Seniors

Think how difficult it is for smaller churches to effectively reach young people.  It may be a great goal, but the reality is that when the congregation is made up of primarily older people it is very hard to reach young people.  It would probably be a much more effective strategy to reach out to people who are most like the ones already in our congregation.  Few smaller churches specifically target senior adults.  We want to go after young families with children because we think that will help our churches grow faster, but these are the folks who are already overwhelmed with time and family demands.  Maybe we think all the older people in our communities are already Christians and don't need the Gospel.  Most churches would soon find out that is not the case if they contacted even a few senior adults.  In fact, what many churches are learning is that these are the people who are thinking about eternal matters and might be most open to what the Gospel says.  They know they are nearing the end of their lives, and many of them have a lot of questions about that.  The church is really the only institution equipped to answer many of those questions.  Our Gospel message is the only one that offers a word of hope to persons who are dealing with end of life issues.

Sin

At its most fundamental level – sin is death. For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The fact that we die is not a punishment sent to us from God but the result of our having broken fellowship (communion) with God. God is Life and the only source of life. Created things (humanity included) do not have life in themselves, it is not something we have as our possession and power. Rather, life is the gift of God. It is not just our life that is the gift of God – but our very existence and the existence of all that is. God is our Creator. The Scriptures say, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Genesis offers us the story of Adam and Eve in which we hear described their disobedience from God. He had warned them: “Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Many early commentators on Scripture were careful to note that God did not say, “In the day you eat of it I will kill you,” but “in the day you eat of it you shall die.” Rather we are told: “God did not create death, nor does he delight in the death of the living” (Wisdom 1:13).
St. Athanasius explains that when humanity chose to break its relationship with God (through disobedience) we cut ourselves off from the source of life. However God did not take life from us (He does not take back the gifts He gives) but we removed ourselves from it. And so we die. We not only die physically, but we have a process of death at work in us. St. Paul speaks of this process as “corruption.” This movement away from and towards death and destruction reveals itself in the many broken things in our lives. We hurt and kill each other. We hurt and destroy creation. We are weak and easily enslaved to powerful things such as drugs and alcohol. We are dominated by greed, envy, lust, anger, etc. We cannot help ourselves in this matter because we do not have life within ourselves. Only God can give us the true life that alone can make us well.

TODAY

Today is the oldest you have ever been, yet the youngest you will ever be, so make the best of this day,

Elderly Gems

Why do we automatically think that having elderly people in a church limits what the church is capable of doing?  These are people who are often retired and have more available time to do things than some younger people might have.  These are the builder and boomer generations who are known for getting things done.  Some are living very comfortably on their retirement accounts and have disposable income available for ministry purposes.  There is much our older church members can do to advance the Kingdom of God and increase our ministry presence in the community.

The problem is that too often we fail to see these folks for the resource they are.  Too many churches are wanting to develop a youth ministry because "the youth are the future of our church."  It's very hard to develop a youth ministry when there are no youth in the church for a core group.  Maybe we would be better off to focus on reaching out to senior adults if that is our current core group.  Do we really think every senior citizen is a Christian and active in a church somewhere?  Most would quickly admit that isn't the case, but we seldom think about that because we are too busy focusing on trying to reach people who aren't in our churches that we fail to see those who are there and how they can reach out to others in their generations.

A member of a smaller church told me recently that they were discussing installing a new video system in their church so they could begin to attract younger people.  I am not opposed to video equipment, and in many churches they are needed, but I don't believe every church needs to make that investment.  This is an older congregation located in a small community primarily made up of senior citizens.  Do the church leaders really think that by installing a video system in their church that will cost them several thousands of dollars according to this one lay leader it will cause young people to magically appear in their congregation?  Sadly, that is their hope.  Would it not be a much better use of their resources to become involved in the community in ways that would be meaningful to the senior citizens who live there that would build relationships between those people and the church?

Too many churches want to put their senior saints out to pasture, and that is a huge waste of human potential.  One of the most energetic pastors I've ever known continued to pastor churches until he was in his early 80s.  I first met him when he was in his 70s and judged him to be mid-50s.  Health issues finally caused him to leave the pastorate, but he continues to be involved in the life of his church.  Personally, I will turn 65 at the end of this week, and I may have slowed down a little, but most people couldn't tell it.  If someone tries to put me out to pasture I'll break through the fence and find a new field to run in.  Having an older congregation does not have to limit the ministry of a church unless they choose to allow it to do so.

Church growth people have known for years that churches tend to attract who they are.  If you are in a church made up primarily of senior adults then develop ministries for seniors.  Encourage your members to invite their friends to be a part of those ministries.  Stop fantasizing about developing a great youth ministry and use the resources God has already provided.  More than likely you'll find great ministry opportunities when you do so.

The Head

So often I have seen pastors leave a church and be followed out the door by a mass of people.  Most of those who leave when the pastor does has been following the pastor, not Christ.  I've seen churches shut down most of their ministries when their pastor leaves.  They just drift along waiting for the church to call another pastor and refuse to begin any new ministries until that happens.  Such churches often begin to decline which may explain why some churches are so desperate to call a new pastor as quickly as possible.

These churches do not recognize who the true head of the church is.  Pastors come and go.  The day a new pastor arrives on the scene he or she is a departing pastor.  If the Lord tarries every pastor will eventually leave the church he or she is serving.  So will every member.  The one constant in every church is Christ himself.  It is his church.  He is the head.  Yes, it is permissible and right to grieve over the loss of a beloved pastor, but that does not mean that we take our focus off Jesus Christ.  If he is the head of the church the ministry of the church need not suffer when a pastor leaves.

If we want healthy churches they must clearly understand who is the real head of their church.  If we want our churches to faithfully advance the Kingdom of God they must seek God's vision for their church and be encouraged to follow that vision.

Hospitality

Most people decide whether they will return to a church within a very few minutes after arriving on the church property. It happens long before the music begins or the pastor preaches. Their decision is based on what they see and what they experience in those first few minutes. If a church is serious about wanting to reach new people it is critical that they become very intentional about providing great hospitality to every person who comes on their property.

Bivocational Ministry: The pain that exists in small churches

Bivocational Ministry: The pain that exists in small churches: The pain that exists in small churches

Grace

Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return. Grace is love coming at you that has nothing to do with you. Grace is being loved when you are unlovable…. The cliché definition of grace is “unconditional love.” It is a true cliché, for it is a good description of the thing. Let’s go a little further, though. Grace is a love that has nothing to do with you, the beloved. It has everything and only to do with the lover. Grace is irrational in the sense that it has nothing to do with weights and measures. It has nothing to do with my intrinsic qualities or so-called “gifts” (whatever they may be). It reflects a decision on the part of the giver, the one who loves, in relation to the receiver, the one who is loved, that negates any qualifications the receiver may personally hold…. Grace is one-way love.

What's the Question?

Sometimes it is less important to have the right answers than to have the right questions. A man named Saul thought he did not need to ask any questions. He had all the answers. The most important question, according to Saul, was “How can I be good enough for God?” He thought he had that answer down cold.
The only problem was, he was wrong. American humorist Will Rogers could have told Saul, “It’s not what you don’t know that will get you in trouble, but what you know for certain that just ain’t so.” Saul’s problem lay in the question “How can I be good enough?”
The answer, of course, is that he couldn’t. But he didn’t understand the holiness of God. No one who is separated from God understands his holiness. To tell you the truth, not many Christians do either.
Saul had never asked the right questions. I think non-Christians often don’t ask religious questions because down deep inside they have a sneaking suspicion of what the answers might be, and they don’t like them. But Christians also are afraid of questions for the same reason, so they get into trouble. Or they are afraid other Christians will call them “doubters” if they are overhead asking the wrong question. They don’t want to seem unspiritual or stupid. They also may be afraid God will lose patience with them.
But God loves to answer questions—the “stupider” the better—because he loves for us to have the ultimate truth we need to complete the sentence “I believe …” He never loses patience with a question, and neither do people who are serving him. If you take a question to more mature Christians, those who really are men or women of God, you likely will find they don’t think it is so dumb. Maybe they used to struggle with the same thing. Maybe they still do.
God tells us in James 1:5-8 that if anyone lacks wisdom “he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.” James adds that what God doesn’t want is for someone to ask with a wavering heart. The purpose of God’s answer is to build a faith that is strong, single-minded, and founded on truth.
Saul’s faith was strong and single-minded, but it was not founded on truth. He believed that he would please God most by persecuting the followers of that trouble-making rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth. It never occurred to him to ask a rather obvious question: “Who are you, Lord, and who is Jesus of Nazareth?”
So God had a question to ask this pompous religious leader. In order to ask Saul, God had to get the man’s attention, so he tapped him on the shoulder (see Acts 9:1-9).
What he did was strike him blind. God knows how to get a person’s undivided attention. Then he asked the question:
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Saul, with all the answers, didn’t have a clue as to what God was talking about. Persecuting God? Wasn’t he doing his best to serve God by ridding the world of the followers of a crucified criminal?
But now Saul did know what question to ask. He asked the most important of all questions: “Lord, who are you?”
That is when Saul started to become Paul the apostle—when he was confronted head-on by the holy God. When it comes to evaluating a religion and choosing ultimate truth, “Who are you?” is the question God most wants to answer. Only after you see him for who he is can you have an intelligent belief.

Holiness and Righteousness

H"These two words, holiness and righteousness, mark two aspects of one condition. Holiness has to do with character; righteousness with conduct. They cannot possibly be separated from each other. They are as 'intimately related as are root and fruit. There can be no fruit unless there be a root. If there be living root it must issue in fruit. There can be no righteousness unless there is holiness; holiness must issue in righteousness. Holiness describes being; righteousness describes doing."  (G. Campbell Morgan)

Judge Not?

Whereas it comes as no surprise that most Christians have at least one favorite verse of Scripture, it is somewhat startling to learn that most non-Christians have one as well. Non-Christians may know little of the Bible, but as certainly as night follows day, they can quote for you Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” And, ironically, this verse—which they love most—they understand least.

Never has a passage of Scripture been so utterly abused, misunderstood, and misapplied as this one. Non-Christians (and not a few misguided believers as well) use this text to denounce any and all who venture to criticize or expose the sins, shortcomings, or doctrinal aberrations of others. One dare not speak ill of homosexuality, adultery, gossip, cheating on your income tax, fornication, abortion, non-Christian religions, and so on without incurring the wrath of multitudes who are convinced that Jesus, whom they despise and reject, said that we shouldn’t judge one another!

This problem is due in large measure to the fact that people hate absolutes, especially moral ones. To suggest that there really is an absolute difference between good and evil, truth and falsity, is to risk being labeled as medieval and closed-minded. In brief, for many (if not most) students today, “There is no enemy other than the man who is not open to everything.”

The irony, of course, is that in judging us for judging others they are themselves violating the very commandment to which they want to hold us accountable! To insist that it is wrong to pronounce others wrong for embracing a particular belief or moral practice is itself an ethical position, a moral stand. To insist on uncritical tolerance of all views is extremely intolerant of those who embrace a different perspective.

The Book!

Christians believe that the Bible is inspired by God, is without error, and does not misrepresent the facts. It is entirely trustworthy and is the final authority on everything it teaches. The Bible records the drama of redemption in the history of Israel and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Christians we acknowledge both Jesus (John 1:1–4) and Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16–17) as the “Word of God.” Christians should not focus solely on Jesus Christ and treat Scripture just like any other “classic text.” Nor should we focus primarily on the Bible as God’s divine inerrant Word and treat Jesus as simply a character in a small part of the texts.

GRACE

“Grace” is the most important concept in the Bible, Christianity, and the world. It is most clearly expressed in the promises of God revealed in Scripture and embodied in Jesus Christ. Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely, the peace of God given to the restless, the unmerited favor of God. Grace is most needed and best understood in the midst of sin, suffering, and brokenness. We live in a world of earning, deserving, and merit, and these result in judgment. That is why everyone wants and needs grace. Judgment kills. Only grace makes alive.  A shorthand for grace is “mercy, not merit.” Grace is the opposite of karma, which is all about getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve, and not getting what you do deserve. Christianity teaches that what we deserve is death with no hope of resurrection.

Home!

We love the mountains! My wife and I have been married for 37 years and each year we try and decide where we'll go for a short vacation break. We usually have 3-5 days we can be away at one time due to various activities here at home.  After considering our options we always return to the Great Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina.  Same motel, same eateries, same gorgeous scenery. Each time we watch the water flow under our balcony or listen to the silence of the mountains, or experience the afternoon thunderstorms, or watch the bears eating berries in the higher elevations we are reminded of how wise, powerful, and creative our God is.  The journey there seems to take much less time than the return trip as we leave the magnificent mountains but it's great to be home safely and back to serving those we love.

CHANGE???

I don't believe we can transform our churches simply by teaching church leaders new information and giving them new ways of doing ministry.  It does little good to train a person and send him or her back into a system that isn't willing to change.  It is also true that it usually isn't helpful for a church to be ready to be transformed if the pastor is stuck in the same old ways of thinking about ministry.  Both the pastor and the congregation needs to be on the same page if we want to see real change occur in our churches.  Otherwise, we will continue to see pastors become frustrated with ministry to the point of abandoning it completely, and we will continue to see churches stuck in decline because their pastors are unwilling to try new ways of doing ministry.

Perfection

My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If we’ve performed well—whatever “‘well”‘ is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works, rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the “‘sweat”‘ of our own performance. Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to ‘”try harder’.” We seem to believe success in the Christian life is basically up to us; our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Christ instead of on my own performance is a very freeing and joyous experience. But it is not meant to be a one-time experience; the truth needs to be reaffirmed daily.

Ministry

 One of the things that must happen is that we need to redefine ministry.  It is not setting apart one evening a week to knock on doors and pass out tracts.  It is not standing on a street corner warning of the end of time and urging people to repent.  It is not the addition of yet another Bible study program in your church.  Ministry happens when we spend time with people addressing the challenges they have in their lives.  A teacher ministers when he or she encourages a child that may come out of a difficult home environment.  A small business owner ministers when he or she writes off a debt owed by someone he or she knows is struggling financially.  A person eating in a restaurant may minister to a server who is struggling at home with a smile and a generous tip.  The thing that is often overlooked in the Great Commission is the tense found in Jesus' words when He says, "Go therefore...."  The word go is better translated "as you are going."  In other words we don't fulfill the Great Commission just when we do special "church" things.  We fulfill it when we connect with people as we go through our daily lives.  Through those connections we may eventually find an opportunity to share our faith with them, and if we've consistently ministered to them we will have earned the right to do so.

Ministry

Ministry is too important to leave in the hands of the professional.  Besides, that was never the way God intended ministry to be done.  One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 4: 11-12 that teaches us that God has given the church certain people (often referred to today as ministers) to equip the saints for the work of ministry.  For the past several decades the church has got this confused.  The church believes that the work of ministry is to be done by the paid help while the rest of the congregation gets to sit in the pews and keep score.  Nothing could be more unbiblical.  Pastors and other leaders in the church are to train the church members so they can do ministry.  This role reversal that exists in too many of our churches is one of the reasons so many of our churches are in decline and why the church has so little impact on our society today.

Every church needs to ask itself some tough questions

Socrates once said "The unexamined life is not worth living."  The same could be said about churches.  Numerous times in the life of a church it needs to begin asking some important questions about its purpose, what it believes, and what it is doing.  I'm not sure that happens as often as it should.  If you feel that your church is at a crossroads and lacks clear direction you may be at a time when your church needs to do some serious reflection.  To help you get started let me list some questions we might ask ourselves.

• Who are we here for?  This is a critical question for a church to answer because that answer really sets the tone for everything the church will do.   Many churches will respond that they are here to reach people for Christ, but do their ministries and programs show that to be the case? 
• Is what we are doing here worth the life of the Son of God?   Did Jesus die for this?  If we ask this question about everything we do as a church we may find that we're doing a lot of things that really don't matter to God.
• Who is Jesus to you?  I think of how the disciples must have felt when Jesus asked them who did the people say He was and then followed it up with "But who do you say that I am?"  From my observation over the years I think many churches see Jesus as passive and rather uninterested in the affairs of mankind because that is what they are.  On the other hand, those churches that believe that Jesus conquered death and is the only way to God are bold in their witness and ministry to those outside the church.  While most evangelical churches will give the right answer to this question, their actions do not back up that answer.
• Do you love people as much as Jesus does?  Virtually every church I serve tell me they are the friendliest church in their community, but I've attended some of them and I can tell you that many of them are friendly...to one another. How intentional is your church in making first-time guests feel comfortable and welcome?  How many unchurched friends do the members of your congregation have and how many of them are they introducing to Christ?  How welcomed would people from different cultures or races be in your church? Scripture is clear that if we claim to love God but not our brother that we are liars, and it is equally clear that we are all brothers and sisters to one another.
• What price are you willing to pay to change?  If things are not as they should be in your church, there is a reason for that.  Are you willing to pay the price to turn that around, and how much pain are you willing to endure for a season for long-term benefits?

These are just some questions to get you started as you reflect on where your church is today and what it will take to get you to a better place. Asking the right questions can help you identify the steps you need to take as a church to move forward once again.

PRAYER

The last count from Oklahoma as this post was written is 51 people dead including 20 children with those numbers expected to rise.  Unless we have been through something similar no one can imagine the pain and suffering the people, and especially the parents, are experiencing.  I'm sure some people are asking why God allowed something like this to happen, but this isn't really the time for answers.  This is a time of grief and prayer.  There will be sufficient time later for theological answers to the tragedies that befall all people.  Right now, I just encourage my readers to be in prayer for the people in Oklahoma who have lost so much.  Pray especially for the families who have lost loved ones, and in particular please pray for the parents who have lost children.  Thank you.

Good Stewards

God has given each of us a limited number of resources—in particular, time, money, talents, and energy. And we are commanded to be good stewards of each.  How we use those resources is reflective of our priorities. As Jesus said, speaking specifically of money, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Christians must consider how they can use their resources not solely for their own leisure and entertainment, but for the work of the gospel.

Where Are They

“Where are the young men and women of this generation who will hold their lives cheap and be faithful even unto death?  Where are those who will lose their lives for Christ’s sake, flinging them away for love of him?  Where are those who will live dangerously and be reckless in his service?  Where are his lovers, those who love him and the souls of men more than their own reputations or comfort or very life?
Where are the men who say ‘no’ to self, who take up Christ’s cross to bear it after him, who are willing to be nailed to it in college or office, home or mission field, who are willing, if need be, to bleed, to suffer and to die on it?
Where are the adventurers, the explorers, the buccaneers for God, who count one human soul of far greater value than the rise or fall of an empire?  Where are the men who are willing to pay the price of vision?
Where are the men of prayer?
Where are God’s men in this day of God’s power?”

Love Your People

Leadership is based on trust, and in a smaller church much of that trust is connected to relationships.  A pastor can go into a church with the proper educational degrees, a sound theology, and solid ministerial experience, but those attributes alone will not earn him or her the trust of the congregation.  "Pastor, do you love us?"  They want to know if you can see beyond their warts and issues and love them.  Words alone will not satisfy.  Such love must be demonstrated in the daily activities that go on in the life of the congregation.

Mother

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day — a sweet opportunity for Christians to celebrate one of God’s most significant means of his common and redeeming grace. For most, there’s some bitter flavor somewhere. We live in a fallen world. All mothers are sinful — even Jesus’s own mother knew well her need for a Savior (Luke 1:47) and for God’s mercy (Luke 1:50). Whether your own mother monumentally failed you, or you’re a mother who’s all too aware of how you’ve failed your children, there is goodness and grace to acknowledge and appreciate in almost every situation, even when deeply tarnished by sin. But for many of us, our hearts soar in thanksgiving when God brings to mind our mothers and grandmothers, or our wife and mother of our children. Among those of us raised in believing homes — in which our parents were faithful in teaching and modeling the faith — we may enjoy, all the more, the priceless privilege of fulfilling Proverbs 31:28 on Mother’s Day:
“Her children rise up and call her blessed.”

http://youtu.be/9h7gVvF1siM

Discipleship

Christians need to understand that the Great Commission includes more than asking people to make a decision for Jesus Christ.  Jesus said we were to go and make disciples.  Too many want to stop at salvation and refuse to go on to discipleship.  They are looking for a "fire insurance" policy, but they don't want the commitment that is required for one to become a disciple.  When Jesus called His disciples and challenged them to "Follow me" He took them on a journey that would completely transform their lives.  The same thing should happen to each of us when we begin our relationship with Christ, but how many Christians do you know whose lives have been transformed?  Most Christians I know are "saved and satisfied" and have little interest in going deeper with Christ.  That attitude has to change if we are to become disciples.

Doing Ministry

Anyone's vocation or avocation can be used for ministry.  A Christian who enjoys fishing could gather a group of people together once or twice a month to discuss fishing tactics, swap big fish stories, and talk about life in general which would include the importance of Christ in his or her life.  A business person could start a leadership group in the community that could meet for lunch and a discussion about the challenges of business.  Such a discussion could lead to one sharing how faith in God can help in challenging times.  The possibilities are endless.

Actions Speak

Whether or not you are aware of it, your behavior—both what you do as well as what you don’t do—affects your witness for Christ. It is an issue of testimony: What does your life say about God to the friends, relatives, coworkers, neighbors, or even strangers who might be watching you?

Legacy

When you begin a ministry in a new place one of the things you need to recognize is that one day you will leave there.  You may be called elsewhere, be fired, retire, or die, but if the Lord tarries you will one day leave that church, and you will leave a legacy.  People will remember certain things about your ministry in that church.  The person who follows you will either build upon that legacy or have to tear it down in order to build something positive.  The earlier in your ministry in that place you recognize this the more likely it will be that your legacy will be a positive one.  You cannot control what you will encounter when you begin a new ministry, but you can control how you respond to that and the legacy you will leave behind when you leave.  Don't leave a mess for others to clean up.  Make sure your legacy is a positive one upon which the next leader can build.

Glorify God

The very purpose for which you and I exist is to give glory to God, that's what it's all about. Jesus is called the Lord of glory. We are to give Him glory. He deserves it. And it is the mark of a committed Christian; it is the mark of a really genuine disciple that he gives God glory. His life reflects the attributes of God. God is praised by the way he lives.

Vision

The cause of poor giving to a church is a lack of vision.  If the only thing a church is going to do with its finances is pay the utilities and salaries, that is all the money that will come in.  People give to vision; they give to ministry; they give much less to maintenance activities.  In a lifetime of attending smaller churches I've seen it happen numerous times that a church that struggles to pay its bills each month suddenly raises a large sum of money within days or weeks to fund a major project.  That alone proves the church is not without resources.  The problem is that we've not challenged the people to part with those resources for something more exciting than an electric bill.

Maintenance-Mindset

Many of our smaller churches have a maintenance-mindset that has greatly limited their impact on their communities.  These churches have an inward focus rather than an outward one, they seek chaplains rather than pastors to lead them, they work very hard to preserve their resources instead of using those resources for ministry, and they see missions as something they support instead of do.  Most of these churches are either plateaued or declining with the majority of them in decline.  They can often survive for decades in this state, but for all practical purposes they have forfeited their right to call themselves a church.  They long ago forgot their purpose for existence was is to impact their communities with the Gospel.

Inspiring Worship Service

What a great morning at Burton-Richland Center UMC.! So many people are involved in different roles within the church. The music was wonderful and having four different folks who can play instruments is unusual. How fortunate I am to be able to serve as pastor.

Distractions

A church of any size can get distracted from the bottom line of Christians being in the world: love God and love each other. In church, we love God in worship. We love each other inside the walls by getting along. We love those outside the walls by mission. That’s really all there is. The rest is distraction.

Ordinary Me

God doesn’t do greater things exclusively through great people. He does them through anyone who is willing to trust Him in greater ways.

Jesus On The Cross

They put Jesus on the cross. His cry six hours later when he died shows that the cross was a time of anguish for him in his humanity. Some like to picture Jesus as calm, cool, and collected on the cross. John's presentation leans in that direction, with Jesus giving instructions about his mother to the beloved disciple from the cross. But each gospel has its special features, and one of John's is a minimizing of Jesus' human struggle. In Mark, Jesus asks for this cup to pass (14:36). In John, Jesus dismisses the very idea (12:27). John gives us Jesus in hindsight, the spiritual understanding of Jesus. In Mark we get a little more literal picture. So I believe the cross was a time of anguish. John does not give us the cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" but the confident, "It is finished." Mark gives us the pain of the moment, the intense suffering. Jesus is so in anguish that he dies hours before a crucified person normally would have. The physical struggle was not the worst possible death, but his anguish was spectacular. There's no evidence that God turned away because of him taking on our sin--that's just a fun story driven by a particular theology. I fully believe God the Father was there with him on the cross. But I also suspect that Jesus himself wasn't feeling it at the time.

Wisdom From Age

Reading through the Old Testament it seems that many of God's choicest servants began some of their best ministry in their later years. It seems a shame that some of our churches fail to see the value in the experience and wisdom that many of our older pastors could bring them. These ministers who have seen and heard it all could be the non-anxious presence that some of our churches need to be able to move forward.

Make It As Sure As You Can.

The Lord Jesus Christ was wonderful in His resurrection. When His body was laid in the grave, Pilate gave orders at the request of the Pharisees to seal the sepulchre. “Make it as sure as ye can” (Matthew 27:65), and they did! Nature made it as sure as she could, for a large stone was before the sepulchre, but “up from the grave He arose,” the angel of the Lord rolled the stone away and sat upon it! The Roman government made it as sure as it could and placed its seal upon the grave; but “up from the grave He arose” and now He carries the keys of death and hell. The world, the flesh, and the devil conspired to keep Him in the grave, but “up from the grave He arose” that “death might be swallowed up in victory.”

Study The Word.

Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul. Packer, J. I. (2011-09-26). Knowing God (p. 17). Intervarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Bi-Vocational Ministry

Many of us in ministry, especially those of us who are bivocational, are in constant motion. We go from church to job to family activity to a dozen other things. What often suffers in all that activity is our own personal walk with God. We are so busy doing things for God that we fail to spend time with God. We spend so much time with people that we can never really be with any of them.

Church

Church should not be the focus of our efforts or the banner we hold up to explain what we’re about. Church should be what ends up happening as a natural response to people wanting to follow us, be with us, and be like us as we are following the way of Christ.

Fear

In the twentieth chapter of John's Gospel we find a group of disciples including ten of the apostles gathered behind doors that were barred for fear that the authorities would be searching for them. They imagined the same suffering that Jesus received would be their fate. Fear is a terrible emotion to live with. Many today live in fear of something. Jesus came and stood in the midst of those gathered and He will stand with us as well if we will seek Him.

Our Speech

‎The mouth is a poetic use of one of the organs of speech and refers to the words or thoughts spoken by the righteous, that is, a good, honest person. Fountain of life is similar to “tree of life” used in 3:18. See there for comments. The expression is used in Psa 36.9 (Hebrew verse 10), where it refers to God as being the source or creator of all life. In 16:22 Wisdom is a fountain of life. In this verse the expression refers to the words of the righteous, perhaps because such people are identified with the wise and with wisdom.

Assembly Required

Have you ever seen just what you needed (wanted) at WalMart but the display item is not for sale. The box says, "assembly required". Or maybe it was, "EASY ASSEMBLY REQUIRED". I want to let you know that's just not true. It should probably state, If you are a carpenter, contractor, or a handy man you may be able to figure out the instructions and get the darn thing together. Well, I've been all evening working on a desk chair. Back hurts, almost cussed, and it aint easy.

Good Book

The following is part of the forward of a book titled: The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community. RECENTLY I WALKED BY a “church” that was holding “services” on a Sunday morning in an upscale community in Northern California. Organ music drifted out of the open doors, spilling onto the streets where passersby made their way to coffee shops, art galleries, and antique stores, oblivious to the goings-on of the band of worshipers ensconced behind stucco walls. Is this situation worrisome to that congregation? Apparently not. No one was outside to engage anyone on the street. Nametags were on prominent display in the entry plaza next to the “sanctuary.” The clear message was “Members only.” If you wandered in on the activities absent a nametag, you’d stick out like a sore thumb. Contrast this picture with what you see and experience as you read about the early days of the Christian movement in the Book of Acts. The Kingdom was spreading like a virus, invading every aspect of society. There wasn’t a possibility of containing it inside a building; it was unleashed onto the street. If you are a church leader, you will self-select into your own future of spiritual expression. Either you will participate in some kind of religious activity that is increasingly disconnected from its surrounding culture, or you will join the ranks of those who want to experience the life of a Jesus follower. You don’t need much help in making the first choice. However, if you want to participate in the Kingdom here and now, you might need some help in knowing how to prepare for that.

Wonderful Worship

Today was a special Sunday at CBC. Pastor Matt was certainly preaching under the anointing of the Spirt of God and we felt His presence. He challenged us to invite someone to come and listen to the gospel. Not only the lovely but those who we might find different than us. God loves the sinner and came to heal their spiritual sickness.

Time Change

Spring ahead; Fall back. It's that season and this week-end we change times again. Wasn't it nice when we didn'y have to? I'm prepared to lose an hour's sleep this Saturday night. How many will get to church late? Oh well, this means Spring is near!

New Beginnings

A successful start begins by asking, "What does a wildly successful outcome look like?" What a powerful question for a church leader to ask when preparing to start a new ministry!

Snow

The snow that God sends is beautiful. It sometimes make things difficult but there's a reason for all that our God does. His creation is amazing. Our God reigns above all. He is good and loves us unconditionally. Enjoy the beauty of the earth.

A New Beginning

This afternoon I was invited to accept the pastorate at Burton-Richland Center United Methodist Church. I look forward with joy to loving the people as together we give glory to God. The people welcomed me with great hospitality.

James Says

James says that the source of infighting lies in the pursuit of passions. James Robert Johnstone, the nineteenth-century Scottish theologian and preacher, remarked: Men and women who on the Sabbath have sat side by side at the Lord’s table and drunk of the common cup of love, will scowl at and calumniate and thwart each other all the week. And the feeling between congregations or denominations, which are but different companies or brigades in the army of the Captain of salvation, is not unfrequently such as to remind one of the host of Midian in the night of Gideon’s victory, when “every man’s sword was turned against his fellow, throughout all the host.”