should pastors work outside the church??

i am thinking about going back to school to pursue a degree in communications, however i have many reservations about doing it. i wonder will it really be worth anything when i actually get it, or if i really even need it to land the type of job that i want. i also wonder about paying for it-how will i-what scholarships are available-where can i find a good list of them and how hard are they to apply for (i can't afford to take out loans). being a pastor i wonder if that would help me any or if it would point me in another direction all together? i feel god has called me to be a pastor (otherwise i would have quit a long time ago), but i also feel that pastors burden their churches and cause them to not be able to do much ministry because they spend their money paying them.

i notice that when paul talks about it he says that he worked while he was with everyone so that they wouldn't be hindered by him taking their money and stuff. but i also see that he says a worker deserves to be paid (which most people equate to paying a pastor), but this could be taken a lot of different ways. it could mean that any worker deserves to be paid-people we might employ-it could simply mean that a pastor should be respected? it could truly mean that if a pastor was in need that they should take care of them but not to the neglect of doing god's work. where do you draw the line. but think about this for a minute if a church didn't have to pay big salaries and benefits and pay mortgages and utilities for their pastors how much more could they do in their communities to spread the good news? wouldn't this model make more sense-a model where everyone participated in helping the "church".

shouldn't every believer be involved in some form of ministry-not following a model where everyone is served by the paid staff. is it really even following god because you love him if you have to be paid to do it? most people will do just about anything if they are paid enough to do it. do we want the church to operate this way as well. where we pay people to love others and be kind to us and they get paid to come visit us? does this really show any love at all besides the love of the pay check? how many pastors decide where to pastor based on the salary and benefits instead of listening to the voice of god? is this really how jesus envisioned the church-people paying others to love them and take care of them? or did he just say that everyone was supposed to do that?

so now back to my original thoughts-if i would go back to college and get a new degree in communications would it really benefit me any, or would it hinder me more than help? i want to be able to have a job that pays eneough to support my family without sucking the church dry because i need them to pay me. if they have extra and want to give it that is one thing but not to the neglect of the ministries that they should be doing.

what are your thoughts about pastors and them getting paid?

thoughts about a new year

in thinking about the new year, i have to look back on last year. i have to ask myself what were the good moments i had and what were the failures i had. many things come to mind as i try to reflect-like the time when we cooked out on the square and gave food away for free, but then i am reminded of my opportunity to help a homeless man in front of applebees but by the time i was convinced to do it he was already gone. or the time that we collected and passed out school supplies to anyone who could use them-or the time we gave out hats and gloves, but then my memory goes to other moments like passing by someone hitchhiking on the road, or the times that i blew it with my own son by forgetting about his basketball games and not taking him only to see that very disapointed look on his little face.

overall, i have to say i think that last year was a good year-i tried to follow god everywhere he led me. i failed many times but i feel like i gave a good effort (can i say that?). this past year will leave many lasting memories in my life and my families life, hopefully in the other believers who were a part of many of these things, and more importantly the people we were able to touch with kindness. but what would god say about how last year went (about me and my faithfulness or lack of faithfulness)? would he consider me to have been doing what he wanted me to do-would he considered me to be wasting precious time-would he have been pleased with our efforts-or would he be disappointed in what we have tried to do? (these are questions that i can't answer and won't find out until later).

the thing is i really thought that by doing some of these things people would be attracted to god and possibly even drawn to our group of believers but that just hasn't happened (people may have come to god through our efforts but i don't know about it yet, not that god is supposed to let me know, it would just be encouraging). we have to ask ourselves what do we want to try to do this coming year for god's kingdom-what goals do we want to set-can you even set goals while in the ministry or are we just to love people like jesus and let him work out the rest? maybe the problem we have is because we are too results oriented instead of just doing what god says-and leaving the end results up to him. i know people would argue that in order to really follow god you should be fruitful (which they consder to be numerical gain in a church group), but the type of fruit mentioned in the bible is the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and sef-control. these are characteristics that can be produced in people-it says nothing about adding new people (though that would be nice), it just talks about adding these things in our own lives and the people we do have in our groups lives.

so for goals this year, (we will have a gathering to determine what we want to do next year, but these are just my thoughts), i think i am going to focus on living in the power of the holy spirit, attaining the fruits of the spirit, loving god and loving my neighbor (not so we can add more people to the church, just because jesus says so). i think i will lead my church in this direction also, to quit worrying about what the world thinks is a successful church and worry about what jesus said was important. we will leave the results on earth up to him-we will quit worrying about them.

what are your thoughts?? what are you going to do in 2009?

i love u

jesus came as god's way of saying i still love and care about all of my creation. had god not still loved people would he have sent us jesus? why would it matter to him what happened to us, why would he worry that we needed a way to be rescued from the mess that we put ourselves in? it was a gift of god's love for us-it is expressed best (i think) when paul said in romans that while we were still sinners god loved us. so he sent us jesus.

as we look at this little baby and his life as he grew up we get a glimpse of the love that god has in mind when he talks about us loving one another and loving him. jesus came into a mess that we call the world and loved the people in it in an effort to try to change it. he didn't stand back and scoff at it, or decide it was too far gone to try to love it-he dove in and began loving people just how they were. he didn't establish guidelines for what kind of people he would love-he didn't overlook people who were different from him-he didn't decide to avoid certain neighborhoods because they were "bad"-he just started loving people. he loved all the people that he came in contact with. he loved people who seemed very unlovable to the common people of his day. he loved tax collectors and prostitutes and the outcasts of society.

his love for others far exceeded any love these people had ever known. they were literally shocked by his willingness to love them. they were loved by jesus like we love our families (hopefully) and how we love ourselves. he loved people just the way they were, he didn't make it a condition that they do something for him, he didn't even make it a condition that they follow him. he just shared his love with them. even to his death he loved people-even people who didn't deserve his love. the very people who crucified him-he loved and asked that they be forgiven because they didn't know what they were doing. this love exceeded all measure and had no limits.

in todays world it is easy to find lots of reasons not to love others-especially unconditionally and like jesus commanded like we love ourselves. this goes beyond just being kind to others or giving to places that help others. this means getting dirty and loving people-becoming friends with people who we would normally pass by or treat poorly. it means instead of trying to get away from all the terrible people that we get closer to them and love them. it means instead of retreating from culture that we immerse ourselves in culture in an effort to try to change our culture. to truly love people has many serious implications.

we must love not out of duty but out of the overflow of our hearts becasue of how much we have been loved. we must love even if the risks are high and we can be let down. we need to stop worrying that others may let us down and start loving with no strings attached (instead of just if they do what we want or expect). there were three things held in high esteem by paul; faith, hope, and love. the greatest is love!! Jesus commanded us as the greatest commands to love god with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves!!

if we are truly going to follow god it will require us to love-with all our hearts more than just ourselves. will you stop building walls and start loving??

christmas thoughts

christmas has been an interesting time this year. my grandma passed away about a week before christmas-so we have spent lots of time in indy with family-which is always an intersting experience. but it has been a good time and a lot of fun. we hung out a lot at my sisters and my moms houses and played many games.

we had all of our shopping done wll ahead of time this year. we bought the kids stuff early when we had money-which i think took some of the fun out of the day after thanksgiving for my wife. my kids got all kinds of stuff-more than they could ever use or need, but it was nice for them to get all that stuff. my wife went all out and bought me what i really wanted (an electric guitar), which i don't know how to play-but plan to learn (take some lessons). i got a few other things that i really liked as well.

but then as i began to think about these gifts i started to wonder-is it really right of me to want these gifts and be happy about getting them while there are so many people doing without? is god looking down @ me calling me selfish? is there any end in sight to the madness of just buying everything that we want? i wouldn't want to not have the guitar but at the same time i wouldn't want to have too much and be responsible for someone else not having anything.

then i thought about what christmas was really about. people meeting the king of the universe and experiencing joy, peace, hope, and love. how much of that is what happened on christmas. i know everyone knows about the birth of jesus, but too often we just stop there. we need to be showing people about the joy and peace, and the hope and love. why do we fall short of this on the main day of the year set asie to do this?? i just don't get it? christmas has turned into love your self and get presents day?

what r u hoping 4

what are things that we hope for? would we consider ourselves hopeful people? what is our hope based on? in america right now there seems to be a lot of gloomy outlooks on things and there seems to be little hope for a fix for our economy (according to the pessimists anyway). we have put our hope in our military might, and our world power, but now in a time of crisis where can we put our hope where we won't be disappointed? when all hope has faded where can we turn?

have we thought about fixing our hope in jesus? jesus is the foundation of hope. jesus can give us a new hope. a hope that lives and dwells inside of us. a hope that isn't always controlled by what seems to be unmanageable circumstances. our hope can still be strong even when things don't go well. our hope isn't fixed on the things of the earth, but on things that come from jesus. the last few posts have been about joy and peace (the kind that is on the inside). we can have hope for those things with the help of jesus. hope that grows from our dependance on jesus and what he is going do. we can have hope for the abundant life that he promised, and for eternal life with him (he said he was going to prepare a place for us so that we could be with him where he was). the thing about the hope that jesus gives is you won't be disappointed like you will by so many other things.

jesus can bring us hope even in our troubled times. sure life might not always be a bed of roses but we can have hope that with jesus things will be ok. we will not fall apart, because jesus will help hold us together. if we want to have hope that is beyond this world then we must put it in jesus.

peace that passes understanding

what do you think of when you think of peace? the absence of war or conflict? when thinking about the worlds current situations it may seem that peace is just a dream (i read somewhere recently that "fighting for peace is like having sex for virgininty"). how can people have peace in when there seems to be no peace anywhere? there is always violence everywhere and it just seems to be getting worse.

however, jesus promised to bring us peace. the kind of peace that jesus brings may not be the type of peace that we are expecting. it is similar to the joy that jesus promised. it is something that we can experience in our hearts-something that isn't affected by all the awful things that are going on in the world. peace can be elusive, but it isn't impossible to find. the peace that jesus promises starts in our hearts and begins to work through our whole lives. it is living at peace with ourselves. many times we let guilt ruin our time and we have inner battles because of the guilt we have. jesus came to rid us of that guilt. it isn't our responsbility to deal with it-jesus wants us to give him all our cares and worries and not keep it to our selves. we don't have to continue to have the inner battle.

peace also can be kept from us by our unwillingness to forgive others. we walk around holding a grudge and trying to think of ways we can get even with others. we rob ourselves of the peace that jesus wants us to have, by giving forgiveness. if we will learn to forgive others it will help us to have inner peace. when we refuse to forgive others it really sucks up our peace more than the other persons. if we hold it in most of the time they don't even know it or care about it. it will help us to have peaceful lives if we will learn to forgive like jesus forgave us.

then we can have peace because we receive forgiveness for our sins through jesus. when our sins are forgiven we can have some inner peace. then we will be able to live in peace even when the world seems to not be at peace. it is something to think about at christmas time-since the prince of peace came at christmas. have peace!!

do you have that joy joy joy joy down in your heart?

Jesus came to bring joy (said the angels to the shepherds) to all people yet when it comes time to celebrate jesus' birth we see very little of that joy. yeah, people put on their smiles and go out and act like they are joyful when they are at church-because the church would look down on them if they said there was something wrong, or that they didn't have any joy. i wonder why so many who say they are christians seem to have lost their joy or just plain never had any. does it stem from a problem with the teaching about joy? are we thinking of joy as happiness? are we thinking of joy as everything is always going to go my way and i will always get what i want? are we not really leading people into a relationship with jesus that will lead to joy? have the leaders screwed things up and that is the root of the problem?

how can you describe joy? if you have never experienced the joy that jesus can bring how can you tell someone else about it? is it even possible? how can you tell someone else about joy if you, youreslf don't have any? so what is the joy that jesus came to bring to "all people"? it is the joy of being forgiven! you know how it is when you know you have done wrong and are in need of forgiveness-how it can eat at you. you know how guilt can suck the life right out of you. you can have relief from those things in jesus. also, joy is just a generally satisfied feeling you have when you go to bed at night, not necessarily because your day was great, or because you accomplished alot, but because you know that you did the best you could in your circumstances. you know that you have had time to talk to the one who can really fix those problems that you are having. it is knowing that you are here for a purpose that is greater than yourself-that is to follow the living god in all you do. joy is when you stop letting the little things that used to really bother you go. its when all things seem to start to come together. it is when you realize that you have all you need in just yourself and jesus. you don't need someone to make you feel important or special, because jesus is the one who does that. joy allows you to keep your cool when others can't, joy allows you to have a little something to feel good about, that isn't something you can touch. joy starts in your heart-not from anywhere else.

because jesus came we can all have joy. that doesn't mean you will never have another bad day-it just means that you can handle a bad day without totally losing it. jesus can bring joy to any one who will allow him to. the thing is there are people who just seem to bring out the best in us-you know your friend or parent-jesus is that guy too. he just brings out the best in everyone. he is always standing behind us encouraging us along our way. telling us great job today even when no one else bothers. he wants to have a great friendship with us-that is one of the reasons he came. the joy that he brings is hard to describe even once you have experienced it-but i hope that this has shed a little light on the kind of joy that jesus came to bring us. would you share about the joy that jesus has brought you??

holy what?

what does it really mean to be holy in today's world? do we even really understand what we mean when we say holy? think about the "holy" spirit, what does he do? what is it that we as a people who are called to be holy (as god the father is holy) are supposed to be striving for? can we even get a grasp of this idea or is it just good in theology? many scholars and high up people us the word interchangably with the word sanctification or even perfection (or christian perfection).

holiness is one of the characteristics of god-he says so himself (be holy because i am holy). when we look in dictionary for a defintion we could find several among them being free from sin, consecrated, set apart for god's use, sacred, and i'm sure the list could go on and on and on. but when we take a closer look at holiness we see that god wants us to be holy. i am sure each of these definitions touches on the actual meaning but i am unsure if they actually get to the heart of what it really includes (nor am i sure that i totally understand it). holiness in the church has taken a back seat to many things and it isn't even something that seems to be important anymore-we aren't concerned with how people are doing spiritually-we just want them to come and give money and feed the machine that we call the church, we want them to help run our programs and do other stuff too, but do we really ever get any deeper than this?

has anything that has been said or done in a church greatly impacted the way you live your life? has the holy spirit ever done something so awesome in front of you that you had to change your whole life around because of it? we have so bottled up the "holy" spirit and limited him to our terms that he can't work, he can't do the things he probably wants to do in our churches. our lives are never really impacted like the lives of the people who really encountered god, we just change the outward appearances for people to look at, but it never gets all the way to the heart. we aren't set apart people for god's purpose-many of us have no idea what god is up to and probably couldn't tell you the last time the spent time with god that meant something to them, that impacted them. encounters with god should leave an impat on us-they should shape us and cange us each time we have them. they shouldn't be once in a whole lifetime, we should be experiencing god on a regular basis. we should be in tune with what he is up to and what he wants to do in our lives or how he wants to use us to do something.

holiness requires knowing god-i mean really knowing him-not just with head knowledge but having regular experiences with him. it requires acting upon what he says without knowing what the outcome of the situation might be. it requires more than just attending church or helping in a church. it requires allowing the "holy" spirit to live inside of us. it requires us to make changes to the way we live and the way we go about our lives (not just outward changes, but inward ones as well). it requires us to put aside all of our preconceived ideas about god and what he should do and letting him really do what he wants to do. there is more to it than a one time meeting. being holy is a life long process that will require us to become more like jesus, to become moldable and shapeable again.

we have gotten so far from this. the church has turned this into an award ceremony-where we can judge who is the most holy based on their testimonies and the way they look and it is a shame. the holy spirit living in us is what is going to help make us holy. we can't do it by ourselves-and we shouldn't try (thank god the holy spirit is a gift given us by god to help us). it is time that the church got back to worrying about each other's spiritual lives (not so they can judge each other, but so they can help each other). it is time the word holiness was used correctly by people and organizations-not twisted to what they want it to mean. the church should be the place where people are learning to be holy-it should be the place where the holy spirit moves-where a holy god is allowed to work, but is it?

send me your thoughts on holiness.

buying for a woman

why is it always so hard to buy something for a woman for christmas? they could just tell you what they would like to have but they won't they say they want to be surprised. they say that they want men to be creative and show them how much they love them. the problem with this theory is you never know what they would really like. i guess if you didn't just buy what you wanted when you wanted it, then it might be easier-but no one waits to buy stuff anymore. we just buy what we want when we want it so there is really nothing that i know she wants-there are things she might like, but i hate to spend too much time and money on something that may or may not be a "hit".

perhaps i am a little simple minded-i like to be able to give suggestions of what i might like to get on christmas.

anyway, just thought someone else might be experienceing the same trouble.

greed!?

what has happened in our western world? have we really become that greedy? i have just been sitting around thinking about how much of our current troubles are because of greed. i thought about people and how much stuf they want to own, they are willing to do whatever it takes to get the stuff they want. we have more than anyone could imagine yet we still want to get more. it isn't enough to have one car, we must have at least two or three or some of us even more than that. we aren't satisfied to have a meal we want an all we could possibly stuff down our throats (all you can eat buffet) buffet. we aren't happy to have the internet at cable speed we now must buy a booster pack so the internet goes before we even push the button. our children think that they are entitled to have everything and anything that they want. the word no doesn't exist anymore, the thought that we can't afford something is a thought of the past. the idea of self control has gone out the window. all the while we have so much stuff that it doesn't fit in our house, so we put it in a garage, then when that is full we build a mini barn or two or three, and when that can't contain all we have we finally decide we will rent a storage space from someone else. we have so much stuff we are willing to jut throw away perfectly good stuff that other people may be able to use because we have bought newer stuff.



our companies have followed in our footsteps, they are so greedy they couldn't care less about service anymore as long as they are getting their money. their main concern isn't how to be competetive or to help people, all they care about is making more money. it isn't that they just want to make money because (i realize) they have to, or they wouldn't be in business. they just take adavntage of people who can't afford to be taken advantage of. think of payday loans-they loan money to people, who are obviously in deperate need (probably poor), for an amount of interest that is totally unreasonable. now the people who didn't have money to start with are feeding the greed of a company, and we think this is good? people have bought houses that have been appraised at way more than they are worth and the bank has agreed to loan them money, not just for the high appraisal but they are willing to give 10 to 20 percent more than that (which is already more than the house is worth). then they charge more interest than they should and when the people get behind (they loan money to people who they know don't make enough to pay the payments), they aren't willing to work with them, they charge a million fees and make it almost impossible to get caught up. why do we allow these things to go on? is it capitalism? sure it is, but it is rooted in greed! now to fix the problem we have instead of helping the people who pay the taxes, and who are losing their homes we have decided to allow the greedy companies that helped get us into this situation to have the money and the people just lose (the people are partly responsible for agreeing to pay more than they could, but if you have ever listened to these loan officers they make it sound to good to be true, and indeed it is).



the problem we have in this country is greed, we consume nearly half of everything the world produces while only making up about 6% of the worlds population-how is this right??



the problem now is the church is falling right into this as well. the church is all about having big buildings, big staffs, and more stuff. it isn't enough to just have a building-it must be state of the art or we want a new one. we aren't satisfied with what we get, you never hear a church say we have all that we need, praise the lord, they are always saying we need more. yet they never use the money to help the community or the people. it is used to keep the well oiled machine running, to pay for our big buildings and all our staff and stuff. we no longer care about the community, we no longer care that there are hungry people around us, or that people need our help while we just sit comfortably inside waiting for the next christian product to come along for us to consume. is there any end to our madness-our pursuit of more stuff. can the greed be stopped?



we need to repent of this greed and start to make an effort to consume less. we need to change our ways and quit acting like the rest of the world was only put in existense to make stuff for us. it is time for a revolution of thought and culture. what are we going to do about it? will we try to make a difference?

seeing a prophet

this past weekend a friend of mine invited me to another church where a "prophetess" was going to be speaking. i had never been a part of a gathering where a prophet spoke or where people had actually spoke in tongues. but this gathering featured both of these things. the prophecy was very interesting as she went around the room from person to person and told people what she saw, and what god told her concerning each person. during this time she also spoke in tongues that were not understood. now i am definitly open to this type of thing as these are both gifts of the holy spirit. the things she said to me seemed to make good sense except for one thing (she told me many things). looking back on it now it was an awesome very powerful experience (nobody fell on the floor or anything like that) but you could feel the presence of god as the gathering went on.

as i thought about how the church functions i was glad to have gone to a church where they were open enough to allow that to happen (whether we agree with it or not, it is listed in the gifts of the spirit). most churches would have tried to stop tha from happening-possibly even my own-but is that what god wants? are we supposed to be experiencing these type of things pretty regularly?? i believe as paul describes the way a church gathering should go he mentions to take time for prophecy. how come it is almost non-existant in church today? is it easy to fake? i know some will be drawn to the verses that say that on the last day people will come to jesus saying didn't we prophesy in your name and perform many miracles in your name but jesus will reply away from me you evildoers i never knew you.

so then i guess as i emerge i will have to deal with both sides of this issue, on one hand we don't want to stop the spirit from moving and working-but on the other hand we don't want to have a bunch of fakers getting up each week pretending to have a word from the lord. i hope this came out right-the way i guess i will know if she was really of god is if what she has said really happens. any thoughts??

what happened to faith????????

What is faith? If we look to the Bible for a definition we get that faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, and it gives us assurance about the things we cannot see. What does that actually mean when you put it in real life terms? What does it mean for the church?
Well, faith is believing in things you can’t see, but it goes a step further to not just talking about believing but acting upon what you say you believe. It is like when you have a chair, you believe that it can hold you if you sit in it, right? You have the faith that if you let all your weight go into the chair that you won’t fall flat on the floor, because you trust the chair. So if you were asked to exercise your faith in the chair to hold you then you would just sit down without thinking twice. That is how faith works. It has to be put into action for it to really be considered faith, otherwise it is still just speculation.
With God the same is true-we must put into action what we say we believe. It is no longer enough to just talk about what we believe God can and will do it is time to start acting it out. If we believe that God can do anything then why do we always limit things based on our human limitations. If we think that God wants to do something then why do we not do it because it doesn’t seem logical or from our human perspective it can’t be done. We have taken the faith right out of the church.
The church doesn’t really believe that God is going to show up each time they gather together or they wouldn’t look so sad and depressed as they sing about how much they love Him. They wouldn’t be so somber as the pastor told of the great things that God can do and wants to do (but the people lack the faith for them to happen). They would be excited when they went to meet with their creator-they would come not knowing what to expect but knowing that whatever happened it would be awesome. The people would really pray and believe that things can and are changed through prayer and not just go through the motions (like we so often do). The people’s lives would reflect that they really believed that God was so awesome and powerful that nothing was impossible. The church would again turn the world upside down if they would just start to really have faith in God again. We have gotten so far that we are believing in our bank accounts, buildings, pastors, or denominations instead of the great power of the creator of the universe. The church has to be the one to start this revolution of really acting as if God really does exist and really is at work in the world today. It has been far too long since we have seen the hand of God at work in a big way! God is waiting for people to believe in him and call on His name so that He can do some awesome stuff. What are we waiting for?

i am guilty

it seems like every time i preach another sermon out of the book of acts it just shows even more where the church is lacking today. we have abandoned the original ways of the apostles and early followers. we have stopped seeing the importance of getting out in our communities and telling others the good news. we have stopped trying to live in the power of the holy spirit. we have given up on the power of god in our lives. we won't make a stand against our friends or family let alone in front of someone who could punish us for our belief in god.

the church has become this place for scarred people to meet and talk about what they should do if they lived in a perfect world. we don't take the things pastors say seriously-or our pastors aren't saying that it is important to spread the word outside the four walls of the church. we just get together and huddle up and act like our faith is just something very personal and that doesn't come with any costs-when jesus clearly said to count the costs before following! jesus clearly said that faith in him would lead to divisions among families and friends. jesus said if people would hate on him and eventually kill him why should we expect our lives to be different if we are his followers!

yet we sit back and talk about how much god wants to bless us in our church and that if bad things happen then we must have sinned-this is far from the truth. yes god wants to bless us but he wants to bless us so we can be a blessing to others-not so we can be more comfortable and spend more on ourselves!

as i think about thanksgiving this week i am ashamed that i didn't get involved in some kind of feeding people program to help those who are less fortunate-instead i will trek off and enjoy a comfortable meal while people are starving. i have a real hard time with this-should we spend the day with our families or should our families spend the day doing for people who have little to be thankful for? what do you think?

sermon notes available and other thoughts

as i continue to examine what the church should be doing i have decided to post sermon notes that i have used in case they may be helpful to you or someone you know. feel free to copy them and use them or take part of them or whatever you want-also feel free to leave feedback about them. when i copied and pasted them they were a little difficult to read as the outline feature didn't copy and paste well. they are under a different blog of mine i can't remember what the url is right off hand. i will try to keep them posted as i write them. i am pretty far ahead right now but it will probably be once a week or so.

this past weekend we had a great sunday gathering-the spirit was very strong with us-i don't know what i mean by that except to say you could really feel the presence of the spirit. some came to the altar, and it was just a good encounter with god for our group. i hope that these types of things continue to happen-and i don'tget in the way of them happening. i hope this translates to people being changed and really living in the power of the holy spirit, instead of just talking about it all the time.

don't you ever get tired of just hearing about stuff and want to experience it yourself, i think that is my sentiment right now. i have been experiencing glimpses of god's great power available to us in the holy spirit, but still feel like there is much more to it-and i want to experience it all. i wonder why the church today doesn't exhibit all the gifts of the spirit, some churches exhibit some while others have none that are visible in their church. i think we need to get back to seeing the gifts of the spirit in our churches, isn't that what they were intended for-for people to use!!!! they weren't given to talk about but to use!!

how can we better use the gifts of the spirit?? why don't we see more of them? why aren't we seeing them in the world?? just thought you might have some answers for me.

should the church change??

why does the church think that for things to be "spiritual" that they have to happen inside the church? it seems that we have gotten confused on where ministry happens. when we look at the early church, they used the temple some as meeting places, but most of the time we see that they were out among the people. they went to where the people were and did things there, they didn't go to the people and invite them to church or a special program. they performed miracles signs and wonders, they preached to the people, or they talked to the people about jesus, and it seemed that god blessed their efforts. they were always out with the people. i can't seem to figure out how we have shifted from this type of ministry to the type where we sit in church and beg people to come in there instead of being willing to go out to them where they are.

why is the church so reluctant to go out to the people? many of the great spiritual renewals that took place throughout history took place because somone was willing to step outside the box and go to where the people were. the church seems to be failing in its mission lately yet we ae still clinging to our failing tactics. we don't change the way we try to win people to jesus we just call it something else and do it a different day-but it always still involves using the church and inviting people to it (not to say this can't be effective, but i think statistics would show that it isn't working). the church isn't growing in number in america but worse than that the population continues to grow so not only are we losing people we do have but we are missing out on all the population growth.

what will it take for us to change our ideas of how the church should function? should we make drastic changes to the church or should we leave it alone?? what do you think?

r we praying right

upon getting ready for tonite's bible study (we are studying the parables), i am left with some difficult questions of my own. i know these things will never be brought up during the study and that they may not be important. anyway, in the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector there are 2 guys, one prays and thanks god he isn't an awful sinner like the other guy and tells of his great "deeds"and the other guy won't even look up, but prays for god to be merciful on him because he is a sinner.

at first glance you say well the pharisee was just arrogant and the tax collector was a sinner and should have prayed that way. looking a little closer though, the pharisees were the leaders of the "church" or the religious people back in their time, and jesus said the tax collector prayed rightly to be justified before god. so it makes me wonder-have church leaders today gotten too bold, like the pharisees-thinking they are right and others are wrong? aren't we all just as much in need of god's mercy as the next guy? why do we as church people think we have it figured out and that we can lead these "sinners" in prayer when our prayers don't resemble anything like what jesus talked about?

is there maybe a humility problem among our churches leaders and people? are we teaching people the wrong way to pray? perhaps i am just over-reacting to this story and have gotten a little confused, but i am really concerned for our churches!! we need to take a look at how we pray and quit acting so pious like we don't ever make any mistakes. the truth is we make as many mistakes as anyone, maybe more. even paul was humble enough to remmber that he was the chief of sinners. as i spend time with god today this will be something that we will talk about-hopefully something will be resolved in my heart.

how can we really be god's hands and feet????

ever read something real thought provoking then sat around trying to figure it all out? that is what i am doing right now. i am trying to figure out how to help a smaller church (the group of people, not the building), get excited about what god is doing, so they will get out in the community and tell others about him. the problem is we are all kind of stuck in this rut, we talk a good game on sunday but then during the week we take very little action. we had an awesome gathering this past sunday-the holy spirit came and people shared many testimonies of how god was currently at work in their lives-just plain awesome!! u should have been there!

now we need to convert that into "being god's hands and feet" which isn't such an easy task. we have to get out and tell others about him, and practice loving our neighbors as ourselves-and loving god with all our heart soul mind and strength. we have to practice forgiveness mercy and justice. we have to take care of the poor oppressed and downtrodden. we have to do more than just meet together and have talks and lessons and sermons, we need to start some action. what we do needs to come from the peoples desire to follow jesus, not from their pastor telling them they should do this or that. it is good to help them along but, it is more important for them to start to make the decisions and to want to do these things because it pleases god.

there needs to be more sharing what jesus has done for us with others-too often we act like it is a big secret and never get it out there. it can be difficult for me to share with others so i am not pointing any fingers, but i just want to hear encouraging stories and get advice from others on how to authentically talk to people about their need for jesus (i have read several books) (and i know that the spirit will tell me what to say when the time comes).

one last side note while eating lunch yesterday i encountered a guy who appeared to be homeless, outside the door. after way too much discussion about what we should do we decided to go and invite him to eat with us-and i was named spokesman (probably cause i am a pastor). when i went outside to talk to him he was nowhere around-i circled the whole building-we left some money in the cup on his bike and went back inside. the guy was inside drinking at the bar-i totally overlooked him on the way out to get him. anyway i wonder if i did the right thing-did i talk too long about it-did the guy really need some lunch-was he put in my path to feed and i failed??? or was it just god checking to see if i would be willing???

any thoughts or stories please share!!!

what about the power

as i am trying to write a new sermon for this week (we are studying in the book of Acts), i am constantly amazed at the awesome power of the holy spirit. in chapter 6 we see stephen doing miracles and signs and wonders, and throughout the earlier chapters we have seen the apostles do awesome stuff with the power of the holy spirit. the thing is i believe that the spirit is still able to do powerful stuff through people-miracles, healings, etc..., the problem is it doesn't seem like too many other people think so. i wouldn't consider myself "charismatic" but i do wonder why all the skepticism about the holy spirit using people to do miracles?

if we as the church don't believe that there is power available in Jesus for here on earth why waste our time going to church? Not that we only go to see the miracles but we have to believe that they can be done or happen or we take all of his power away. it is something discussed quite a bit in the scriptures but we don't talk much about it. makes me wonder if we really have the right idea about god and how he is?

shouldn't we receive power when we receive the spirit? what makes it so that we don't? it seems that people in the church live the same as people out of the church-neither one believing too much about what god is capable of doing. if the church minimizes god's abilities, then what could we expect from people who don't even claim to be believers? i love to hear great stories of how god is at work in people's live today-perhaps you have one to share?? i would love to hear your story about the power of god at work in your life.

maybe you have some thoughts about why the power of the spirit doesn't seem to be very common in the church today, let me know.

pretending??

There is a great story in the Bible about a couple, Ananias and Sapphira, who make a plot together to lie in front of the church and look good for everyone to see. Some people had sold some properties and given all the money to the apostles so it could be used to help the needy. Ananias and Sapphira decide they are going to do the some thing so that people will think they are “super saints” and that they have great faith. Only their plan involves a little deceit, they decide they are going to keep some of the money for themselves but still tell the church that they gave all the money they got.
Problem is, you can’t trick the Holy Spirit, they could have tricked the people and looked like great people but the Holy Spirit called them on it. When Ananias brings the money to Peter, he asks him is this all the money, and when he insists it is he dies instantly. His wife Sapphira comes in a few hours later with the same story. After being questioned, just like her husband she is also died instantly. No one can believe it the church is in shock.
The point of the story is not about the money, but it is about them trying to lie to God and to the church so they will look like great “Christians”. They tried to be great pretenders, they were hypocrites (you know the people everyone always complains about). But the unfortunate things is that this happens all too often with Christians. We don’t necessarily say we sold property and lie about how much money we gave from the sale, we do it in more subtle ways.
We become great pretenders in other areas. We wouldn’t want anyone to think that we weren’t “super saints” so we never let on that we do anything wrong or that we have fallen short. We do all the right things at all the right times and we act like our lives are just great when really that isn’t true. Ever had one of those Sunday mornings where everything has gone wrong and you have had a terrible morning. The kids won’t do what they are supposed to, your hair won’t do right, and you and your spouse have been arguing, but as soon as you get to the door of the church you paint on your church smile and when someone asks how you are doing you say “great, how bout you”. We pretend to have it all together instead of letting others know that we have struggles just like they do.
Now the problem is we have gotten so good at it that the whole church does the same thing. We all just go to church and pretend that all is well, and we can’t help each other because we can’t let someone know we need the help. We have become great pretenders. We couldn’t possibly come to the altar and pray a prayer of confession because what would others think-we have our image to keep up, we have to keep everyone thinking we are “super saints”. Now it has gotten so far out of hand how can we fix it (even the pastors do it, they have to stay on their spiritual pedestal)? Why is it so hard to just live our lives and let God be part of them mess and all. We aren’t fooling Him anyway. He wants to be part of our lives and be able to help us.
Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t punish our hypocrisy the way he did theirs! Thank God for mercy. We need to get back to having an open and honest life in front of God. Let’s quit all the pretending, and start living the abundant life that is promised (that doesn’t mean there won’t be any bad days, but God will be there along the way). It starts with honesty.

help me emerge

i am a pastor of a smaller church, in a small town where everybody knows everybody, and people just really like things the way they are. change is almost seen as a bad word. you know the places where people always look back to what were the "good ol days" and think that there can never be good days again. i however am not of that mindset. i am always looking forward to the better days still yet to come, i almost find it unhealthy to always think back.

anyway, i am trying to take a church that is deep rooted in a denomination and teach it to truly follow the teachings of jesus. it can be a difficult task. i mean the church knows all about jesus and what to do and say at church as do the members of the community, but when it comes to putting it in practice there seems to be a disconnect. we talk and talk about these things but when situations arise we just don't seem to make strides in the right direction.

i like to try new things all the time and bless the people they always go along with what i want to do, as long as i am the one doing the work. they will donate money and sometimes they will show up to help, but rarely do they get involved. i want to create a community that is a true community, that truly follows jesus and his teachings. i want our church to be known for doing crazy radical stuff that jesus told us to do. how do we get to that place? can we get to that place? what do we need to do to emerge?

there are many things going on and my mind goes 100mph on what to do and how to do it. i would love to hear some thoughts or similar struggles as maybe we could help each other along the way.

on a side note today we passed out halloween candy with cards that said that we were showing trying to show the love of jesus (which always generates a great response, from the people receiving the treats), however little response from our church people. i dont want to sound like i am knocking my church, they are great people, and i love them all, i just wish they thought like me!!lol!!