About the Author
of the Material Found In This Web Site
Jim Melough
I
was born in 1924, and born again in 1944 through faith in Christ as my Savior, and
since then my church affiliation has been with those known simply as “brethren,”
better known in some Christian circles as Plymouth Brethren.
In
order to explain how I came to write these commentaries it is necessary to explain
very briefly in the following three short paragraphs, what the Bible teaches about
ministry in the Church.
It
is to be by those whom God has gifted as evangelists, elders, and teachers, Eph 4:11,
each man’s gift gradually being recognized by the congregation as he ministers as
an evangelist, teacher, or shepherd (elder, pastor, overseer).
Formal recognition is then given in the form of a letter of commendation when
the man’s evangelistic ministry is found to be taking him out to the unconverted
with the gospel to such an extent that it requires so much of his time as to make it
difficult or impossible to continue in a regular job.
The letter simply certifies that the issuing church has recognized that the
man has the gift of evangelism and is using it effectively.
It serves to identify him to other congregations with which he may be brought
into contact. He is then supported, not
by a salary from the commending congregation, but by individual gifts from believers
in congregations who become aware of the work he is doing in evangelism.
His ministry is itinerant, and is to the unconverted in those places to which
the Holy Spirit sends him. He has no
official title, nor is he viewed as “the minister or pastor” of any of the
churches with which he may become associated in the course of his evangelistic work.
It
is the same with the teacher, except that his ministry is mainly to believers.
It too is itinerant, he going to teach in different congregations as the Holy
Spirit directs, but like the evangelist, he has no official title, nor is he viewed
as “the minister or pastor” of any of the churches.
His ministry in a church may be as brief as a single visit, or may extend for
weeks or months as the need of the congregation may require, though it rarely goes
beyond several weeks.
The
ministry of the elders (pastors) is different from that of the evangelist and the
teacher in several respects. It is never
itinerant, and does not require a letter of commendation since they minister only in
one congregation, the members of which recognize them by the shepherd care they
render. It is to be noted also that
there is always a plurality of elders. Scripture
knows nothing of one man functioning as the elder (pastor), nor does it know anything
of a head elder. It is extremely rare
for an elder’s ministry to make it impossible for him to continue in “secular”
employment, so that it is equally rare for elders to require financial support.
The principal work of the elders is not to be administrators, but to teach,
the difference between their teaching and that of the teacher being that the
teacher’s usually goes beyond that of the elders, not because the elders are
incapable of giving in-depth teaching, but because the very nature of a healthy
church requires them to devote more time to instructing new converts in the basic
truths of Christianity.
About
ten years after being converted I was invited to teach a small class of young people,
and in a few years that work had grown to include a class every evening of the week,
in areas within about thirty miles of home, with increasing invitations to speak on
Lord’s day in congregations throughout New England and the greater New York and New
Jersey areas.
As
the Lord’s work required more and more of my time I had to reduce the hours spent
in my regular job, and eventually three congregations - two in Connecticut and one in
the New York area - joined in giving me a letter of commendation as a full time Bible
teacher. As time passed some of those to
whom I ministered suggested that the lectures be made available in written form, with
the result that the Genesis studies were issued as booklets, each one covering a
chapter. A further development of this written ministry was the publication
of a monthly magazine Green Pastures which covered a wider variety of topics.
Advancing
years, however, have rendered me less capable of continuing to prepare and publish
the magazine, with the result that I stopped publication in 1995.
A problem with my vocal cords was also making public speaking increasingly
difficult, so now I devote my time to editing the notes compiled over the years, and
putting them into the form of commentaries covering, to date, the following books of
the Bible:
Genesis, Joshua, Judges,
Ruth, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai, Acts,
1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Revelation
Levitical Offerings and Old Testament Types of Christ
It
is in response to the urging of some who have listened to the lectures, or who have
read some of the material, that the notes are now being presented on the Internet,
with the prayer that they may be a blessing to those who read them.
The
sale of our home, and our moving to a condominium in a small retirement community,
have made financial support unnecessary, for which my wife and I are very thankful to
God, so readers are requested not to send gifts.
In 2007, I transferred the copyright
and responsibility for maintaining this body of work to Dennis Hill, a brother
in fellowship among the Brethren in Wisconsin, who is also an evangelist and a
Bible teacher. His "tent-making" consists largely of business and
technical consulting, including the development of websites, and he remains
committed to the preservation of this and other's works on behalf of Lord.
We are very happy to be able to make these studies available free of charge.
