Friday, October 31, 2008
why so serious
I have been listening to Brandon Heath's new CD. You know the one that has, "Give me your eyes" on it. I know that it is the main song on the CD, but I got to be honest I think there is atleast two better songs on the CD. It is "Love never fails" and "London". The content of the first one is overflowing, but I think I just like the "bluzzzzy" sound of London. Everyone should check it out. Also, check out, "God of this city", by Chris Tomlin.
Friday, October 24, 2008
could you imagine
Do you enjoy going to “church”. Do you look forward to the gathering together of "likeminded" people. I know that there are crazy things going on in our country right now and that you guys are feeling the pressure just as I do, if not more. Can I challenge you to do what you have to do Monday thru Saturday, but take Sunday off. Let it truly be a day of rest. That doesn’t mean that you have to lay in bed all day, though that does sound good to some, but relax your body and mind. In the 7 days of creation, God took a day to relax. Do you really think God was tired? No, but maybe he just wanted to sit back and enjoy what he did or created(LIFE). I heard someone once say that rest is a state of mind. How awesome would it be if, on Sundays, you enjoyed sitting back and hearing God’s Word. What if you relaxed as you hung out with friends or went home and simply loved on your family. Even more than that, what if at least one day a week we went a whole day stress free, because we knew that we were secure, no matter what is going on around us, in the arms of Christ!
Friday, October 10, 2008
what is the outcome
As I sit here today and ponder on my devos this week, one thing that comes to mind is my definition of the term "worship-bowing all that we are before all that God is". I know what it is and what it means and even multiple illustrations of it in the bible, but the question that is rolling through my head is, how does worship affect the way I live? How does it affect the way you run this obstacle course? What do you think?
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Change, in heart and mind; Spirit and Truth!
I have to be honest. I feel like such a pansy blogging! I feel like I am writing in a diary like a little girl sharing my "feelings". Seriously, this is hard to get use to. Its hard to put things out there and not sure who will read it or who will criticize it. Its easy to keep it in and just deal with the issues you struggle with on your own. Not only that, but if you don't deal with it, it isn't a big deal because know one knows you are struggling.
I mean, I am a pastor, I am not suppose to have struggles and problems, right? I am not allowed to screw up, say the wrong thing or make the wrong decision. I am God's man, leading in "church", teaching, and preaching God's word, I cant make a mistake.
You know what really burns me up, besides alcohol on a open sore? Since you don't know I will tell you. It is how we are so critical on the "church leaders" of today. Yes, I said we, but let me prefess this by saying that I am referring to the denomination that I am associated with, which is Baptist and I am referring to head pastors at or over the age of 50ish.
I am not saying that we shouldn't observe and evaluate the leaders we are under, but that we do it with an open mind(like the one we wish they had). That when we don't think things are being done right in "church" we don't tuck tail and run. That we don't grippe and complain to everyone else we see about the way it should be.
Has the thought ever crossed our minds that maybe we should explore why they are the way they are. It would probably be more effective if we new a little background before we decided to jump head first in to a jury conviction of wrong doing. What if we realized that they are just leading the way they were taught. What if we realized that they were just following their modern day American idols. Great men of God that they looked up too and wanted to be like, because they were greatly used by God. The crazy thing is that, the way those great men of faith led was greatly productive. I mean they led thousands to the Lord by the way they preached and led their churches. God used them, with their styles and methods to reach their Ara. I mean think about it, who would not want to follow someone like Jack Hyles. The man lead thousands to the Lord. He had over 25,000 in Sunday School learning about Christ every Sunday. Like it or not, that is freakin awesome.
What if that 50ish yr old pastor, as a young man, saw someone doing something write and decided to follow in his footsteps. Think about it, isn't that what we are doing today? These pastors have given their lives for the ministry's God has entrusted them with. These Guys have been faithful, with blood, sweat, and tears through tough years of things that we know absolutely nothing about and we expect them to just let us "young pastors" come in and revolutionize the "church". Who do we think we are?
I understand that I am probably writing this for me more than you, but maybe, just maybe if we approached our older pastors from this point of view then we could effectively be used as a tool of change. Having our hearts in the write places and being humbled by their service to the Lord.
Change, in heart and mind; Spirit and Truth!
Chris
I mean, I am a pastor, I am not suppose to have struggles and problems, right? I am not allowed to screw up, say the wrong thing or make the wrong decision. I am God's man, leading in "church", teaching, and preaching God's word, I cant make a mistake.
You know what really burns me up, besides alcohol on a open sore? Since you don't know I will tell you. It is how we are so critical on the "church leaders" of today. Yes, I said we, but let me prefess this by saying that I am referring to the denomination that I am associated with, which is Baptist and I am referring to head pastors at or over the age of 50ish.
I am not saying that we shouldn't observe and evaluate the leaders we are under, but that we do it with an open mind(like the one we wish they had). That when we don't think things are being done right in "church" we don't tuck tail and run. That we don't grippe and complain to everyone else we see about the way it should be.
Has the thought ever crossed our minds that maybe we should explore why they are the way they are. It would probably be more effective if we new a little background before we decided to jump head first in to a jury conviction of wrong doing. What if we realized that they are just leading the way they were taught. What if we realized that they were just following their modern day American idols. Great men of God that they looked up too and wanted to be like, because they were greatly used by God. The crazy thing is that, the way those great men of faith led was greatly productive. I mean they led thousands to the Lord by the way they preached and led their churches. God used them, with their styles and methods to reach their Ara. I mean think about it, who would not want to follow someone like Jack Hyles. The man lead thousands to the Lord. He had over 25,000 in Sunday School learning about Christ every Sunday. Like it or not, that is freakin awesome.
What if that 50ish yr old pastor, as a young man, saw someone doing something write and decided to follow in his footsteps. Think about it, isn't that what we are doing today? These pastors have given their lives for the ministry's God has entrusted them with. These Guys have been faithful, with blood, sweat, and tears through tough years of things that we know absolutely nothing about and we expect them to just let us "young pastors" come in and revolutionize the "church". Who do we think we are?
I understand that I am probably writing this for me more than you, but maybe, just maybe if we approached our older pastors from this point of view then we could effectively be used as a tool of change. Having our hearts in the write places and being humbled by their service to the Lord.
Change, in heart and mind; Spirit and Truth!
Chris
Monday, September 29, 2008
the Truth of life during death
You know, it's funny how death brings to life the inner makings of people. I mean, how many times do we actually think about death until it is starring us in the face? How often do we think about how much we care about our friends and family, co-workers and classmates? How often do we feel the overwhelming urgency to tell someone about the saving grace of Christ, so that they don't have to spend eternity in a dark, fire blazing hell, eternally separated from the beautiful face and presence of Christ. Never again to have the opportunity to feel the love and comforting embrace of the God of the universe.
See, its not about shoving Christ down their throats forcing them to believe something that may or may not be true. Its about investing "life" into them because we don't know when it will end. It may be at the age of 76, it may be 37, and it just may be a 17 year old senior in high school. How many people will we let walk by us in a week, year, or life and not take the time to invest into who they are? Where they are in life? What they believe?
All to often, as many of us have this week, we wait until the death of a person in our sphere of influence to cry out with a terrifying scream inside of our hearts: God if I only would of..., God if I only did..., God if I only would of said...! Then, we will go to the viewing, and steer away from the family, because we know, deep within the depths of our souls, that we shunned the dead while he was on earth. We walk away from him because he was different or quiet. Lastly, we may even go to the funeral, sit on the back row, and weep throughout the whole service. The people around you will think you were close with the dead or because he died so early, but instead you are sobbing because you never wanted to "share life" with him until his death.
See, its not about shoving Christ down their throats forcing them to believe something that may or may not be true. Its about investing "life" into them because we don't know when it will end. It may be at the age of 76, it may be 37, and it just may be a 17 year old senior in high school. How many people will we let walk by us in a week, year, or life and not take the time to invest into who they are? Where they are in life? What they believe?
All to often, as many of us have this week, we wait until the death of a person in our sphere of influence to cry out with a terrifying scream inside of our hearts: God if I only would of..., God if I only did..., God if I only would of said...! Then, we will go to the viewing, and steer away from the family, because we know, deep within the depths of our souls, that we shunned the dead while he was on earth. We walk away from him because he was different or quiet. Lastly, we may even go to the funeral, sit on the back row, and weep throughout the whole service. The people around you will think you were close with the dead or because he died so early, but instead you are sobbing because you never wanted to "share life" with him until his death.
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