The Bible doesn't give that much detail on the role of a deacon in a church; what is his or her responsibilities, and what are good ideas for them to present to the board?

Thanks,
Want To Be Of Use

Sincerely,
Want To Be Of Use

Deacons are servants of the church.  The word ‘deacon’ comes from the Greek word ‘diakonos’ which literally means ‘servant’.  The Bible doesn’t give a detailed account of their job because there are so many ways that servants can serve.  Deacons in the church are men that meet the qualifications of 1 Tim 3:8-13.

These deacons are a specific type of servant in the church – they serve the eldership (Php 1:1).  Deacons are given authority by the elders to oversee various responsibilities within the church.  These responsibilities might be building maintenance, the treasury, benevolence, etc. – whatever tasks the elders need help getting done are the tasks deacons are to fulfill.  A good example of how this would work can be found in Acts 6:1-4 when the apostles needed help making sure the christian widows received their daily bread.  The apostles had too many responsibilities already, so they delegated that task to seven capable men (Acts 6:5-6).

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Why does the church not teach when Christmas first started?  They only teach that it’s Jesus’ birthday.  But they don’t teach who actually started Christmas.  Everything that I have been studying about Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus; it’s all about money.  When I type ‘what is Christmas’ into a search engine, Santa Claus is the first thing that is shown, not Jesus.  Congress was actually started on December 25^th, 1870, and America decided to make that the Christmas federal holiday.  Jesus was never born around December.  All my life, I have been told lies about Christmas.  Can someone out there tell me the truth about Christmas?

Sincerely,
The Grinch

Dear The Grinch,

Many people believe Christmas to be a spiritual holiday, but the Bible never commands us to celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25^th (the truth is, no one knows when Jesus was born, but it was most likely in the spring or summer because the shepherds were out – Lk 2:15).  Christians are commanded to remember Jesus’ death every first day of the week (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 11:24-25)… we are never commanded to remember His birth on an annual basis.  Christmas is not a biblical holiday.  There is nothing wrong with celebrating it as a family holiday, but it is wrong to teach that there is a biblical foundation to it.

Christmas can be traced back to the Roman pagan holiday of Winter Solstice (also known as ‘Saturnalia’ because it was in worship of the god, Saturn).  As Catholicism tried to integrate itself into a pagan Roman world, Christmas was instituted by Pope Julius I on December 25^th as a way to assimilate the pagans into a Catholic worldview.  In short, Christmas has never been a truly biblical holiday; it is a manmade tradition with no bearings upon your salvation.

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I have a question about "honor your father and your mother".  Some parents seem to use this as a weapon when kids are not listening to their parents or misbehaving.  I seem to get different meanings of what this really means.  I do thank you for your time.  God bless!

Sincerely,
Ain’t Misbehavin’

Dear Ain’t Misbehavin’,

Children are told to honor their father and mother at all ages (Eph 6:2-3). The word ‘honor’ means ‘to esteem highly’.  Parents deserve respect and kind treatment from their offspring.  As parents reach old age, children show honor by caring for their parents’ needs (Matt 15:4-6).  Until independent adulthood, honoring your parents is shown through respectful obedience (Eph 6:1).  No Scripture should ever be wielded “as a weapon”, but regardless of how the verse is used, that is what it means.