a “temporary abolition of discernment” from smoking marijuana. Francis Kalifat (pictured), president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, remarked that “an anti-Semitic murder could become the only murder excused by the courts on the basis of the use of drugs, while in all other cases, drugs are an aggravating factor.”  source

Conclusion

So, how as a Jew am I to write a conclusion to this distressing article? Perhaps bullet points would be best. Many things I want to say; as a Christian Jew, I cannot.

  • The majority of France has “HITLERESQUE” hatred for Jews.
  • I will NEVER think of the French the same way after reading this horror story.
  • ALL JEWS in France MUST make Aliyah to ISRAEL NOW!

I will write that again:

ALL JEWS MUST MAKE ALIYAH TO ISRAEL NOW!

Brethren, we must pray for Jews and Christians every day – several times a day. Our time here is short – I do believe this.

Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost. If you have Jewish friends, do not be afraid of rejection if you share Christ with them.

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.” – Charles Spurgeon

How Can I Be Saved?

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!!

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me