{"id":892,"date":"2026-08-20T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/?p=892"},"modified":"2026-08-14T18:16:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:16:55","slug":"not-our-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/not-our-own\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Our Own"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]
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\u00a0Jesus answered, \u201cMy teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God\u2019s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him\u201d<\/strong> <\/em>(John 7:16-18).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jesus\u2019 message was not<\/em><\/strong> merely His own<\/em><\/strong>. He took instructions from God who sent<\/em><\/strong> Him. He had chosen to do God\u2019s will<\/em><\/strong> from the beginning, realizing that was His commission. His teaching came from God, so it was true. He didn\u2019t speak to gain honor for himself.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We do not merely teach our own ideas either. As preachers called and commissioned by God, we are obligated to do His will, following the example of our Master. Others will find out whether<\/em><\/strong> our teaching comes from God or whether<\/em><\/strong> we are simply speaking our mind. We proclaim Christ for the honor of God who sent us. That\u2019s integrity in preaching that flows from a life of integrity.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIntegrity of speech and deed is the outward expression of living in the truth. Each bit of veiled truth casts a shadow upon the light of Christ, which illumines and liberates the world. … Genuine humility and self-esteem are always functions of living in the truth, and the root of truth is always the self-giving love of God” (Paul Anderson. Following Jesus,<\/em> p.189).<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Our Friends forerunners were often known as \u201cPublishers of Truth.\u201d May that same label be applied to us. There must be nothing false about us. Friend Samuel Bownas (1676-1753) wrote and spoke about vocal ministry, one of the first to articulate the qualifications for ministry. To a meeting of ministers, he wrote,<\/p>\n

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And dear friends, let us be singly and in sincerity devoted to the will of God, whether to preach or be silent; for if we are not sensible of such a resignation, it is doubtful that we may set ourselves at work, when we should be quiet, and so bring an uneasiness upon our friends, and burthen upon ourselves. And this conduct will shut up Friends\u2019 hearts against our service and ministry. And my dear friends, every time you appear in the ministry, when it is over, examine yourselves narrowly, whether you have kept in your places, and to your Guide; and consider whether you have not used superfluous words that render the matter disagreeable…always remembering, that the true ministers preach not themselves, but Christ Jesus our Lord (Samuel Bownas. \u201cTo the Meeting of Ministers at Kendal in Westmoreland, taken from Friends’ Intelligencer, XIV,<\/em> (1857), pages 210-211, qhpress.org\/quakerpages\/qwhp\/bownase\/htm).<\/p>\n

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Whether standing at the pulpit, rising from the pew, or sitting with a friend, we rely on the Spirit of Christ within us, to know to speak boldly or to be quiet and trust Him.\u00a0<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Jesus answered, \u201cMy teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God\u2019s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him\u201d (John 7:16-18). Jesus\u2019 message was not merely His own. He took instructions from God who sent Him. He had chosen to do God\u2019s will from the beginning, realizing that was His commission. His teaching came from God, so it was true. He didn\u2019t speak to gain honor for himself. We do not merely teach our own ideas either. As preachers called and commissioned by God, we are obligated to do His will, following the example of our Master. Others will find out whether our teaching comes from God or whether we are simply speaking our mind. We proclaim Christ for the honor of God who sent us. That\u2019s integrity in preaching that flows from a life of integrity. \u201cIntegrity of speech and deed is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fyi-master-preacher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":916,"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions\/916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barclaycollege.edu\/fpi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}