The Titus Network

The Titus Network has joined forces with The Gospel Coalition, and we are now the TGC Hawaii chapter. We’re stoked to partner with other like-minded churches across the globe who are dedicated to living and ministering through “the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6).

Our connecting point going forward will be a Facebook page set up by TGC. You don’t need to be on Facebook to view it. You can get there through this link:  www.tgchawaii.org

Our first meeting as TGC Hawaii will be Thursday December 1, 12pm-1:30pm at Nuuanu Baptist Church. Invite another church leader, and bring your lunch. Our topic of discussion will be Expository Preaching. See you there, if we don’t see you at the 9 Marks conference this weekend.

We are trying to get at least one of the 9 Marks brothers to come and spend time with us at our next meeting. Whether we have them or not, I thought a sensible way to prepare for our time together would be to think through one of the marks of a healthy church. If you have the book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever, please read chapter 1 on “Expositional Preaching.”

One very short article which will also be helpful to think through is by Iain Murray. You can download it here

Preaching seems never to be a waste of time to talk about, as it is hard to get around the fact that this is probably the main way most sheep will get fed.

Thursday, November 3
12pm-1:30pm
Nuuanu Baptist Church (classroom building on mauka side, bottom floor)
Map/directions

If you would like lunch (usually around $7-8) email Todd at toddymorikawa@gmail.com by 5pm on November 2.

Feel free to use this at your church to promote the November workshop. Mark Dever seems to pronounce Hawaiian words pretty well.

This seems to be a hot topic lately. John Woodbridge, professor of church history at Trinity Evangelical, has written a pretty lengthy article, but it looks well worth our time. We will look at the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and its historicity and misrepresentation. I pray God use this discussion to further shape the ministry of the Word in our churches for His glory.

You can download the article here

Thursday, October 6
12pm-1:30pm
Nuuanu Baptist Church (classroom building on mauka side)
Map/directions

If you would like lunch provided (usually around $7-8) email Todd at toddymorikawa@gmail.com by 5pm on Wed, October 5.

For some reason, one of the biggest lessons I learned at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was that seminaries should not exist in an ideal world. Seminaries are good, but churches should raise up their own ministers (Eph 4, 2 Tim 2).

This is why we have started the Antioch School Hawaii, a partnership of churches on Oahu that is looking to raise up pastors and church planters. We do not think one church can do this alone; that is why I am always careful to say “partnership of churches.” We do not see the Antioch School as a parachurch ministry; it is a partnership of local church ministries. We do not see ourselves in competition with seminaries; we believe most seminaries would like to see churches raising up ministers. We do not think we are better teachers than seminary professors; we simply see this as our responsibility as pastors.

You really must listen to Albert Mohler here. He talks about this at about the 11:25 mark.

I would ask you to consider two things: one, think about whether or not this really is God’s call on the local church, namely, to raise up their own ministers, not outsource to seminaries. Two, we have noticed in our first year a need for more help to do this faithfully. A good friend of mine, Chris Bruno (M.Div from SBTS, Ph.D. from Wheaton), is planning to move out here to become a part time staff pastor at one of our partnering churches, Harbor Church of Acts 29, with one of his main tasks as a pastor of that church to be the acting “Academic Dean” for our Antioch School. He has to raise support to get out here and is about halfway there. Please consider helping us to get him out here, and/or pass this on to others you think might become interested in what God’s doing in Hawaii.

Registration for the November workshop is open! Spread the word and pray for God to truly use these brothers to communicate God’s heart for the local church, and for God to use that time to help all the churches in Hawaii conform to His image.

You can register here

Jesus in Matthew 11:7-9:

Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

Alexander Maclaren:

Silken courtiers do not haunt the desert. Kings’ houses, and not either the wilderness or kings’ dungeons, are the sunny spots where they spread their plumage. If the gaunt ascetic, with his girdle of camel’s hair and his coarse fare, had been a self-indulgent sybarite, his voice would never have shaken a nation. The least breath of suspicion that a preacher is such a man ends his power, and ought to end it; for self-indulgence and the love of fleshly comforts eat the heart out of goodness, and make the eyes too heavy to see visions.

Our next lunch will feature special guest Chris Castaldo, Director of Gospel Renewal at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. His ministry focus is “equipping the partially evangelized to grow in Jesus,” and he wrote a highly-recommended book on gospel ministry to those with Catholic backgrounds called Holy Ground. Chris will share his insights with us, and there will be plenty of time for Q&A.

To quote Chris:

The partially-evangelized refers to men and women who have had exposure to the Christian tradition, but for whom new life in Christ, the authority of Scripture, and outreach is peripheral to their belief and/or practice.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, there are a total of 132,060,000 Americans who identify with the Mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Sociologists of religion tell us that three out of every four of these are partially evangelized, thus leaving over 99,000,000 such people in the United States. Our mission is to train evangelicals from all kinds of churches to reach these people through a relational approach to evangelism, one that is sensitive to the particular assumptions, priorities, and cultural backgrounds of the partially evangelized.

More about Chris at his website: chriscastaldo.com. Don’t miss this unique and valuable time!

Thursday, September 1
12pm-1:30pm
Nuuanu Baptist Church (bottom floor of classroom building on mauka side)
Map/directions

If you would like lunch provided (usually around $7-8) email Todd at toddymorikawa@gmail.com by 5pm on Wed, Aug 31.

As I explained to most of you earlier, our next meeting will be a very practical discussion on how we can actually network together– with time, people, and resources– for the advancement of the gospel. The first 15 minutes of our meeting will be to promote the 9 Marks workshop that is taking place at Waialae Baptist Church on November 4 and 5. I would love to see our network of pastors bring many of our leaders and promote it among some of our friends from other churches that God may have us rub shoulders with.

The rest of our meeting will be to hear from and discuss with Garret Hashimoto from Aloha Pregnancy Care and Counseling Center (APCCC). He will share about their vision for taking a stand against abortion and about some of their material needs for running the program. After he shares I will share my hopes and dreams for gospel-centered churches to take the lead in a ministry like this.

Garret shared with me that he has frustrations about having not enough money to run the program. My thought is that purely church-based ministry is the answer. No one church could run a progam like APCCC all by themselves, but a partnership of churches certainly could. It also does seem that no gospel advancement is supposed to really happen outside of local church ministry, so a partnership of churches could also make sure that a ministry like this stays faithful to the Great Commission. Please be in prayer about the possibilities, and we will openly discuss and sharpen each other on these issues.

For more info on these two things, check out 9 Marks Ministries and APCCC.

Thursday, August 4
12:00pm – 1:30pm
Nuuanu Baptist Church (map/directions here)
Go to the upper educational building facing Nuuanu Ave, left side, bottom floor

If you would like lunch (usually around $7-8) PLEASE email me at toddymorikawa@gmail.com  by 5pm on Wed, Aug 3.

We had an amazing time last week listening to Fikret Bocek share his testimony and about what ministry is like in Smyrna. He is a great brother in Christ for us to pray for in relatively hostile territory, and it is clear God is at work in Turkey.

I was thinking of just waiting until the first Thursday in August to meet up again, probably back at Nuuanu. I will plan on posting the info for that meeting sometime next month. Keep proclaiming the glories of Christ, brothers!