We have it made.

I mean, sure economic times are not that great but we have a Sovereign God that not only has everything under control, He is using all this to increase and add to His own Glory.  Nothing happens outside of His will, so rejoice and praise Him that He caused all of this to happen.

There is a lot of evil being perpetuated in this world also.  That should really give us reason to praise Him.  It might seem weird to us that He would use something as vile as a mother murdering her own child to increase our awareness of His control, but who are we to question His mysterious ways.  Since He fore-saw and fore-ordained all that is or is to come, we just have to trust that He knows something we don’t.

Our president is already making great strides towards taking us down a path as a nation that we will not even recognize but it is for the best.  God placed Obama in that position so again, why question it.  Or Him.  He knows what He is doing.  Hallelujah.

We have it made.

Sure, our kids may not be doing what we perceive to be right or good for them or society, but remember, none of this can happen outside of His great will.  God is in control.  He is on the throne.  And for all of those that don’t believe it, then tough.  They don’t believe it because He does not want them to believe it.

We may not be seeing much growth in the churches we attend but really, does that matter.  At least we are there.  The seats are comfortable, we all like a few people and maybe even love one or two, the temperatures are comfortable, the messages are generic and not convicting or challenging like they used to be, and the worship is just the way we like it or we can fire somebody and get it that way.  Even if the growth is stalled, we can at least be sure that we are right with God because we are there.

Again, we have it made and we don’t have much left to do.

We have it made because God has it all the way He wants it.  Our seeming self-centeredness is actually God-centeredness.  What else could it be because we can be assured that His purposes, His plans, His will can never be thwarted.  And since everyone, either in or out of church, is just doing as He foreordained, how much can we really have left to do.

RIGHT?

Love you all

Tags: Believe, Church, economic times, Evil, hallelujah, Murder, Obama, Self, self centeredness, Sin, sovereign god, Trust, War

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

Today’s discussion is going to be lighthearted and friendly.  I need a break from the heavy lifting.

What is your most memorable experience in a church service?

Please exclude salvation, baptism, and such.  We all should remember those and praise God daily for them.  I am talking about something out of the ordinary.

What is the funniest thing you ever saw happen in church?

We are human and should be able to laugh, even in church.  I believe God laughs at us more than we might imagine.

Please share your stories.  I am sure there are many.

Love you all

Tags: Church, Discussion, fun, great memories, Love, Praise, Salvation, town hall, Tuesday