Archives For Omaha Bible Church

Sharpen Your Spiritual Focus with Don Whitney

Erik Raymond —  September 12, 2007

Omaha Bible Church’s annual church conference is coming quickly. Each year we work hard to bring in top notch speakers with the narrow goal of the glory of Christ through the edification of the church. In past years we have welcomed John MacArthur, D.A. Carson, Kris Lundgaard, Steve Lawson, and others. This year we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Don Whitney to OBC to exhort us in the spiritual disciplines, specifically biblical meditation and prayer.

God has used Dr. Whitney in great ways through his steady emphasis upon consistent and faithful spiritual disciplines, particularly through his books Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health and Simplify Your Spiritual Life. To this end we are eager to welcome Don to exhort and equip us to sharpen our spiritual focus.

The conference will be held on Saturday, October 20th and you really are not going to get a better deal than this. Attendees will enjoy three sessions of teaching from Dr. Whitney, musical worship, as well as a catered breakfast and lunch. Following the general sessions Dr. Whitney will conduct a workshop for pastors dealing with disaster proofing their ministry (more info here).

The total price for this conference including the food is $15 per person or a max of $25 per family (we want this to be both affordable and enticing).

Along with childcare for the infants and toddlers, a simultaneous conference will be held for the children up to the 5th grade. As a result , we need to have everyone register online and specify all of your children’s ages in order to help us properly prepare and plan.

>Register Online Today

>Pass this link onto others

:: OBC’s location

I just want to add a caveat to this…the conference is not limited just to members of OBC, it is for all who want to grow in the area of spiritual disciplines. So if you live in the Midwest, pack up the fam and take a roadie. Let me know if you are traveling and have any questions.

In Omaha Bible Church ,
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Audio for the NPR interview

Erik Raymond —  July 14, 2007

Here is the audio for the interview that aired this morning. It was clearly an interview with Palau with me being the controversial Calvinist who does not play well with others (note the interviewer referred to our church as…the ‘Calvinist’ Omaha Bible Church). My portion was extremely abbreviated; I wish that they would have included my references to the Scripture rather than just the historical reference to the Reformation. However, I am thankful to NPR for the opportunity to talk about this important issue and interact over the importance of the promotion and defense of the gospel.

At any rate I think Palau was given enough theological rope to hang himself; his wide inclusivism came through clear, even referring to the gospel as a secondary doctrine.

listen here ::

………

Related Posts ::

>ArchBishop Curtiss Praying

>What is Wrong with this Picture (St. James Catholic Church in Omaha)

>Luis Palau festival promoted by The Catholic Voice

>Does Ecumenicalism Undermine Biblical Unity? (part i, part ii, part iii)

>James White on Palau in Omaha

>Open wolf’s mouth insert head

>OWH highlights confessional tent at the crusade
….

-I have to give major props to my good friend Tony Reinke (of The Shepherd’s Scrapbook) who had downloaded and converted the interview file from RealAudio and uploaded it to his server to be streamed. This all happened before the interview aired. Thanks Tony!

In Gospel, Luis Palau, NPR Interview on Heartland Festival, Omaha Bible Church, Omaha Heartland Festival, Ordinary Pastor , , , , , ,
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Omaha Bible Church Event Mailing List

Erik Raymond —  July 12, 2007

I know that many of you who read this blog do not live in the Midwestern US, however, for the many who do I want to make a resource available to you.

Omaha Bible Church is committed to the faithful proclamation of the truth in effort to see God glorified and Christians edified. So each year the church hosts various events for men, women and families. At these events we typically bring in a respected Bible teacher who has made a significant impact via a book or a faithful ministry (ie John MacArthur, D.A. Carson, Steve Lawson, James White, or for the ladies, Martha Peace, Carol Ruvelo, etc..). These types of events are great because they serve to build us up while also galvanizing our resolve towards the things that are precious in Christ.

For instance, we are not a large church but we have a unique ministry to pastors and folks at smaller churches here in the Midwest. It is a great encouragement for us all to get together, spend a day or days basking in the greatness of God in the gospel while locking arms in the fellowship of grace. This coming October we are hosting Dr. Don Whitney, of Southern Seminary, to speak at our family conference (registration is open). This should be a great time.

If you would like to be added to our mailing list for events, go ahead and drop me a comment or a note and specify, if you would, men’s ministry, women’s ministry, family ministry or all three.

thanks,

erik

In Omaha Bible Church
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NPR interview

Erik Raymond —  July 11, 2007

Yesterday afternoon I was interviewed by NPR (National Public Radio) regarding OBC’s lack of participation in this weekend’s Heartland Festival with Luis Palau. This was a great opportunity to emphasize that we are not against everything but radically for the gospel, and when you are for the gospel you are against some things. And in this case, we are against partnering with those who do not believe the gospel (2 Cor. 6.14ff).

The interview will air tomorrow on the local NPR channel (NET out of Lincoln). They are apparently interviewing Luis Palau today and then airing both tomorrow.

It was encouraging to hear that they had read through my blog and were familiar with our position. How good is God to even give me a chance to talk about the gospel with this perfect stranger? What a great opportunity to promote the beauty of Jesus in the gospel and our need to promote and defend it with biblical fidelity.

In Gospel, Heartland Festival, Luis Palau, Omaha, Omaha Bible Church , , , , ,
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Free Will, fact or fiction?

Erik Raymond —  June 11, 2007

This was the title of a sermon preached last night at Omaha Bible Church by our Senior Pastor, Patrick Abendroth. The message dealt with whether or not we as people have the free will to choose God or not.

>here is the link to the download page

I think Pat did a terrific job of dealing with the issues a short amount of time (45 min). Here are the 5 points that I took down (how many points do you think a Calvinist would have?)-

So here are the 5 compelling arguments against free will-

.1. the Bible does not teach it

.2. the Bible teaches the opposite

.3. the tetstimony of church history

.4. the theory undermines multiple realities of grace

.5. the theory undermines the glory of God

//a couple of items to note:

I really enjoyed Pat’s points with respect to the redefinition of grace and the logical implications of adding our choice to the equation.

A great quote: “Proponents of free-will are enemies of free-grace”

and a paraphrase: “why is free-will the evangelical idol? Why do we defend it so? It is not even in the Bible, but people defend it like it is the love of God or the deity of Christ or something?”

finally, if you are moved by your own free will :/ to take issue with these points, please listen to the sermon and then, if inclined, drop a comment. Don’t just disagree and rant.

In Calvinism, Omaha Bible Church, Preaching , , , ,
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Encouragement for Preachers

Erik Raymond —  May 16, 2007

“Pastors need to preach in such a way that their people will either hate sin or hate the preacher.”

[Pat Abendroth at OBC this past Sunday, I believe he said it was a paraphrase of a Luther quote, though I cannot find it.]

In Expository Preaching, Martin Luther, Omaha Bible Church, Ordinary Pastor, Pat Abendroth, Preaching , , , ,
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Leadership Mattters :: outline and audio

Erik Raymond —  May 15, 2007
mens-breakfast-b-yawn.jpg

Some have asked about the audio for the recent Men’s Breakfast at Omaha Bible Church. Byron Yawn combined biblical fidelity, godly wisdom, common sense, a sense of humor and loving exhortation in this talk. If you are a church leader or know someone who is I would encourage you to listen to his message.

Here are the 21 points (the 21 points makes it an official leadership talk). Some of the titles are not a common sense ‘get’ however, in listening you will get it. One of my favorites is #4. Byron used the 20 year ex-smoker who now hates all smokers as in illustration for impatient and unloving theologically astute folks (ie Calvinists) who’s lives betray their true convictions (ie don’t love people unless they are just like them).
You may download or listen to the audio here for free (Under ‘Leadership Matters’).
Here are the notes::

#1 Multiply Yourself Like the Church Depends Upon It
#2 You Don’t Elevate Men by Lowering the Standard
#3 Leaders are Recognized Long Before They Assume Office
#4 Stay Away From the Guy Who Can’t Spell “Shepherd”
#5 Make Fun of “Pretty Books” as Often as Possible
#6 If Your Leaders Always Agree with You They’re Not
#7 The Most Immediate Demonstration of Your Leadership is the Quality of Men Around You
#8 Fear God More than You Fear Men
#9 Live in Light of Your Dispensability
#10 Learn to Plod
#11 Beware of Preaching Someone Else’s Convictions
#12 Your Bad Decisions are Usually Among Your Best
#13 Take the Truth Seriously. Yourself, not so Seriously
#14 The Problem With an Example is that People Will Follow It
#15 Don’t Hate the Sheep
#16 If You’re Wondering Whether It’s You or the Four Hundred Others, Don’t
#17 In Conflicts Let the Cursor Blink Longer Than Normal
#18 Complain Up
#19 Whatever Pain You Face You Always Deserve Worst
#20 Forget the Last Word
#21 Critics Remind Us How Well Integrity Sleeps
{Bryon’s expository sermons are on line at Community Bible in Nashville)

In Byron Yawn, Leadership, Omaha Bible Church, Ordinary Pastor , ,
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