I have been praying and thinking a lot lately.  There are a few decisions that have to be made soon concerning life in general and my placement in the ranks of the army of God.  I have not written very much because I am very concerned about being a stumbling block or an instrument of offense.  Some seem to think I have been the instigator of division in the Body already.  So I have waited, prayed, and pondered.

I thought that I wanted to see my church grow.  I was wrong. What I really want to see is transformed lives.  My true desire is not just to see more people in church, not just to add more to the number of inwardly focused bodies sitting on pews, but to see instead a radical group of servant-soldiers interested in what God is interested in.  And willing to fight for it.

I want to see the arms of the Body of Christ reach out to grab, hug, hold and comfort a dying world.  I want to see the legs of the Body of Christ start running to get to the place where those trapped in service to our enemy are, wherever that may be.  I want to see the eyes of the Body of Christ constantly gazing beyond the walls surrounding our assembly to seek those desperately in need of a new Lord.  I want to see the lips of the Body of Christ speaking the words of love and acceptance that the lost and lonely want and need to hear.  I want to see the heart of the Body of Christ beating passionately for the mission that is being sidetracked by selfishness.  I want to see the tears of the Body of Christ that should flow from our current inability to effect change in the community around us.

I want to see the atheist become a believer, the sinner become a saint, the unchurched become attendees, and the disillusioned become enlightened.  But what I want the most is to see the self-centered become sacrificially concerned with the harvest of souls all around us.  We must stop being so concerned with our own comfort and desire and turn those concerns towards the ones that Jesus is concerned about.

When ‘church growth’ is mentioned anymore it is usually about figuring out how to get people to switch from church A to church B or how to get more people like ourselves in the pews.  We have become a double minded and apathetic church.  Double minded in our wonderful but empty words about growth and apathetic in our solicitude towards the lost.

I feel that I have not been effective in my service to the Kingdom.  As a teacher I believe that there should be a lot more evidence of transformation in the lives of those that have been entrusted to me than I have seen.  I believe it is time for me to re-evaluate my position in the Body to make sure I have not failed too badly and am in the right place.  I hope and pray that I have not caused irreparable damage.  I have no one to blame and am not looking for consoling words.  This is a struggle in me to determine what steps I may need to take next.

I am writing this to let all of you who do care know some of what is going on.  I am saddened but still at peace.  I struggle for answers but I rejoice in God’s grace.  Serving Christ is always sweet but I have to say, it is also sometimes bittersweet.

Pray with me.

Love you all

Tags: army of god, atheist, Body of Christ, Church, Grace, Hope, jesus, Kingdom, mission, Self, Selfishness, Servant, Service, Sinner, Trust, War

It has been a long week.  My pastor is retiring in a little over a week and we have had to be at church almost every night for interviews with prospective pastors.  We have three Godly men to choose from and that in itself is not an easy task for all of us.  We also have a special baptism service tonight to attend.  It is great to be a part of the Kingdom but it is sometimes work.  But it is work that has eternal benefits.  It is awesome.  It has also not left me as much time as usual to write anything substantial for this blog.

Last night as my wife and I were coming home though, we were a couple of cars back from a teenager that lost control of his automobile and spun out, crashed into a guard rail, bounced off, spun around, careened into the opposite guardrail and finally came to a stop, sideways in the right lane of the interstate.  We eased around and stopped because the car was still in the road and we wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with the occupants, and to see about getting the car out of the road.  It was dark and I was afraid that someone else was going to come crashing into it.

All of this worked out and is not really why I am writing about it.  I am relating it because of what was going on and being said by the three teenage boys that were out of the car.  They were freaking out.  They couldn’t stand still and all were on phones already.  But the driver was calling out a couple of things over and over.  He was saying that his father was going to kill him and he kept asking everyone if his car was totaled.

I understand his concern.  I unfortunately had a number of accidents when I was younger also.  I am sure that I freaked out back then also but I do not remember exactly what I was concerned about.  But I haven’t been able to stop thinking of this young man’s concerns.  His father’s reaction and the state of the car was the main things he worried about.

I hope that my kids would not be concerned that I might kill them if they lived through an accident.  I hope that they know that I am only concerned with their health and safety.  I need to make sure they know this.  I also hope that they are not just concerned with stuff also.  This teenager asked at least seven or eight times if his car was totaled.

I do not know if it was just a reaction to what had happened or if this kid really was concerned only about his father killing him and the state of his car but I wish we all would get concerned about what really matters.  What I believe really matters are things eternal.  The work of the Kingdom.  The spreading of the good news that Jesus is the Christ and He reigns right now.  That the fields are ripe and we need to be making disciples.

We have an opportunity to choose a new pastor Sunday night.  I hope we choose wisely and that the one we do choose knows what really matters and can bring the members of my church to a consensus about how to reach and keep a community of lost souls that surround us.  I hope my kids do not have any more accidents but if they do I hope they know what really matters.  I hope the people of God that make up the whole body of Christ learn what really matters because if the evidence shows anything, it shows we have a lot of problems knowing-

What really matters.

Love you all

Tags: automobile, baptism service, Body of Christ, Church, Father, godly men, Kingdom, pastor, teenager

I am constantly amazed with the way God seems to enrich my life.  I have played a small part recently in the development of a young adult fellowship in my church.  It was sorely needed so that relationships, growth, and  discipleship could be established among the few couples and singles that we have in attendance.  A few of them did not have a lot of opportunities for these things in church because of worldly interference such as work and children or mission interference such as working in the children’s departments and ministries.

The new group has a name and it is The Bridge.  This name was chosen because a bridge is something that connects.  A few people in my church have looked at this new group with concern, having let their minds go to thoughts such as division, separation or even revolution.  The Bridge has none of these things as an agenda.  The Bridge is a place for fellowship, for accountability, for biblical discussion amongst peers, and simply to celebrate our King in a way that is relevant to their age group.  As a bridge it is decidedly connective.  Connecting the individuals in this group to each other and the group to the lost in the community of like mind and interest and finally to the older generations in our church are the main goals we have in mind.  As one of the group, Wayne, put it; The Bridge is an addition and not a subtraction in our church.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb 10:25NIV

As some of you already know, I used to be a loner.  I was introverted and pretty much hated everyone.  Then I met Jesus and entered his Kingdom as a child and servant of God and started the process of change.  As all of us know, God sometimes makes supernatural changes in us in certain ways immediately but he seems to do this in various ways.  Some may be miraculously delivered from addictions to tobacco for instance while another may not.  One way I was not changed was in my attitude towards assemblies, groups, fellowships, and even church.

I immediately started going to church but only for the Word of God, not for the people.  I would be the first to my vehicle when church was over, waiting sometimes not very patiently for my wife to finally be ready to leave.  I did not need anyone but Jesus and that was fine with me.  The roles have now reversed.  My wife often is waiting on me.  Somewhere along the line in my concerted attempt to love everyone, a bridge was built.  I was connected to the rest of the Body.

As the verse in Hebrews states, we all need to be connected to each other and never stop meeting or assembling with each other.  Why is this so important?

The main reason is, of course, the mission.  We are not a bunch of spiritual Rambo’s, furtively making our way through the jungles of life attacking all the spiritual forces we find aligned against us.  We are instead part of a unit of elite, trusted soldiers that must train, fight, and rest together.  The enemy is out there and he likes nothing better than finding one of us cut off and alone.  We cannot make it alone, even if God is there with us, simply because God decided long ago to work through us.  And the work he does through us is for others, not ourselves.

Another reason is the thing that brought this post about.  We need each other for the joy it can bring.  The relationships between believers enrich us, fulfill us, and mature us.  I was pretty good at being alone at one time.  But most of you probably don’t need to be told, being alone is not very fun or fulfilling.  Some of you also know the terrible, depressing feelings that come from loneliness.  I no longer fight depression.

And love is simply amazing.  Not the emotion but the true attribute called agape.  Intentional love, as it grows from being something we make ourselves do, to something we want to do, and finally to that thing we just do, does so much good for each of us individually and for the Kingdom that it just naturally spills over and flows out.  It is contagious.  It is life changing.  It is life enhancing.  It is rewarding and enriches not only ourselves but others, and especially the Body of Christ.

We need each other and even more so as we see the Day approaching because the enemy’s activities are ramping up.  I believe the final onslaught is here.  For our adversary, it is all or nothing.  We must stand and even more, continue to advance the Kingdom and we cannot do it or make it alone.

Build a bridge.  Be a bridge.  Protect your bridge.

Blowing up bridges is one way all enemies seek to divide and conquer.

Love you all

Tags: accountability, Believe, Body of Christ, Church, Enemy, Fellowship, jesus, joy, Kingdom, Life, loner, Love, mission, peers, Relationships, Relevant, Servant, Trust, Work

I know that some are starting to think I am angry or at the very least too harsh in my views.  Maybe so.  But there are many things out there going on in the body of Christ that are not very helpful to the health of that same body.  If you choose to not see this then I cannot make you look.  But I can call out in desperation for sincere inner reflection.  This is what I am doing.  And for those that read and respond that I personally know from my own church, what I write on this blog is not necessarily all aimed at you.  I do have people reading that I do not know personally and that are not even in the Church of God.  This post and all the previous ones are based on my observations of the church in general.

I have been so hesitant to speak out directly for fear of offending.  I know some of you may not think so but I have been cautious.  It is starting to come out in frustration though.  So starting in this post, which on Tuesdays usually is anyway, I am going to start asking questions instead of giving my opinion for a while.  I want to know if I am wrong.  I really want all of us, especially myself, to speak truthfully and start coming to some profitable conclusions.

“Mat 28:19  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

These are the questions.  In light of the commandment and instruction Jesus left us in Matthew, I ask the following.

What are you personally doing to follow this command?

What is your church doing to follow this command?

Is your church growing from the addition of new disciples?

I really want to know.

Love you all

Tags: anger, Body of Christ, Church, frustration, jesus, Self, town hall