2012 TMAI Asia/Pacific Summit Report

The Master's Academy International (TMAI) Asia/Pacific regional summit in Singapore is finished and we reflect now on what made the summit a success . . .

• Twenty men attended from countries such as Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Hawaii, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, and the United States
• We experienced sweet fellowship and great encouragement
• “Fisherman of Christ” Fellowship, pastored by Soon Yong Tan, provided wonderful hospitality to all the delegates
• Important reminders came out of the sessions conducted by Chris Mueller and John Pleasnick of Faith Bible Church in Murrieta, California:
• God’s goal in training: That our students be all that God designed them to be – namely, that they minister according to their God-given gifts
• Ensure the right training environment: Since our people are to minister in the church, make the training environment (namely, the classroom) be as much like the church as possible
• Why do we train?: For God’s glory, for the sake of the gospel, to keep the great commandment, to obey the great commission
• The Asia/Pacific training centers committed to undertake the TMAI degree mapping process along with the European and Spanish-speaking institutes
• Field reports were delivered
• A request was made to make the Asia/Pacific summit an annual event

Personally, the summit was a great encouragement to me.  I value the men greatly and am excited to know all that God is doing through them.

Here are some photos . . .

"Fisherman of Christ" Fellowship

Summit attendees

Session in progress

Singapore Flyer

 

Views from the Singapore Flyer

"Preach the Word" rap

Here is Shai Linne's rap on expository preaching . . .

TSBC 2012 Graduation Photos

Here are some photos of The Shepherd's Bible College 2012 Graduation.

 

The Shepherd's Bible College's (TSBC) courses are approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). TSBC is recognised by The Master's Academy International (TMAI).

TSBC’s 2013 Course Schedule

Next year’s course schedule has now been published and can be viewed on the The Shepherd's Bible College website. Weekend courses are available in Hastings, Auckland, and now Christchurch! Midweek courses are offered on our main campus in Hastings throughout the year in both afternoon and evening time slots.

All courses cater for both students looking to complete a Diploma in Biblical Studies and casual students seeking to complete selected subjects of interest. Fees are very affordable.

Take a look at the schedule and get enrolled online.

www.tsbc.org.nz

TSBC Graduation Preview

In two weeks from now (2pm on Saturday, 1 December) the result of many hours of teacher and student effort will be seen at The Shepherd's Bible College graduation ceremony when six graduates will receive their awards indicating that they have met the learning outcomes TSBC aims to achieve. Please come celebrate with them. Pastor Tim Collins of Auckland Bible Church will bring a message from God’s Word. All of our students will receive their academic records at that time. There will be an afternoon tea reception afterward.

For those who cannot make it to the ceremony, you can watch the service live on the Internet at the following link: RBC Live Stream

For those overseas, you’ll need to do a time conversion. Here is a good website for that: Time Zone Converter

NZQA External Evaluation Review

At The Shepherd’s Bible College, we have undergone two days of external evaluation by New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), our national registration and accreditation agency. Praise God for a good time with the evaluators. As always there are areas for improvement which we will endeavour to work on in order to improve systems and the achievement of our goals. We are encouraged by the feedback from our stakeholders, students, supporters, board, and staff who affirm the work that is being done at TSBC. God is gracious to allow us to be involved in the training and equipping of future lay leaders, preachers, counsellors, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, and all manner of other roles within the local church. Please continue to pray for us.

Biographical Sketch on Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Last Sunday evening at Onekawa Bible Church in Napier, I delivered a biographical message on the great Welsh preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Affectionately known as “The Doctor,” Lloyd-Jones gave up a promising career as a medical doctor and pursued a preaching ministry in the Welsh town of Aberavon. In that small town, he saw many souls turn to Christ for salvation. In 1939, he was invited to join G. Campbell Morgan to minister at Westminster Chapel in London just a few hundred meters from Buckingham Palace. For the next 30 years he established himself as one of the great expository preachers of his time. He preached over 370 messages from the book of Romans and 260 from Ephesians. At the height of his ministry, 2000 people packed the pews of Westminster Chapel to hear “The Doctor” preach the glories of Christ and the exclusivity of the gospel. In 1981, Lloyd-Jones passed into glory, leaving behind a legacy of faithful ministry. Much of his preaching has been transcribed and later published in book form. Some of his sermons can be found on YouTube.

Here is an example of one such sermon from Isaiah 33. Listen and let your soul be challenged.

TMAI European Summit Review

Two weeks ago, I returned from Spain and Germany where I was involved in The Master’s Academy International (TMAI) summit for the European TMAI institutes. I was privileged to present two sessions on the subject of developing and implementing educational standards within the academy. TMAI is moving towards creating a TMAI course catalogue which would set academic criteria by which we can measure learning outcomes and achievements within the academy. With this in place, TMAI students will be able to transfer credit from one TMAI institution to another, and TMAI institutes can continue their training processes with the confidence that they are meeting internationally recognised standards.

At the conclusion of the summit in Leon, Spain, I travelled to Berlin with Christian Andresen to assist in the implementation of the principles we had discussed in Spain. It was a joy to work with the faculty at European Biblical Training Center (EBTC) to evaluate course outlines and suggest improvements.

When I got back to New Zealand I was tired but blessed to be able to serve in this way.

Return to New Zealand and Departure for Europe

I can’t believe two weeks has gone this fast.  Yes, it’s been two weeks since Sereena and I returned to New Zealand.  Our time in the US was fantastic.  I got a lot done on my dissertation and was able to visit a number of churches to promote the ministry of The Shepherd’s Bible College (TSBC).

It was really good to get back to Riverbend Bible Church and see our church family once again after three months away.

During these two weeks back in NZ, I have caught up on TSBC administrative duties, taught classes (including a NT Survey block course this past weekend), completed some planning for Impact 2013, the TMAI European Summit, and the TMAI Asia/Pacific Summit, and done some study for a number of future preaching opportunities coming up.  It’s been a busy time.

Today, I leave for Los Angeles, then London, then Spain.  I am teaching a number of sessions at The Master's Academy International (TMAI) European Summit in Leon, Spain and then travelling with Christian Andresen to visit EBTC (a TMAI institute) in Berlin, Germany.

Please be praying for us.  Sereena remains here at home this time.  She’ll be helping out a little at Sports Camp at Riverbend Bible Church where Brent Eldridge is speaking.

Grace Church of the Valley

Today, Sereena and I drove three hours north of Los Angeles, to Kingsburg, home to Scott and Patty Ardavanis, and Grace Church of the Valley.  I was privileged this morning to preach for Scott.  We so enjoyed the church and making some new friends at GCV.

Dissertation Progress - Interview

On Wednesday, I visited North Coast Church in Vista, California to interview Pastor Larry Osborne.  The interview was a part of my dissertation research.  Larry Osborne is author of Sticky Church, a book that describes North Coast Church’s commitment to sermon-based study groups. At least 80 percent of the multi-site church attendees (numbering over 9,000 people) attend mid-week study groups in order to discuss the previous weekend’s sermon.  Larry and I were able to discuss this focus which solidly connects body-life with the sermon experience—the subject of my dissertation.

Here is a picture of North Coast Church’s main campus. The room with the largest capacity here seats approximately 500 people.

Other venues host attendees who hear the same sermon as those in the main auditorium. Pastors in each location shepherd the flocks and provide local leadership. The ministry activity that links the multi-venue, multi-site church is the sermon-based study groups.

In order to learn more, you’ll need to read my dissertation.  Thanks for praying for me.  My writing progress slowed quite a bit while we were travelling and preaching.  I'm back into it now.

Pastor Chris Mueller

Having return to Los Angeles, Sereena and I drove south to Murrieta, California to meet with our friend, Chris Mueller.

Chris is Pastor of Faith Bible Church where he has served since 2006.  At Starbucks, we were able to discuss our plans for Chris to minister at The Master’s Academy International Asia-Pacific Summit which is being held in Singapore this December. He and his ministerial associate, John Pleasnick, are coming to Singapore to serve TMAI having been supported by Faith Bible Church to do so. We are so thankful for FBC’s backing and prayers.

 I was privileged to attend a session of FBC’s Training Center that evening.

Six years ago, Chris Mueller preached at Impact Bible Conference, and we are excited to announce that he has accepted our invitation to preach again at Impact 2014.

Grace Covenant Church

Sereena and I are back in Los Angeles, having spent the weekend in Midland, Texas with Pastor Morris Brooks of Grace Covenant Church.  I preached and Sereena sang on Sunday.  GCC is a church plant which meets in a local Christian school.  I met Morris at the Shepherds’ Conference in Los Angeles in March and discussed with him the ministry of The Shepherd’s Bible College.  His interest in ministry training in New Zealand resulted in this visit.  We are excited about the partnership that is being established between Grace Covenant Church and The Shepherd’s Bible College through The Master’s Academy International.

Grace Community Fellowship

This past Sunday, I preached at Grace Community Fellowship in Georgetown, Texas.  GCF is pastored by an old friend from my seminary days, Larry Loden.  Here is a photo of us with the Lodens in front of the church.  I was also privileged to minister to the highschool group on Wednesday night.

Lakeside Bible Church

Sereena and I had a wonderful visit to Lakeside Bible Church, in Montgomery, Texas last weekend.  Our friends Ken and Kelli Ramey, Adam and Lisa Tyson, and new friends Bob and Barbara Ramey were tremendous hosts who spoiled us with great fellowship and wonderful hospitality.

At Lakeside, I preached at two duplicate morning services and also ministered in the high school group at a third morning service. Enfield, the Resolved worship band who arrange great Christian hymns for contemporary worship, were leading worship on this day. They also led a worship concert in the evening. We were extremely impressed with their hearts of devotion and wonderful example of selfless worship. We were able to hang out with the band members (John and Lisa Martin, David, Wil, and Ryan) in the afternoon and even discussed a potential visit to New Zealand.

The Lakeside congregation of around 400 were so attentive during the worship service and sermon.  That comes as a result of the faithful teaching and preaching from Pastor Ken Ramey, author of Expository Listening.  Ken, his wife Kelli, and Adam Tyson (Lakeside’s associate pastor) are all travelling to New Zealand in June next year to minister at Impact Bible Conference 2013.  We are really looking forward to it!

PS. We also enjoyed an hour on the water on Monday.  Here's a cute photo of Ken and Kelli with whom we enjoyed sweet fellowship.

Berean Bible Church

I preached and Sereena sang at Berean Bible Church on Sunday.  What a privilege to return again to a church that faithfully supports The Shepherd’s Bible College every month through The Master’s Academy International.  I first met the elders of this church six years ago and quickly developed a deep love for them and the congregation in Arroyo Grande, CA.  It is always a blessing to visit and encourage the saints at BBC.

Pictured are Rodney and Mary-Jane Morabito (Rodney is an elder at BBC), Mark and Lori Britten (friends from LA who traveled with us), me and Sereena, and Erik and Angel Swanson (Erik is the pastor at BBC), with their daughter, Olivia.

Dissertation Update

In my doctoral research, I have been studying the impact of technology on sermon-listening. It used to be that a listener and a preacher had to be in the same room in order for the preaching event to take place. In Jesus' case, a hillside or shoreline would suffice. Today, that's not the situation. A listener can experience a sermon via cassette tape, CD, DVD, MP3, Internet connection, live-streaming, YouTube, multi-site venue, and virtual church worlds. Some people even attend online church via an avatar which they create, dress, and give a personality all of its own. Future technological advancements will only increase the possibilities.

The point of my dissertation is to connect Christian fellowship with sermon-listening. The two cannot be separated. And yet technology makes it possible to do just that. But is technology to blame? Or is it a deeper issue? I think it is the latter.

I think that we prefer to listen to a sermon alone because we've succumb to the secular attitudes of the day—individualism, autonomy, self-will, anti-authority. We simply don't like the idea of accountability. But that's what fellowship is—a community-oriented effort to become more Christ-like in the context of loving care and encouragement.

We have allowed our secular culture to affect us so much that even if we're sitting in church with other Christians listening to a sermon, we still listen alone. When was the last time you discussed sermon application with someone after the sermon? When was the last time you prayed with someone about their sermon application? That's the measure of our commitment to actual Christian fellowship.

I think that a slow change has taken place in the church over the past one hundred years. We haven't noticed the change. But we need to consider its implications. How we can re-establish genuine Christian fellowship that is solidly connected to the sermon experience in the context of the church?

Doctor of Ministry Update

Well, I have attended the all the seminars and completed all the coursework.  The past three years seem to have flown by.  Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me.

On Monday, Sereena and I embark on a three-month writing sabbatical to Los Angeles in which I hope to finish the final requirement of the D. Min. programme—a doctoral dissertation.

My subject is: Listening to Sermons as a Community.

The focus will be on how to maximise the Sunday sermon experience by connecting it to genuine Christian fellowship.  Let me explain. . .  I think that in our individualistic postmodern society, the church has fallen prey to the idea that spiritual growth—via listening to sermons—is a personal journey which we all take alone.  This individualism is evidenced by the huge interest we take in the popular 'pixel pastors' whose sermons are readily available online, and are enjoyed from the comfort and distance of our own homes.

Of course, there are some benefits, but there are down-sides too.  Here's one: I think we have learned to bring that individualistic sermon-listening mindset into the church.  The result is that when we actually come to church, sit and listen to the Sunday sermon, we listen to it alone, never thinking that maybe we have a responsibility to respond to the sermon as a church, not just as an individual.  I'd like to encourage the church to rediscover the vital link between genuine Christian fellowship and the Sunday sermon.

So that is the project.  Let me know your thoughts and comments.

Please pray for me.  I am a little nervous, not knowing just how I will go, sitting in the library all day, every day.  Sereena will be there encouraging me.  Please pray for her too :)

Impact 2012 Memories

The Impact website has been updated.  The audio recordings of all the Impact 2012 sessions have been uploaded.  They are now available for free download here: Impact Audio Downloads

And here is the official 2012 Impact Bible Conference slideshow.  Enjoy the memories:

 

The conference theme for Impact 2013 is A Dynamic Body: The purpose, priorities, and practices of the local church.  Our main speakers are Scott Ardavanis and Ken Ramey.  Kelli Ramey will teach the women's seminars and Adam Tyson will return next year to lead the youth and youth leaders seminars.

Please let us know if you have any questions about Impact or ministry in general.  We are here to serve you and hope to continue our ministry to you even between your visits to us.

Thanks for making Impact so special this year.  And again, please let us know if we can serve you in some way.

New Semester: New Beginnings

With the end of one semester comes the beginning of another. During the month of July, The Shepherd's Bible College takes its mid-year break. Now is the time to be making plans for a new lineup of courses beginning 31 July.

Our Hastings campus hosts both midweek and weekend courses. Take a look at these options . . .




Our Auckland location hosts weekend block courses in Greenlane. Here are the weekend options . . .
 

To enrol in any of these courses, click here.

Donate to The Shepherd's Bible College

Auckland Block Course on Preaching

This coming weekend, I am teaching an intensive block course in Auckland on expository preaching.  Please be praying for a great impact on the preaching ministries of the students in the class.  Then on Sunday (13 May), I will preach at Auckland Bible Church (www.abcchurch.co.nz).  Please be praying for that too.