Pastor's Circle - Daniel Simmons

Dr. Daniel Simmons serves as the senior pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. He joined the Pastor's Circle to discuss the characters in the Christmas story. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his segment.

Why did God choose the people he did for the Christmas story?

I think there are several reasons. Joseph and Mary are chosen because they are in the lineage of David.

But when you're talking about Simeon, or Zechariah, they were chosen because of their faithfulness to God.

When Simeon prayed to God that he would "see" that day, I think God honored that because of his dedication.

How important is that dedication in our lives?

I always say to my congregation that God will not choose people who are not doing anything, who have not proven themselves in some other way.

Obedience is critical. The idea of Christ being Lord and speaking to us, and that radical obedience. When God comes in, it's not a democracy.

How can we hear from God in the way that Joseph or Mary did?

First of all, we have to believe that he does speak. And secondly, we have to spend some time in his Word. We have to develop that ability to hear him.

Find those places in the Bible where God surprised people, and ask God to show us how he can do it in our lives.

Pastor's Circle - Gil McKee

Gil McKee, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, joined the Pastor's Circle today to discuss giving at Christmas. Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his segment.

What is a new insight God has given you into Christmas this year?

That's easy, and I'm glad you asked. Most people listening are aware of what we went through in April with the tornado.

I think what God has done in our church through that has been amazing. I've seen my church give and give and roll their sleeves up and work and work.

Even at Christmas, I'm seeing my church question what we really need.

Where do you see giving in the Christmas story?

Obviously, just go to the gift of God. For God so loved the world that he gave. This is about giving. God's love for us was so great that he gave the most valuable gift he could give.

And then of course, there are those who came presenting gifts to the Christ Child, but I think the whole theme of the story is God's Gift.

If I want to love as God loves, then I'm not caught up in getting; I'm caught up in giving. I think God has just reminded us of that in a very graphic way this year.

How do you keep that attitude stoked throughout the year?

I think you hit the nail on the head. One of the responsibilities pastors have is to keep that vision in front of people. For me, it just has to be a day-by-day, week-by-week thing.

I think for us, God is just birthing some new ideas and visions for our church family of how we can be a part of that ongoing ministry.

Why do we tend to become "takers"?

I think none of us are immune to the culture around us. Unfortunately, I think some of it has crept into the church.

In the church movement back in the 70s and 80s, there was an emphasis on meeting needs. Unfortunately, it became meeting the needs of those in the church.

You know as well as I do that there are many people out there who come to church only to have their needs met. We've got an entire mindset that we are going to have to work hard to change.

In many ways, we've become no different in our mindset than those outside the church.

Why is that so easy to get away from?

Most of us, when we think about ministry and our church time, spend the vast majority of our time inside the walls of the church.

Jesus did the exact opposite. He spent the vast majority of his time outside of the walls of the synagogues.

I think the good news is that there is a renewal and a revival of that vision. I think that churches realize that they have strayed a little bit from that vision.

We have to remember, it is still the Lord's church. He will do anything in us, to us, through us to get us back inside his will.

Pastor's Circle - Jerry Horner

Jerry Horner has been a university professor and administrator since 1962. He currently functions as the Executive Director of New Creation Ministries. He joined the Pastor's Circle to talk about the Virgin Birth. .Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

Is the Virgin Birth important?

Absolutely. In the birth of Jesus, the chain of cause and effect was broken.

The Apostle Paul builds heavily on this. In his letter to the Romans, he gave a contrast between the old humanity, headed by Adam, and the new humanity, headed by Jesus Christ.

By birth, we are under the old humanity, characterized by sin and death. But Jesus Christ is the new Adam. He is the beginning of a new humanity. And without the Virgin Birth, that is not possible.

Christian belief builds heavily on such doctrines.

How important is it that we believe in it?

That is the key. If a person said he doesn't believe in the Virgin Birth, I would not question his salvation, but I would question his view of Scripture. 

The entirety of Christian doctrine rests on the veracity and reliability of the Bible.

If one part of Scripture is suspect, what about the rest of it? If I'm at liberty to cut out one part out of the Bible, why not any other part?

If I'm a judge of Scripture, Scripture is no judge of me. It comes down to submission to the Word of God.

What is one major part of the Christmas narrative that we miss?

I don't think that we can get away from the all-encompassing love of God. The Christmas Story is a love story. I think John 3:16 is the greatest commentary on the Christmas Story. What more could God give?

Pastor's Circle - Bert Harper

Bert Harper, chairman of the board and Director of Family Life and Pastoral Ministries of American Family Association, joined The Matt Friedeman Show today to talk about the decline of marriage and how we can bring revival. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

There's a poll that says marriage is declining. Thoughts?

I saw the same article, and I remembered the push a few years ago by a certain denomination to say that we need to marry earlier.

Marriage is looked down upon in our society. The church is partly to blame. But I would say that the marriage rate in the church is significantly higher than in society.

What are the effects of cohabitation and fatherlessness on society?

The black community in  America has already experienced this trainwreck, with so much of their male population in prison because of fatherless homes.

You have close to 85% of the black population being raised in single-parent homes. If we continue to go down this road, it's going to be a disaster.

The direction that we go determines everything. God's looking for us to go in the right direction. Marriage and family is the right way to go.

How can America have a "turnaround"?

We've got to turn to God. The Bible says "repent." I know it's an old-fashioned term, but we've got to bring it back.

Let the Word of God speak. If we can let it do that, the Word has promised that it will go forth and do what it is supposed to do. It works in a home, it works in a church, it works in a community, and it works in a nation.

How can a pastor invite revival?

Demonstrate it. The thing that hurts me is how many pastors are falling into moral failure.

My wife and I are doing marriage conferences for pastors. Because if we preach one thing and do another, then it falls on deaf ears. This generation can spot hypocrisy.

And then live it. When they see Christ in you, I believe the message will ring true.

Pastor's Circle - Darryl Starnes

Darryl Starnes serves as a bishop for the AME Zion Church. He came on The Matt Friedeman Show to share his insights into the Christmas story. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

What is the most surprising insight into the Christmas story?

Well, you know this subject is so exhausted. But one of the surprising things is the unlikely links in the chain of Christ's genealogy.

You find a woman who acted like a prostitute, by the name of Tamar. You find another woman, Rahab, who was a prostitute. You find a Moabite, Ruth. And then you find a woman who committed adultery, Bathsheba.

It shows me that God can use people who the world would never expect to bring his good news.

What do we learn from the shepherds?

It is so clear that the Lord is here and he is bringing God to everybody. God is with all of us.

Often the elite feel like the best things in life are for them, and those who are not elite feel like it's not for them. But the good news is for the poor.

God chooses a few people and he brings the good news to everybody.

What about Joseph?

Often overlooked. Can you imagine the faith that he had to have, and that Mary had to have?

To know that the angel told her she was going to have a baby and the Holy Spirit was going to get her with child; how do you explain that to Joseph?

But even before the angel came to him, he was going to handle it in a way that was not harmful or hurtful.

This shows us that once we know God, he may use us to do things that we never imagined were possible.

Think about the importance of timing in this story. Had Joseph not left Bethlehem when he was told to leave, can you imagine what would have happened?

This is why we must do what the Lord says, do it on time, and do it the way he tells us to do it.

Are we too often, like Herod, intimidated by Jesus?

It was not only Herod who was in an uproar, but Scripture says it was also all of Jerusalem.

I think there is a part in all of us that does not want to bow our knee to the Lord and Creator, Jesus Christ. All of us remember when we refused to do so.

But all of us who have bowed our knee know that it was the best thing we have ever done. He brings love, he brings joy, he brings peace, and our only regret is that we did not do it earlier.

Why are we reluctant to surrender to Christ?

I believe we are afraid that we will miss out on things that we love to do and love to be. But we are not aware that "no good thing will he withhold from us".

The truth is the best thing we will ever do is let him in, because he saves us from ourselves.

Pastor's Circle - Bryan Loritts

Bryan Loritts, pastor of Fellowship Memphis, joined the Pastor's Circle to discuss his newest book, A Cross-Shaped Gospel. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

Tell us about the idea behind A Cross-Shaped Gospel.

I use the image of the cross to depict the point that the Gospel is supposed to develop on two planes.   

The vertical beam of the cross is the most important. It is rooted in the ground; the horizontal beam can't stand without it.

The vertical beam represents forgiveness of sins and our relationship with God.   

The horizontal beam rests upon the vertical.  This represents our reconciliation with other people.  

Because we are reconciled with God we can be reconciled with other people.

You have a different take on George Whitfield. Tell us about that.

 I was shocked to find out about this man who was a great evangelist. I believe he loved Jesus, but he was influential in causing slavery to be legalized in Georgia.   

Every generation has its blind spots. In Whitefield's day it was slavery. In our day it is materialism.

The example of Whitfield demonstrates the fact that Christians can often separate the vertical aspect of the Gospel from the horizontal. 

While Whitfield was one of the few in his day who would preach to slaves, he did not do anything to use his influence to alleviate the social condition of those slaves.  

He had made the Gospel into something that was entirely "spiritual" or vertical.

Why do we compartmentalize the Gospel like that?

Our church is currently renting a facility and each week we have to set up everything for service. Afterward we have to move all of our things out again.  

We have a very large, very heavy cross that sits upon the platform.  We were discussing how we could streamline the process of moving each week and someone brought up the idea of building a lighter cross.  

It really hit me then that, spiritually speaking, we all  want a cross that is light and convenient that doesn't cause a problem.  We don't like to be made uncomfortable.  

You mention generational sins, materialism, abortion.

I wholeheartedly agree, abortion is a major civil rights issue. This is not a political issue, it is a kingdom of God issue.  We need to find ways to be involved. 

I think racism does continue though.  It is not just institutional, but it is an issue of the heart.  

While the civil rights movement was successful in changing laws, it could not change hearts.   

Every ethnic group has its problem of racism.  We need to lean on the grace of God.  Our identity is in Christ and Christ alone.

You state that discomfort is an essential part of being a Christian. Could you explain that?

Jesus says take up your cross and follow.  The cross is uncomfortable.  The Gospel calls us to disadvantage ourselves for the sake of others. 

Jesus, in the Incarnation, humbles himself in the form of the servant - he models for us a life of discomfort.  

The disciples for the most part died uncomfortably.  Discomfort is the recipe for growth.  

Pastor's Circle - Jeffrey Klick

Jeffrey Klick is the senior pastor of Hope Family Fellowship in Kansas City. He joined the Pastor's Circle to discuss what a young woman should look for in a husband. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his segment.

What are the three things a young woman should look for in a husband?

As always, if the relationship with the Lord is not the primary thing in a young man's life, you shouldn't be getting involved with him.

Marriage is not always a bed of roses; it's not always a smooth, easy time. Two people merging their lives together can be pretty rough, and you have to have a foundation on which to build.

If we don't build on a good foundation, as Jesus said, the house is going to crash.

Most people are attracted to one another physically, and that's okay. God made it that way. But as the years go on, what you're left with is not the appearance. It's whatever maturity that man has.

So he second thing I tell my daughters is look for a guy who is teachable. If he's already arrogant and conceited and not humble at this point, he's just going to get more arrogant and conceited and not humble.

The third thing to ask is whether the man you're looking at is a kind man. Proverbs 19:22 says that what is desired in a man is kindness.

If you marry a kind man, he will be kind to you for the rest of your life. If you marry a harsh man, he's going to be harsh. If he's harsh or mean, you're not going to have a good life together

How important is his financial situation?

It depends on several factors. What people put up as standards aren't necessarily biblical.

His relationship with God, his humility, his kindness; those kind of issues are much more important to me than how much he has in the bank.

What about communication?

Extremely important. You hit on two of the biggest issues of failed marriages.

If you're able to talk, and I believe this goes back to your relationship with the Lord, then you will be able to work through the problems that are there.

There are going to be hurt feelings and things that are said the wrong way, and you have to know how to work it out.

To read more on this topic, see Jeffrey Klick's blog post here.