If there was one bit of advice I could give to
any bus ministry worker, it would be MAGNIFY THE WORD OF GOD! In these
dark days of apostasy, the Word of God needs to be magnified. This is
true for all ministry workers, pastors, and Christian leaders. In
Psalm 138:2 we read a startling statement... "thou hast magnified thy
word above all thy name."
God magnifies His Word ABOVE HIS NAME! Why? Have you ever heard the saying... "A man is only as good as his word"? We'll, it's the same with the Lord. God's integrity is at stake when He makes a promise. The Bible contains literally thousands of promises from God. We read in Philippians 2:9,10... "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow..."
There is NO name equal to Jesus! Many false prophets today speak of Muhammad, Buddha, and other imposters as being equal with Jesus; BUT, the name of Jesus is ABOVE all other names, and there is NO equal. Yet, Psalm 138:2 proclaims that the Word of God is magnified ABOVE the name of Jesus. Clearly, the Word of God is critically important. No wonder Jesus is called THE WORD OF GOD in Revelation 19:13. Jesus is the Living Word, and the Bible is the Written Word.
Therefore, we ought to magnify God's Word with the greatest priority, just as God magnifies it above His own holy name. All across America people come to church to praise God, but they use corrupt bibles, and scoff at the King James Bible. Without a doubt, the King James Bible is God's inerrant, infallible, preserved Word in English Today. Just because some pastors today think that some things could have been translated better in the King James Bible doesn't make it errant. Not at all. We must realize that 48 scholarly men completed the King James Bible. They did what they did for good reason. In sharp contrast to the King James Bible, the New International Version (NIV) DOES contain many errors. By removing the word "begotten" from John 3:16, the NIV teaches heresy, because God doesn't have only one son. God has many sons (Galatians 4:6); but only one begotten Son, Jesus. I plead with you to use only an King James Bible (NOT the corrupt New King James Bible).
Having laid the foundation, let me stress the importance of continually quoting the Bible on our bus routes and in our ministries. Let us sing the many wonderful Bible verse songs, such as John 3:16. These are the songs which children should be taught, memorizing Scripture verses, instead of singing Old McDonald Had a Farm. If you don't know any Bible verse songs, then make up your own melodies to Bible verses and teach them to the kids. This is a wonderful way to put the Word of God into children's hearts, in fulfillment of Romans 10:17... "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." On some songs, you may want to alternately sing parts of the verse, from one side of the bus to the other. You may also want to try having the boys sing one part, and the girls another. Make it fun for the kids. Phooey on silly songs that don't teach much of anything. Also, NEVER sing any song that sounds like the world's rock-n-roll. I once heard a bus worker leading the children in a song that went... "a boom chick-a-boom, a boom chick-a-rocka, chick-a-rocka, chick-a-boom." That type of worldly garbage has no place on a church bus.
Children should be encouraged to memorize Bible verses from week to week. The bus captain, or worker, should slowly read the Scripture verse, line by line, and have the bus riders repeat. For example, Psalm 19:7 would be read in two parts... "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul" (children repeat)... "the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" (children repeat). The Bible is packed full of short Scriptures like this, that convey eternal truths to the riders on your bus. Find what works best for your riders, but by all means give them the Word of God.
The bus trip to and from church is a wonderful opportunity time for riders to share their testimonies and to teach something from the Bible. However, NEVER allow anyone to scream and yell at the riders. I knew this knucklehead young preacher who punched his fist against the bus ceiling and pennies flew out of his hand. He thought it was a good effect I guess. What an idiot. You don't scream and yell at people like that. The pastor of the church should be the only one who throws a fit like that. He's earned that right, and it is his church to do so. The bus captain needs to maintain respect and civility on the bus at all times. Also, messages should be kept short, and Biblical. Everyone who wants to speak should be given an opportunity to do so, ladies included. Remember this is not preaching time--it's a time of testimonies and sharing things which the Lord has laid on someone's heart. Keep it Biblical.
America's churches are woefully lacking a love for God's Word. Every church should have Scriptures hanging throughout the building for the people to set their heart upon. I always laugh when I think about something my 8 son did years ago years ago. He went to his grandpa and said, "Hey grandpa, I can say a Bible verse." His grandpa said, "I'll give you five dollars if you can do it." He said the verse perfect and grandpa paid him. My son was laughing heartily after getting paid and his grandpa became curious what was so funny. It was then that his grandpa realized there was a big framed Scripture verse hanging on the wall behind him... it was the same verse! We all laughed. So definitely have some framed Bible verses hanging around the church for the people to continually see and memorize.
Magnify the Word of God! Sing the Bible, quote the Bible, memorize the Bible, teach the Bible, and apply the Bible to as many situations as possible. The genuine man of God will CONTINUALLY mention the Word of God, and uplift It to the people in his ministry. Every sermon should be based upon the Word of God. Continually remind your people that Satan hates the Bible, and relentlessly attacks It. Satan tried to DESTROY the Word of God in times past, but failed. Then the Devil tried to CHANGE the Bible, but he still couldn't defeat the truth. Nowadays Satan is trying to REPLACE the Bible entirely with all sorts of false gospels, and "new" findings. Satan is trying to confuse people today that the Bible is unreliable. We must WARN our bus riders about Satan's tricks, and equip them with the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Also, Bibles should be freely available to bus riders if possible. You can usually buy used Bibles (i.e., King James) at local thrift stores. Pocket New Testament are very helpful too.
Magnify the Word of God! More than anything else, a ministry leader should be known for his emphasis upon the Word of God. People should say, "He's always talking about the King James Bible." Let everyone know where you stand. Listen folks, it's as simple as this, your bus riders won't care about the Word of God anymore than YOU DO. America is infested with dime-a-dozen ministries that are nothing more than glorified social clubs, where the Bible is shunned and taken for granted. Your ministry should be God's ministry, and that can only happen if the Bible reigns supreme. A genuine man of God, who pastors a church, will teach his congregation that the Word of God is the authority in the church, and NOT the pastor. We are to follow the Word of God, not men. The Bus captain should continually refer people to their Bible.
Magnify the Word of God!
