What is this book about? If you want one book that can comprehensively cover all the essential truths for a healthy Christian life then this is the book. I have written this book with a goal to provide one book that can serve the Christian in every essential area of his or her life. Have you ever wondered how to find God’s will for your life? If so, this book provides the answer. God’s will is not mystical nor is it hard to find, unless of course the person has embraced false teaching on the subject. Have you ever asked what exactly are the doctrines found in the Bible? What makes Christianity different than all other faiths? If so, this book provides in a clear, easy to read, and direct manner the 12 doctrines of the Bible without compromise on the controversial teachings of the Bible that many shy away from in the church today due to church politics, the fear of man, or ignorance of the truth. Have you ever asked yourself what is right and wrong with your own church and the leadership? If so, this book without apology reveals what a pure and honorable church looks like in structure and leadership qualities. It answers the tough questions about who runs the church (single elder rule, plurality elder rule, deacon rule, or congregational rule) and what defines a truly qualified pastor. Be aware though, it will reveal the characteristics of false teachers and unqualified pastors. If you are not willing to place your leadership to the test then this book is not for you. Have you ever questioned what a Christian should experience on a daily basis in areas such as ethics, evangelism (covering the controversial issues surrounding predestination/Calvinism and free-will/Arminianism), accountability in church discipline, civic duty (service in the political realm), education, worship, fellowship, personal holiness, prayer, authoritative leadership, and spiritual gifts? If so then this book gives biblical answers to these every day practical issues.
Numerous theologians, men and women laymen, and pastors have endorsed this book. For example, the founder of Tyndale Theological Seminary, Dr. Mal Couch, has said: “This is one of the most complete books of its kind. This book should not simply sit on the shelf but should be studied carefully by the child of God for biblical insights in how to live. I heartily recommend this volume for careful study.” Dr. Steve Hess, an elder and medical physician, has said this book “will take you from the starting point of God’s authority and how we know God’s will to the joyous experience of a daily walk with Christ. This book answers the hard questions of Christianity in a way that is easy to understand and easy to explain to others.” One pastor of a Southern Baptist Church has remarked that the book “truly is a must read for those who have committed to follow Christ.” The evangelist, scholar, and Messianic Jewish theologian Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbuam has stated that this book does an “amazing job” in answering how the Christian can balance head knowledge with practical heart application and that this book “will require more than a one time read to fully appreciate.”
The book has been divided into four sections. You can easily use the acronym “ADLE.” “A” stands for “Authority.” “D” stands for “Doctrine.” “L” stands for “Leadership,” and “E” stands for “Experience.” I remember these four letters because I pronounce this in such a way that it rhymes with the word “battle” or with the word “rattle.” Take off the “b” of “battle” or the “r” of “rattle” and this is how I pronounce the new word. It helps to easily give an overview of the book.
The first section (A of the ADLE) deals with the ultimate source for our faith and practice. In this section I seek to reveal the ultimate reason behind life. I begin with the same presupposition that Scripture does, namely that God exists. Humanity is born with this innate knowledge, and Scripture begins with this one presupposition. And once we recognize God as the ultimate reality or reason behind life, I then attempt to show how can we know him and live according to his desires. In this, I argue that Scripture reveals to us the truth for life, and in Scripture we can find our meaning, purpose, and purity for life. My proposition, then, is that Scripture is the full and sufficient guide for life. Our God of the universe is a sovereign God who wrote to us a love book that communicates his heart and mind to us.
The second section (D of the ADLE) sets forth the main teachings of Scripture. I initially begin by presenting a main reason why our own beloved country, America, has moral problems. I provide a brief answer to how Christians and a properly organized church can help correct this problem. From that point I move into the presentation of the twelve core doctrines that form the Christian faith. These doctrines comprise the heart of the Christian faith. And of those twelve doctrines, I have given some of the essential aspects of each doctrine. These doctrines form the backbone of our faith, and without these convictions I propose that Christianity has been compromised to some degree. The church must return to teaching doctrine if the moral problems are ever to be solved. Over forty times throughout the pastoral letters Paul demanded that the elders and leaders of the church instill healthy doctrine and refute false doctrine. The spirit of our age that minimizes or substitutes anything for the solid doctrinal teachings of Scripture leads to anemic Christians and anemic Churches that lack the power of God.
The third section of this work (L of the ADLE) builds from the brief glimmer that I mention in section two concerning a properly organized church. It is very often that I meet Christians that have little to no understanding of what a true pastor/elder looks like according to Scripture. Such people often have worldly, pagan, non-Christian, or undeveloped immature ideas concerning what authorizes a person to pastor or lead a fellowship of faith. Some people think a degree makes a person qualified to pastor. Others think ministry experience qualifies a person to pastor. And then, of course, some simply accept anyone who claims the title of pastor. Sadly, too often it is these types of people who sit on boards or committees seeking to bring in the next pastor of a church. Elders, deacons, or even congregational laity, depending on what type of church government one comes from, assist or control who is or will be a pastor in the local church. Certainly, therefore, the church needs to know what a true pastor looks like. Even more importantly, the ones selecting the pastors need to know what a true pastor looks like. In this section, I work to show from Scripture how a true church should be organized, and what qualifications a true pastor will have according to Scripture.
Lastly, in section four (E of the ADLE) I present the experiential element of the faith. What will a Christian love and do when he experiences Jesus Christ? What does the Christian practice and cherish once he learns of Christ, studies Christ, and studies the earthly shepherds of Christ? Sadly, I know many people who know much about the teachings of Scripture, but they do not truly love and live the life of the Christ of Scripture. Yet, Scripture tells us in James that true faith has works along with it. In other words, CHRISTIANITY IS PRACTICAL if it is truly Christianity. Irrelevant Christianity does not qualify as true Christianity. Christianity should, therefore, touch every area of our life. All of life should be lived underneath the lordship of our King, Christ Jesus. Therefore, this last section attempts to reveal what works the Christian will love when he or she truly loves Christ. These works are at least twelve experiences that ought to mark any healthy, mature, and balanced Christian. Years ago, Dr. Charles C. Ryrie wrote a book entitled, “Balancing the Christian Life.” In my view, I think Scripture verifies certain experiences that accompany true, essential, balanced, and wholesome Christianity. Sometimes people tend either to neglect experience (some conservatives) or to over emphasize experience (liberals and many charismatics). Hopefully, these twelve experiences will provide some needed balance to the swinging pendulum of experience versus doctrine.
Rev. Keith Sherlin was born in Spartanburg County South Carolina and has lived here his entire life. His parents, Bill and Betty Sherlin, have run Bill’s Jewelry in the small yet historic town of Tryon N.C. He is a graduate of Landrum High School (Landrum, S.C.), North Greenville University (Tigerville, S.C.), the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy (Columbia, S.C.), Tyndale Theological Seminary (Forth Worth, TX), and he is now currently working towards his Doctoral degree with Trinity Theological Seminary. He became a Christian in 1984 and has served as a pastor/elder in several churches with various responsibilities for over 11 years to date. He is a certified law enforcement officer for the State of South Carolina, and in 2004 he founded Essential Christianity Ministries (www.essentialchristianity.com) as a teaching and Christian service ministry.
Why is America in a spiritual spiral of decline? Why do we have failing marriages, unprecedented spiritual apathy, horrific violence nationwide, and spiritually dead churches? Because both pastor and laymen228 have lost the ability to think, discern, and articulate the essential doctrines of the Christian faith both in word and deed. The average minister and church member alike have grown spiritually confused. The spirit of Humanism has replaced the authority of God’s Word, and many can’t even recognize such a shift has taken place. Discipleship, tenacious doctrinal Bible teaching, confrontational and relational evangelism, exposure of sin, and biblical counseling have been traded in for subtle and slothful practices that now undermine America’s church. Godly long-term discipleship is now supposedly done through little personal devotions. Biblical teaching and doctrinal conviction from the Scriptures has been outdated with glitzy drama with doctrinal indifference. Confrontational and relational evangelism has now been discarded for mere fun in the sun with a pagan with no offer of eternal hope. Exposure and calling for confession of sin to protect the church family has been replaced with urging people to find themselves and gain back their self-esteem while sin is covered and left untouched. Biblical counseling is abnormal, and secular anti-Christian psychology is the norm.229 Head knowledge has replaced a true heart-felt Christian experience that results in practical Christianity in daily life. In our culture it is probably unlikely to find mature Christians unless they have been biblically discipled in the essentials of the Christian faith. Scholar and pastor-teacher Dr. John MacArthur has rightly said that much of modern day ministry has lost the truth it was once called to herald. He said:
“Bad doctrine is tolerable; a long sermon most certainly is not. The timing of the benediction is of far more concern to the average churchgoer than the content of the sermon. Sunday dinner and the feeding of our mouths takes precedence over Sunday school and the nourishment of our souls. Longwindedness has become a greater sin than heresy.”230
The primary mission of Christ left to the disciples at his departure for the throne of glory stipulates the divine agenda for the church. The church is to “make disciples” teaching them “all things” that Christ had “taught” (Matthew 28:19-20). So how can one today discern if a fellowship is centered upon this mission? After all how many leaders, denominational leaders, deacons, pastors, or members will forthrightly say they are not seeking to fulfill the great commission? Hardly would those ever admit they have forsaken the command. For the most part, it seems, the terms are used yet with little substance to back their claim. The test of a true “missions-minded church” is verified in the church’s overall approach to discipleship. If a church, pastor, teacher, member, is not actively seeking to make disciples of the Lord then it is not functioning as a true New Testament Church. Bill Hull rightly notes:
“Almost any church does some discipling. When a pastor uses the Bible in a sermon or a teacher opens it to a Sunday school class, the church provides the initial phases of discipling. But disciple making must go far beyond that.”231