New Blog Address!

I have a new blog address. Please visit my new blog at www.davidhibiske.wordpress.com. Thanks.

In the beginning God...

During my ordination council meeting I was asked about my view of young earth vs. old earth. In other words do I believe the earth is 10,000-15,000 years old or do I believe the earth is millions and billions of years old. There is quite a bit of debate over the age of the earth even in Christian circles. Some hold to literal creation (exactly as the Bible states in 7, 24 hour days), others may hold to the Gap Theory, which says God started eveything but allowed it to somewhat evolve. The Gap Theory would say that each day of creation represents a million years. There are also many other debates and theories but my point for this blog is not to list and debate creation theories.

My point is to say Genesis 1:1 and all of Genesis 1 is foundational to the rest of Scripture. In this chapter we read of God creating all that we see in the world and even the things that we do not see (heaven). The reason this is so foundational is because we realize that we are accountable to God. We (humans) are the created and as a creation we are accountable to the creator, which also means that we were created for a purpose.

When trying to share Jesus with someone we should help them understand that they were created by God and as a result they are accountable to Him and Him alone. I believe this to be foundational for a person to understand why they would need to place their faith in Jesus. If they do not understand and believe that they will be held accountable for their actions and sins (disobeying God's commands) then why would they need a savior?

The reason we need Jesus is found in Genesis. In the very beginning we find that Adam and Eve disobeyed God (Gen 3) and ever since mankind has been in need of a savior to remove sin so that we can be reconciled to our creator. Jesus came and died that we may have life because the wages of our sin is death (Rom. 6:23). So my question for you is this, "Do you know that you will be held accountable one day to God your creator? Therefore, have you placed your faith in Jesus and turned away from sin, so that you can stand before God having been made holy and clean by the blood of Jesus?"

Christmas!

Kendall and I had a great time for Christmas! We were in Wilmington, NC with my parents and grandparents. During the Christmas week we took some time to spend with my family at the house, and we also took a day trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. For the guys this primarily meant day trip to Bass Pro. The women of the family went shopping at some other places in the area, but I still can't fathom why you would want to leave a Bass Pro Shop :)? For those of you who don't know, I'm an outdoors guy. I enjoy doing anything outside, such as camping, fishing, hunting, etc., so I love a trip to the Bass Pro especially with my dad. We finished the trip with dinner (at the Bass Pro restaurant, which is actually very nice) and a Christmas musical.

We didn't go many places other than Myrtle Beach for Christmas, but mainly stayed at the house eating too many Christmas cookies. We were able to get a lot of rest before getting back to meeting with people to raise our needed financial support to move to CA. Please pray for us as we get back into the swing of calling and meeting with people after the holidays. We are still hoping to be moving to CA by the end of January and we are working very hard to achieve that goal. Please pray specifically that we will be able to get meetings scheduled with people and that the Lord will continue to connect us with people who will be our ministry partners. We greatly appreciate all of you who are supporting us and praying for us regularly. Without you we could not do what we are doing. We are thankful also to the Lord for His grace and how we have continued to see Him provide for us throughout this time of our lives!

What steps will you take to finish strong?

This question was asked of me during my ordination council interrogation. I was asked what steps I am taking to insure that I will be in ministry when I retire. Ever since I was asked that question I continue to think about it. What steps am I taking to continue to walk with the Lord, so that I will not fall away and have to leave the ministry?

I thought about this again today as I was reading my Bible. On my reading plan I am currently reading through 2 Chronicles. I am somewhat of a history buff so I like reading some of these Old Testament books, but I have noticed a recurring theme over the past few kings. In chapters 24-26 we meet Joash, Amaziah, and Uzziah. In each of their bios (at the beginning of each chp.) we find that each of these kings "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord..." However, we also find that they did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord their entire lives, which ultimately led to their demise. Each of these kings started off strong leading the people rightly and following the ways of the Lord, but they ended up failing and facing punishment from God for their sin. Joash and Amaziah both went after and worshipped other gods, and Uzziah fell because of his pride.

Jumping forward to todays times we see a similar trend in our churches in America. Pastors start off strong in their ministries with a zeal for seeing people come to know Jesus and walk with him, but as time goes on they fall away. I have been told that 60-80% of the people who were at Seminary with me will probably not retire from ministry. This is an unofficial statistic but it is alarming to think that so many lose that zeal they had for the Lord, especially those who were leaders.

I don't know any kind of a "7 Step Process to Staying in Ministry" book or manual that is available, nor do I think that one can be written because maintaining your walk with Jesus is not something that can be processed or put into a system. I believe that the way a person sets themselves up to finish strong is to daily seek the Lord everyday of their lives. This may seem cliche, but its true! We can't approach the Christian life as a checklist where we force ourselves to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit comes from knowing Jesus, and it is fruit that comes out of our lives naturally as we walk with him.

There are still spiritual disciplines that we must practice, but we must do them out of our love for Jesus and not out of a legalistic religious duty. This is a fine line and can be hard. I encourage all believers to read your Bible's daily, spend time in prayer, memorize Scripture, have accountability from others who are walking with Jesus, and be involved in the ministry of a local church. These are essential, but when doing these ask the Lord to teach you what it means to love him with all your heart, soul, and mind. I would also encourage you to think about the question posed to me, "How will you finish strong, so that you never fall away from the Lord all of your days?"

Ordination

While we were in Fort Worth for graduation our (Kendall and I) home church (The Cross Baptist Church) wanted to take part in ordaining me to the ministry as a way of sending us out to go work at South Bay Church. Ordination in a Baptist church is simply setting a man apart for the work of the ministry. When a church ordains a man they are in essence saying, "We recognize this man's call to ministry and he has demonstrated the character of a minister as found in the Scriptures." The qualifications of a minister can be found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.

In 1 Timothy 5:22, Paul tells Timothy not to be hasty in laying hands on someone. This is the act of ordaining or setting them apart for ministry. What you find is that a church sets apart a man for the ministry and they place their hands on him and pray over him that God will keep him from sin and use him to declare the Good News of Jesus Christ. But, Paul says not to do this too hastily because you do not want to appoint someone who is not mature in their faith, has an improper understanding of the Scriptures, or someone who is not living a life above reproach (with integrity) for Jesus.

Therefore, the ordination process begins by doing life together. Kendall and I were members of The Cross Baptist Church for over a year and a half. We did ministry with the people there and we did life together. They knew both Kendall and I and they were able to see the evidence of God's call on my life, as well as they were able to see my character demonstrated over this period of time. Many of the people at The Cross I have actually known for several years through our relationship at the Seminary.

Before the ordination there is also an ordination council that a man meets with. This council is made up of other ordained men from the church. I met with the ordination council from our church prior to my ordination so that they could ask me questions about my personal walk with Jesus, my theology, etc. This is one more step to insure that a church is not appointing / ordaining someone too hastily.

The final step in the ordination process is going before the church body. I shared my testimony and call to ministry with our church and they were given the opportunity to ask questions of me. Following that time the church then laid hands on me and prayed over me.

I am now Rev. David Hibiske, but more than a title I have been charged by my church and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to take the Good News of Jesus to a lost and dying world. I have been charged to not stain or bring reproach upon the name of Jesus by my actions and words. It is not about a title. It is all about bringing glory to God by loving him and pointing others to Jesus so that they may have a relationship with the very God that created them, but this is also the charge that is given to all of us as believers. This is not a spectator sport! We are all called to be participants in the work of the Lord. That is not full-time vocational ministry for every person, and we may not all do the same things because God has given us all different gifts but we should all be actively living to love God and point others to him.

Seminary Graduation

Kendall and I recently traveled to Fort Worth, TX for our graduation from Southwestern Seminary, which took place on Dec 11th. Kendall actually graduated in May but she was able to delay walking so that we could both participate in the same ceremony. However, we didn't get to sit together and there were about 110 people between the two of us. It feels great to finally have my diploma in hand and know that my Master's degree is complete!

We also had a great time with our family here in Fort Worth. My parents and grandparents were both able to make it for graduation, and Kendall's mom and Aunt were also able to come.

Thanksgiving

Kendall and I spent Thanksgiving in Clanton, AL with her family. It has been a great time for seeing family and taking a few days to slow down and get some much needed rest. We will hit the road again this Wednesday (12/2) and resume our support raising travels. We will head back to Charleston, SC for a few days before going to Wilmington, NC, where we will then fly to Fort Worth, TX for our graduation from Southwestern Seminary.