MOOR of the Word with Pastor Chuck Pourciau

Are you content? If not, why?  Join Pastor Chuck as he discusses what it means to be content and how godliness leads to contentment.

There is no clearer barometer of spiritual maturity than how we spend money. None. Let’s ponder some principles of our relation to money as revealed in God’s Word. First, Scripture doesn’t teach that money, in and of itself, is sinful. Rather, it teaches that a wrong attitude toward it is sinful and destructive. 

The end result of false teaching is constant friction. People are continually being rubbed the wrong way by the teaching, the attitudes, and the sinful behavior that flows from errant instruction. It’s impossible for false teaching to produce unity in the church. Only the truth, ministered by God’s Spirit, can bring unity.

They speak “arrogant words of vanity.” False teachers have an overinflated sense of their own importance, not hesitating to rebel against God and His Word. That merely confirms, however, that they are infected with a deadly spiritual disease. Paul went on to write that, in addition to being conceited, the false teacher “understands nothing.” In arrogance, he claims to know everything but understan...

The primary function of a spiritual leader is to feed his people the Word. They will then avoid the poisonous weeds of false doctrine and grow to maturity. We have been discussing that false teachers can be recognized by what they affirm if what they affirm is contrary to Scripture. But the flip side of that is that false teachers can also be recognized by what they deny. Paul described that by no...

Physical diseases have symptoms, or marks, by which they may be diagnosed. The same is true of false teaching. Those infected by it will manifest certain characteristics. In this verse, Paul identifies them as anyone who “advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness.” There were already some in the...

Our social and economic status as slaves, masters, freemen, employers, or employees has no eternal relevance. All such roles pass away with the world, so we focus on what is eternal, not on the social system or our place in it. Believers are to be compliant and obedient on their jobs, and thus to give witness that the grace of Jesus Christ has transformed their lives.

Paul here was instructing Christian slaves in how they were to related to their unbelieving masters. According to Paul, they were to regard their masters as “worthy of all honor.” This is a reference to respectful and dutiful service. Even those employers who are harsh and unfair are to be honored because of their role as superiors in the work place.  Christians have a divinely commanded responsib...

Believers most commonly interact with that world in the work place, as they live out their faith on their jobs. Christians must be concerned that their conduct on the job shows others the power of Jesus Christ to transform a life. Believers’ work performance will bring either praise or blasphemy to the name of God. All work, whether directly or indirectly, is to advance God’s Kingdom. Even those e...

We have arrived at the 247th birthday of the United States of America. I am old enough to remember the Bicentennial celebration back in 1976. We were a proud nation. We considered ourselves the greatest nation on earth. And that belief was rather universal throughout most segments of American society.  It’s safe to say that is the case no more. Recently, I accompanied our high school students on a...

Paul is speaking of how a church recognizes men fit for leadership positions in the church. He provided some principles for the selection process. Here in verse 23 we see the principle that some men are obviously unfit to serve. One does not have to do a deep dive to investigate their lives. These men can be rejected without serious consideration. Their sinful ways are evident to all and precede t...

The best way to avoid being embarrassed by the moral failure of a ministry leader is not to raise them to that position too quickly. That’s what Paul means when he declares that we must not “lay hands upon anyone too hastily.” To lay hands on someone in this context is to affirm their suitability and readiness for public ministry leadership. It’s not enough for a man to declared that he’s called o...

If churches everywhere maintained that high standard for elders, unqualified men would be eliminated from the pastorate. Even they manage to get in, their incompetence will soon show and lead to their public removal. In today’s lax church world, a man who is disgracefully removed from one church can often soon find a position in another. There is no excuse for that. It’s simple enough to determine...

The accusation may yet prove false, but it must at least be investigated. The intent of having two or three witnesses is to provide confirmation. That is not meant to place elders beyond successful accusation, but beyond illegitimate accusation. They are never to be at the mercy of frivolous, evil accusers.

Attacks on God’s pastors isn’t a new development as seen in this passage in Pauls’ first letter to Timothy. There are always people eager to falsely accuse a man of God. They may do so because they resent his calling, reject his teaching, resist biblical authority, resent virtue, or are jealous of the Lord’s blessing on his life. Ultimately, those who attack God’s man for sinful reasons demonstrat...