A Re-run

I said at church last week I'd find and re-post this, but it slipped my mind until this morning.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Too Embarrassed to Praise?

It is obvious that there has been a real change over the past few months taking place in Harvest Church. It is actually a little difficult to put into words, but it is almost like an atmospheric change over the house. Divisions seem to be disappearing resulting in a new unity of the sort I have not witnessed since coming here as pastor. One of the most noticeable changes is in the area of worship. There seems to be a fresh wind hitting the house, and people are worshipping more openly and some with reckless abandon. I am not sure if the worship is ushering in the move of God, or if the move of God is inducing the worship; but either way, something is different. Still there are some (a good portion of the church) who just sit and observe, rather than participate. Last night during the worship, I looked out over the people, and I saw probably 40% of the people either sitting or standing and just watching the others worship. I wondered, "Why are they not worshipping too?" Suddenly the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "They are afraid of doing something which will embarrass themselves." I admonished the people to worship, and a few others did; still most remained in the role of observer.

After the service, I privately spoke to a few individuals and they confirmed that they were afraid to worship because they did not want anyone to laugh at them or think that they were odd. I pointed out first of all that they were admitting that this is a pride issue. They were more concerned with what people thought of them than they were with giving God the praise He deserves. Secondly, I asked them if they realized that they were actually in the minority of people in the house, that most people were in fact worshipping, and that they in fact stand out more for not worshipping than they would if they were participating. Isn't it funny that by not worshipping, they were in fact looking like the odd ones in the group? The devil plays this game with our minds and causes us not to see the obvious. He robs us from the freedom to worship God by telling us we will draw attention to ourselves, when in fact, people notice us more for sitting and not taking an active role in worship.

Church, it is time to stop letting the enemy of our souls put chains around us that not only rob us of the freedom and joy that our Lord wants us to live in, but those chains are also stealing the praise that our God deserves! You have no doubt heard me say this before, but it is well worth repeating. "You will never do in the church house what you are not accustomed to doing at home." What I mean by that is that you need to start worshipping God daily in your homes, in your car and where ever you go. If you are one who is too embarrassed to worship in public... start out by worshipping at home. Take time each day in the privacy of your home to praise the Lord. Put on some praise and worship music and just worship the King of Kings. Begin to lift your hands, speak of His goodness and give Him praise. Dance before the Lord. Before long, you will discover that it comes natural, because you were created for this!
A commercial from years ago said, "Try it... you'll like it!" Can I challenge you today to try praising the Lord... I promise you, you will like it. More importantly, our God will like it!

Poor Rowdy

For those of you who have never met him, that little guy to the left is one of dogs, named Rowdy. Rowdy is a rather unique dog. You'd just have to be around him for awhile to really understand what I mean. He's just different.
I have to share a story about Rowdy that was not really funny, but one of those moments that I could not hold back the laughter.

It happened two days ago. Those of you who live in the mid-west know first hand that we have had some pretty rough weather for several weeks. Rowdy has just decided that he is not going outside. (You get the idea.)
Add to his disdain for the cold, the fact that Rowdy has been absolutely depressed. We got him just about the time Daniel left for college last fall, so he never got to know him too well. However, over the month long semester break, Rowdy became very attached to Daniel. Ever since Daniel left to return to school, he has be so depressed that he lays in his cage where he sleeps at night, all day long. He turns his bed inside the cage upside down and crawls underneath it and will stay there for 7 or 8 hours and not come out. He really is depressed. In fact, when Daniel came home to visit last weekend, he picked Rowdy up and he commented that he could tell that Rowdy had lost weight in the week he had been gone.

Anyway...
Tuesday morning Rowdy retreated to his cage as Ashley left for school and stayed there all day. I had been gone for a few hours and when I came in, he was still in his cage so I tried to coax him out. I figured he surely needed to make a trip outside to do what dogs do. He did not want to come out. I literally had to pull him out of the cage. I took him to the door and he tried to bolt back to his cage. I yelled at him to get outside, he stopped, looked at me, and made another dash for his cage. I screamed for him to stop, and he put on the brakes, and slid across the hardwood floor and into the wall. His turned and started back toward me and the door, with his tail tucked under and his head drooping. He stopped and looked at me as if to say, "Are you really going to make me go out there?"
I opened the door and slowly he walked out, down the steps and sat down on the sidewalk, as if he was protesting and simply not going to do his business. Now mind you, it was 6 degrees outside, and very windy. I shut the door and made him sit there.The test of wills was on.

I went about doing the dishes, occasionally looking out to see where he was. More than 10 minutes passed and he never budged. I opened the door and he started up the steps. I put my foot in front of the door and told him he was not coming in. He gave me that pitiful look of his, and once again dropped his head and tucked his tail and went back down the stairs. I told him about 4 times, "Go potty!" Finally he ventured out into the snow, circled round and round then back and forth for literally another 5 minutes, pausing every few seconds to see if I was going to open the door. Finally he stopped and peed. He stood there and looked at me like, "Now?" I figured maybe he did not have to do the other business, and I opened the door and called, "Rowdy come!" He sprang to life, tore out across our yard full tilt and tried to jump to clear the steps in one bound onto the porch... (Notice I said "tried to jump"?)
There was one small patch of ice on the sidewalk no more than 4 inches by 3 inches, and this poor dogs front feet hit that ice just as his rear legs pushed to jump, sending him flying neck first into the bottom step! I mean, he hit is hard! He fell into a heap on the sidewalk and shook for a couple of seconds. I thought he'd broke his neck! I went out to get him and he was just gasping... and (I'm trying to be delicate here) he literally knocked the poop out of himself! (Yes, literally!) I could not help it, I laughed so hard I was crying. And the stupid dog apparently thinks that I did this to him, because he is mad at me. Ever since then, he will have nothing to do with me. If I call him, he runs the other way. If I walk into the room he is in, he heads across the room or even out of the room. Somehow in his doggy mind, I am at fault for this. Of course there is one exception... if I am offering him a bite of my food... he will gingerly come over to me and take the food, but as soon as he has it, he is gone.

I think I've lost a friend.

The Quest to Reach a Generation

In recent weeks I have had the opportunity to speak to several folks who were high school to college age, who profess themselves to be atheists or agnostic. Last week I was talking with another pastor about these young folks, and he commented that they were just being rebellious. The more I have thought about this, the more it has upset me. I believe that when we who are followers of Christ simply dismiss and cast off these young people as "rebellious" then their blood is on our hands. I think many of my contemporaries would do well to go hang out with some of these kids for awhile, and not talk, but just listen. They need to discover what this generation has been taught in school. They need to try to come to terms with the world view that has shaped these kids. Try to comprehend this: 50% of them come from a broken home. A large percentage of them have either experienced or witnessed physical and/or sexual abuse. The vast majority have been raised in the first generation where both parents worked outside the home, thereby decreasing the influence of the parent on their lives, which means the education system has had a much greater impact on the framing of their mind. Add to this the fact that this generation has been raised by the first generation to have the Bible and anything to do with God removed from their education; so this second generation has by and large been taught nothing of God or his word, and had a humanistic philosophy poured into them for 12-16 years in our education system.

Are they being rebellious? Not at all. They are living what they have been taught.
Those of us who are in Christ have our work cut out for us. We've long been told that over 90% of all those who ever receive Christ do so before the age of 20. Now, our system has removed God from their education during these formative years, so when they reach young adulthood and we present them with the Gospel and the Word of God, they are not likely to receive it because it is foreign to them. For all practical purposes, they have been framed to believe only what fits into the framework of what they have been taught, and they have not been taught anything of a spiritual realm, other than what they see in the movies, and Hollywood has slanted that education in such a way that biblical teaching is laughable and foolish and those that believe in God are mentally imbalanced. Folks, we have an uphill climb to reach this generation.

This generation has been taught evolution as a fact and told that creation or intelligent design is foolishness. The biblical view has been painted to be so out of touch, that this generation has never been given permission to think it through for themselves, and told that they were being more intellectual by renouncing the creationist theory. I listened to a college professor in an interview who was asked why creation was an impossibility and his only argument was "It's silly. It makes no logical sense." Let's think on this a minute. The idea that nothing became something and somehow fell into the right alignment to form a living being... that makes sense to them. When questioned as to where those first particles came from, one PhD argued, "those first particle just always were there." But the same man thought it just ridiculous to believe that God could have always been. Kind of hypocritical there, don't you think? Stop and consider how illogical it is to think that just the right particles happened to fall together to make everything we know. The odds are beyond comprehension. Everything that is cries out to us and demands that there was a designer. This same PhD actually argued that maybe aliens seeded the earth to set evolution into motion. OK... you can believe in aliens who "set it in motion" (helllo? a creator?) but you cannot believe in the possibility of a God? How whack is that? This man just indicated he could believe in an alien (no explanation of where he came from) but no way he could believe in God.

The question then must be, "Why can you not believe in God?"
To me, it is obvious. To admit that there is God, an intelligent designer, admits that there is someone or something that is higher than we are, and therefore makes us accountable to that being.... and that, to these intellectuals is unacceptable to those who are so wise.
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."

Folks, let's not write off this generation as rebellious. They have been indoctrinated to think the way they do. They are worth saving. We must take time to hear, really listen to what they are saying, because they are empty inside and looking for something that is void in their lives. There is a God shaped hole inside of them, because they have never been told that they were created to walk in fellowship with a loving God.

I'm Feeling Very Troubled Within

I woke up early this morning feeling really troubled in my spirit man. I can't put my finger on it just yet, but something is not quite right. In fact, when I feel like this, something is usually wrong, something happening that is not good. Call me strange, but know from experience, that when I am sensing this, it is only a matter of time before the situation reveals itself. I hate walking with this going on within because I cannot focus on anything until I understand it. I haven't got a clue what it is right now, but something is not right.

A Proper Attitude Toward Giving

In recent weeks I have said some things about giving at church that have caused some to ask questions of me about giving. By the way, that's a good thing folks. When we are asking questions, it means we are searching for the truth, right? This morning I was thinking about this and decided to write a bit about it and see if I can maybe help some folks out.

Paul addressed giving in several places, but I want to look just at one passage right now, found in 2 Corinthians the 8th chapter.

(2Co 8:1) And, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given among the churches of Macedonia that in much testing of trouble, the overflowing of their joy, and the depth of their poverty, abounded to the riches of their generosity. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability; they gave willingly; with much beseeching, begging us that they might receive of us the grace and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints And not as we hoped, but first they gave themselves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God, for us to call on Titus, that even as he began before, so he would also complete this grace to you also. But even as you abound in everything, in faith, and in word, and in knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in your love to us; you should abound in this grace also. I do not speak according to command, but through the eagerness of others, and testing the trueness of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor, in order that you might be made rich through His poverty.

In this passage, Paul focuses in on the offerings, or collection for the Jerusalem church. The purpose of this offering was to give aid to the poverty-stricken saints back in Jerusalem. One thing that I believe is important to point out is that among the Churches in Macedonia which Paul was writing to was the church of Philippi, which we know from what is written in Acts and Philippians was going through a real time of trouble and was very poor. Make note, that even while they where themselves hurting, struggling and poor, they still were generous in sending gifts to Paul and in supporting the collection for others.

In verse 7 Paul tells the Corinthians (KJV) “see that you also excel in the grace of giving” and in the NKJV "But even as you abound in everything, in faith, and in in word, and in knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in your love to us; you should abound in this grace also."

One thing I often hear from people is that they cannot afford to give and that I should not expect them to give, and that they don't believe God expects them to give. Well, this passage clearly refutes that thinking. In fact, Paul challenges them to give, using the example of the givers in Macedonia. Paul gives a report of their surprisingly generous ways in which God has been working in those churches. In the passage above he reports how that the people in these churches have been facing fierce trials that pushed them to their limits, and how these trial exposed their true colors. No, his report is not about their failure, their wallowing in self-pity, but rather he reports the they were exceedingly happy even though they were very poor.

Say what? It seems that the pressure they were under triggered something unexpected... an outpouring of generosity and giving. He says that he was there and witnessed it with his own eyes as they gave whatever they could, even far more than what they could afford. He even says they asked for more opportunities to give so that they could help others. Wow! What would happen if this same spirit of giving was discovered and unlocked in the hearts of believers in our local churches?

I want to briefly share what I see in these verses:

First, they gave themselves to the Lord. You see before you can total give yourself to someone or something, you have to "buy into" and believe in them (or it) completely. I've heard it said this way... "before a farmer ever plants a seed in the ground, he has to believe in reaping." You see, if Jesus is not first in a person's life, resentment will come in and take over everything they do. That is why Jesus said "Seek first the Kingdom of God... and all these things shall be added unto you." When we put Jesus, his ways, his Word, and obey him FIRST, he will give us everything we need.

Second; these people understood that everything that they possessed was through God's grace... and God's grace alone. A farmer has to believe that as he sows, he will reap (or receive) even more. Why plant if there is not going to be a bigger return? Paul says that the way that he KNEW the people of Macedonia had totally given themselves to the Lord was that they actually begged him for the offering plate! Can you imagine?


The third thing I see in this passage is that their giving was not motivated by what they would receive, but rather they were motivated by what Christ had done for them. Some people only give for what they can give. With this wrong motive, we short-circuit the blessings that are ours!

The fourth thing is, they gave their best. Paul says that they gave more than they can afford. Most people will only give the leftovers... after they have carefully calculated what they might want (not need, but want) to buy, to eat, to live more comfortably. A farmer will take the best of his crop to use for seed for the next planting season. This insures another abundant crop. If they ate or sold the best, and put the leftover to seed, their harvest would continue to get worse each season, ensuring their own doom. See the parallel?

My last observation will sound like a repeat of the third, but it really is not. The people Paul is referring to were not "giving to get." Today, there are those who entice people to give more by using gimmicks, guilt and/or begging. The Bible tells us that we are blessed to be a blessing, not that we might reap and hoard more in our storehouse. We take in or receive that we might give out. That is the Biblical way. Once we get that issue settled, true giving simply falls in place for us. Continuing on in chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians, verses 10 and 11 in the Message reads:
"Here is my advice: it would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have."

Have you ever noticed that everything that God created was meant to give? The sun gives light. The trees give oxygen and wood. The flowers give beauty and fragrance. Even God himself is a giver... he gave his only begotten Son! Let me finish today by saying that our giving is not to be determined by our debt to income ratio, nor by the stock market, the economy, or even our tax bracket. Our giving should be motivated by the grace which we have received from God.

Help Me With This Dream

I have never shared any of my dreams in this manner on my blog before, but I am looking for help interpreting this one. I'd really like some input folks. If you don't want to respond publicly, feel free to email me at dawgar8@gmail.com. I had a dream Saturday night that was rather strange but I know it was from God. Some of the symbolism is obvious, some of it I'm not clear on at all. Here's the gist of it.

It started with me preaching a funeral. As I finished this funeral some men in suits came in and dragged me off like a prisoner. They took me to what was like a concentration camp. It looked like what we've all seen in the movies. I knew many of the people in the camp. I saw most of my church members there, but not all of them, and others Christians that I know, and many other people. As I walked among the people there, I kept pulling hot loaves of bread from under my coat and handing them to people. There were some people there who appeared to be in charge, although no one was in uniform. They kept glaring at me and I'd see them talking about me as I handed out this bread. Then, they grabbed me and beat me severely. This scene repeated itself 4 times and then some doors were opened to a building inside of this place and I walked inside. It was obvious that I was still in this "camp" but suddenly I was inside a very large, room with hundreds of people in it. This room was very bright and clean and it appeared like a very large cafeteria like I have seen in some hospitals, where there were several different lines with various types of foods. People were sitting at tables and eating all over the room. It was really weird here, because they were eating, they had plates full of food, yet they kept calling out to me to give them some bread, and I just kept pulling the loaves of bread out from under my coat and handing them out. Those that had beaten me before kept coming in threatening me to stop feeding them and they beat me over and over. After the beatings, I would come back into this room and people would call out, "Preacher, don't let them stop you. Give us some of that bread." So I would go around and give them more bread. Over and over I was beaten and I was battered, bleeding and my face was swollen. In the middle of this dream, a group of reporters showed up and those beating me cleaned me up and they put make up on me to try to hide the wounds and bruises I had. This same routine happened several times as well, and each time I emerged from the place where they beat me, there was even more people there calling out for bread. There was one elderly couple that called me by name and asked me to come over to their table and they begged me not to stop. They told me that they had been in this place for more than 50 years waiting for this day to come and that I must continue no matter what they did to me. This is when I woke up.

So, what do you folks see in this?

It Is Still Not Easy

OK, so Daniel has a semester of college under his belt, and Libby and I have a semester of not having him around the house... so we ought to be over this seperation thing, right?
Well... forget it. It still hurts.
It has been so great having Daniel back under our roof for the past month and now the time comes to ship him back off to U of I and I'm hurting again, and I can tell Libby is too. I look at him and he has grown and matured so much. Many times I feel like I'm looking in a mirror at myself... only it's a time warp type of mirror, because I am staring at the me of 30 years ago. It's kind of spooky feeling at times.

Anyway, today's the day... again. I feel kind of dumb because I know I will most likely see him in a week or two at the most, but when he is not in our house, everything changes. Those of you who have been there know what I mean. All the dynamics of the home change. And I miss him so much when he is gone.

If you are reading this son, just know that you are loved and missed more than you could ever know.

Something Tells Me We Are In Real Trouble

As you all know, we are living in a time when CEO's are running huge corporations into the ground, only to have the Government bail them out by throwing billions of dollars at them which in turn results in that CEO receiving a multi-million dollar bonus. Does anyone else see a problem here? Our government today is spending trillions of dollars with less thought than I give to spending a twenty dollar bill. Personally, I think most of these politicians in Washington realize that these bills are going to come due, but that they will be gone by then and it will be someone else's worry. It is a fact, they are spending our kids and their kids into a financial prison. Something has to give. It has to stop, because the debt that our country is amassing is enslaving our our nation to China. Say it with me one trillion dollars. One T-R-I-L-L-I-O-N dollars. That's $1,000,000,000,000. That's 12 zeros past the decimal point, or if it helps to put it into perspective, it is a million million dollars.
I read somewhere that if you laid one dollar bills end to end that you could make a chain that stretches to the moon and back 200 times before you ran out of dollar bills. Or try this one. It would take a military jet flying at the speed of sound, rolling out a roll of dollar bills behind it, 14 years before it reeled out one trillion dollar bills.

Are you getting the picture?

Now get this: our National Debt is now over 10 Trillion dollars. Let that sink in a minute. With the current populaton of the United States, it means that each of us owes $34,765.86 (see the National Debt clock at http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/) And that number is growing every hour.

OK... so where am I going with all this? I simply want to point out a simple fact that is staring us all in the face. We will have a new President next week; one who ran on a campaign pledge to bring "change" to America. I'm not prepared to judge his Presidential tenure just yet; let's give him a chance. In fact, I pray for and wish him great success and hope he goes down in history as one of the greatest Presidents ever. That said, I'd have you to notice one glaring fact about Obama that scares me and shakes me to the core. What is it? This dude likes to spend money... lots of it!
Remember his Presidential campaign? He spent more on this campaign than any Presidential campaign has ever spent before; over $500,000,000. Remember the extravagance of the DNC the night of Obama's acceptance speech? How about his Inauguration? It is being reported that the cost of his Inauguration will top $150 Million, and could be much more if it snows. Now let's put this is perspective. The media ripped George Bush to shreds because of his so called "heartless" and "irresponsible" extravagance when $42 Million was spent at his inaugaration. So, let's put this in perspective. In 2005, when our nations economy was booming, Bush is heartless and irresponsible for spending $42.3 Million, but in 2009 when our nations economy is in the crapper, Obama has no problem spending nearly three times that amount, and no one seems to mind? Again... what is wrong with this picture?
People are willing to follow Barack Obama blindly and it seems he can do no wrong!
His campaign pledges to stop the wreckless spending have already been tossed aside as he is now talking about how the nation will have to increase spending to turn the nation around.

Hello? America... are you listening? Are you paying attention? Obama ridiculed Bush for spendigng America into deeper debt, but once elected and before he has even sworn into office, he has reversed his retoric and he is talking increased spending. CBS news reported that his proposals will mean an increase in spending of more than $280 Billion dollars in his first year in office... and this figure does not include the $350 Billion bailout that he is asking congress to approve.

Watch out America.... something tells me we are in for a wild ride, and I don't think it is going to be pretty. I wonder, who is going to bail out America?

You're Fooling Yourself

OK, so it's been a cold, snowy day and other than shoveling snow and running a couple of errands, I've been loafing today. I found myself searching for old music that I enjoyed in my youth on the Net. One of my favorite groups back in the day was Styx and I found myself listening to a couple of their tunes, when I found a video on Youtube of Styx performing, "You're Fooling Yourself" which was a hit for them the summer after I graduated high school. I really love the intro they did to that song, but enjoyed the whole song as well. As I was listening to it, that phrase, "you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it" struck a chord in me and I began thinking about how we all tend to fool ourselves at times. By that comment, I am referring to how we think we have others fooled, but it is only ourselves that we are fooling. It always amazes me how that as children we seem to grasp the concept better that God sees and knows our every thought, deed and action but as we get older, we actually think we have God fooled.

There is a passage in the Bible that says:
Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. (Psalm 139:1-4)



Now none of us really want to admit this, but as we go through our lives we are all living under layers upon layers of lies. As I think on this, I realize that maybe it is not so much that we don't want to admit it as much as it is that we have gotten to where we don't even recognize this fact any more. The fact is that our lies can become so much a part of us that we don't even recognize them as being untrue anymore. It is also a fact that we tend to justify our lies with statements and attitudes that say, “Well, it was just a little white lie that did no harm.” Or, “I only lied to protect someone.” Or maybe we lie on a job application or we pad a resume. Maybe we drop names of people we barely know or claim to have met. Sometimes the lie is in claiming accomplishments we never actually acheived. And we just get used to those little lies.


But who are we fooling?
According to the Word of God, God is well aware of and taking account of everything we do. He really does know every thought, every word and every action. But if we will allow Him into our lives, the Holy Spirit will peel back the layers of lies and reveal to us the truth. And it is only in truth that we can freely live. Here's a secret... When ugly sins are revealed in your heart, don’t justify them by hiding them again under another layer of lies. Instead, as the Holy Spirit uncovers them, deal with them, abolish them and eliminate it. Make it right by exposing the situation and asking God for forgiveness and repent of it. Remember, he already knows what we have done. That is not always easy, but if we ask God, He will give us the courage to set the record straight.

Why Pastors Cry

I received a message from a friend this evening who has been reading through the archives of my blog and they commented to me about a particular post written by a friend of mine. It made me go back and read it for myself. In the three years since this was first posted, "Roughrider" has decided to reveal his identity to everyone, so I want to give him credit here too as the author of this piece. His name is Jim Martin, pastor of Praise Fellowship Church of God in Savannah, Missouri.

Thanks again Jim!

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Why Pastor's Cry

A fellow pastor who is a friend of mine made a post on a discussion board which we both post on a couple of weeks ago that I felt was too good to let disappear into cyber never land. He goes by the pen name of Roughridercog, and I will use that name here also to protect his identity on that board.
There had been a discussion on the board about a pastor who forgot to turn his wireless microphone off after service and when he went into his office broke down crying and everyone in the church heard his sobbing.
Roughrider wrote the following after reading this information.


Why Pastor's Cry

Pastors cry. There's no doubt about it. There are numerous reasons why:

Pastor's cry when they feel as if a church is rejecting their ministry and they still feel a burden for the church.
Nothing hurts like being rejected.

Pastor's cry when the church feels their time there is over and they still feel like there is much to do.
They pack their belongings mixed with tears.

Pastor's cry when they know their time at a church is over and they have deep roots there. When they embrace the congregation at their last service, there are tearstains present on the shoulders of those they embrace.

Pastor's cry when God has given them a message, instructed him to declare it, and yet the church will not hear it.
Those Jeremiah tears are very painful.

Pastor's cry when it seems as if things are falling apart around him and there is seemingly nothing he can do about it. No matter what he says or does, the church still seems fragmented. These tears are like the tears of a parent whose adult children hate each other.

Pastor's cry. No doubt about it. There are numerous reasons for the tears. What can you do about it? You can weep with him. You might not agree with him or particularly enjoy his ministry. But recognize the fact that his heart is torn.

He might love pastoring, but not be particularly good at it. Cry with the man who perhaps has misinterpreted his call. He might have used manipulation to get the church only to find out that it's not what he thought it would be.

Cry with a disillusioned man who perhaps has missed God and needs to receive direction from God. He might have blundered and said wrong things.

Cry with him as the Holy Spirit does an operation on his personality. He might not have any idea where he is going. His wife and children are mad at him and the church for having to move again. Cry with a man as he agonizes over his family.

Pastor's cry. No doubt about it. Cry with him.

Thanks for the great words RR!

Posted by Darrell at Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Finish Strong!

A friend posted a link to this on my messaging board and I had to share it here.
Sometimes we think we have it so rough that we just want to lay down and quit...
We're done.
Sometimes we think we have it so bad we wish we'd die.
We THINK we have it rough... and the truth is, sometimes along the way... we really do have it rough. It is a long way to where we are going and it does get weary.
But as the man says, Will you finish strong?

When Man Manipulates God

For most of the past year I have had friends in the ministry tell me how that the downturn in the economy was affecting their church, yet somehow, it was not really taking it's toll on the church where I pastor.
I just continued to thank God that we were not facing what seemingly most churches were facing. Somehow, we actually saw an increase in giving. Actually, I think some of this was due to another occurrence that was beginning to take place in churches do to the economy bust. With the downward spiral of the economy, people have begun returning to the church. Imagine that? Things get rough, people turn to God. We saw the average attendance in our church swell from an average of 42 per week last Spring, to over 85 in October and most of November. Giving in our church did not drop through most of 2008, but then again, it did not increase either, despite doubling in average attendance.
So, in reality, giving was certainly dropping during this time, but the increase in attendance and the offerings that the new folks gave offset the loss.
But then something interesting happened. Gas prices began to fall drastically. And guess what happened? The last 6 or 7 weeks of 2008 our attendance fell by nearly 45% and giving fell off by nearly 70%. There is only one way to view it... when the pressure let off, people no longer had a need for God in their lives... so they began to stay home and they kept their money as well.

Now, what does all this say? In my humble opinion, it means that there are a lot of people who have not yet surrendered their life, all of their life to God. They want God on their terms and their conditions. What they really want is a rescue net, not a Master to whom they are servant. It seems they only want God for what they can get, rather than for what they can give. Yeah, I know that some will get a bit angry when they read that comment, but the only people who will be angered are those who are trying to manipulate God.

I'm not writing this to "slam" my church. Far from it.
This is a trend that is happening in churches all across America. In the past few weeks I have spoken to several other pastors who are facing a severe financial crunch too. One shared that as of January 1 he had to let 3 staff members go because they money just was not there to pay them anymore.
Another pastor told all of his staff (including himself) that they would all be taking a 15% cut in pay effective January 1. One church where a friend pastored made the decision to cease operation at the end of December and he has gone on staff at another large church.
The list goes on and on. The financial crunch is definitely impacting many churches, some worse than others.

In my church, we are hanging on, but by the slightest of threads. As I said, attendance has been way down, and giving is so bad that we have only met budget 3 of the past 16 weeks. We cannot sustain that much longer.

Now here is the question that I would like to ask: Isn't 10% ALWAYS 10%?
I mean, no matter what you base it from, 10% is still 10%... and that is what the tithe is... the first tenth of our increase. Just a couple of days ago, someone told me that they were making less so they could not tithe any more. They said to me that they had to make a choice to cut something, so they would have to cut giving to the church.

THAT, my friends, is the crux of the problem!
When we decide to cut the tithe, then it is no longer the tithe! The reality is that we have decided that we know better than God.
God told us:
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

OK, so church giving is down... which means people are no longer taking God at his Word... which can only mean one thing... That same passage tells us that when we do not obey God's command in our giving, we are cursed with a curse. God's blessing and protection is not on us. It becomes a vicious cycle. We withhold on our tithe and offering, and God's blessing ceases to be there, which makes things get worse, so we withhold more, and the cycle continues. And many people, simply stop going to church, because when they go, they feel guilty because they know they are robbing God, so the old, "out of site, out of mind" thing falls into play. Meanwhile, their finances suffer, problems keep cropping up in their lives and the lives of family members... the job is threatened or gone, and they become mad at or question God why these things are happening.

Suggestion for anyone in that place..
Take a look at the family budget. Has the FIRST tenth gone where God says it should go, which reflects h is ownership? If not... then you have discovered the problem. When we simply obey God, in faith, with our tithe and offering, He says he will rebuke the devourer on our behalf. When we disobey in our giving, then we are saying that we don't trust or honor God... and the devourer is free to reek havoc in our lives.
How is it corrected? Simple... start obeying God!

Forget the idea of going back and making up for the past... start anew.
Ask God to forgive you for the past, and begin today to do what the Word of God says and watch what happens. God says "Prove me now" or "Test me in this." If you will do what he said, He will do what He said, you will be blessed and prosper, and churches will not suffer in the process. Pretty simple.

A Few More of the Kids

Teen Invasion

So, tonight the teens have invaded our house. Some of them are leaving town, headed back to college this week (one of them later tonight) so they decided to crash our house to play games and have pizza. They are having a riot... and to tell the truth, I am too, just listening to them have fun. Here is a few shots of them I snapped a few minutes ago.

Just Do It God's Way

I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that others are like me, in that sometimes I try to map out my own plan for my life. I mean, I know that I need to submit myself to the Lord and wait, but sometimes things look so good, that I am tempted to do things or go places on my own. Those that know me well, know that I really love Florida and probably even more importantly, I loathe cold and snow. Several times over the years now, opportunities have presented themselves before me to pick up and go to Florida. We need to recognize however, that every “opportunity” is not always a good thing. For example: In 1999 after a particularly stressful pastorate and events in my life and the life of our family, I resigned my church and we bought a house for a time of healing. I was still very active preaching as I filled the pulpit of an independent church for a pastor who was ill for nearly a year. But I began to feel the itch to pastor again after a few months. Through connection I had, I was introduced to and then asked to pastor an independent charismatic church in Tallahassee, Florida. OK… everything looked perfect. This was a pretty good sized church that offered me a compensation package that was just incredible, a beautiful home to live in, and it was in Florida. What more could I ask for? It was perfect… but I kept hearing and seeing road blocks which I knew were the Lord. I didn’t “get it” at all, but I declined their offer. Less than 6 months later, I was asked again and as I began to check this out further, I discovered that there was a group of men who were all quite wealthy and they ran that church. In the previous 4 years, that church had been through 6 pastors. I would not have lasted long there, and I know it. There have been several other situations that have come up over the years that are similar. Opportunities or situations have presented themselves that looked great, sounded great, and fit MY plans and designs, but they were not of God. Then there have been just the opposite, where I did not want to do something or go somewhere, but with prayer, I realized this was God’s prompting hand in my life.

So, why am I sharing this? Because I have been feeling for a couple of days that the Lord was prompting me to write and tell someone that before you were born, God already had a plan for your life. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:11

“In whom also we have been chosen to an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His own will,”

That verse from The Living Bible puts it this ways:

"All things happen just as He decided long ago."

Notice, it says "all things". That includes the things you and I don’t like and maybe even want to run from! Remember the story in the Bible when Jonah tried to run from God and go to Tarshish, God said: (my paraphrase) "No way. My plan is in place. If I let you escape I wouldn't be God. If I have to I'll send a storm, rock your boat and put your life on hold in order to accomplish My purpose."

And of course we remember how that when Jonah could go no lower he prayed and God answered him, just in time for him to go and preach in Nineveh, his original destination that God had pointed him toward. The point is, we can go the easy way or the hard way, but eventually you will go, or your life will be miserable!

The Psalmist said, "Your way...is in the sanctuary...Your way was in the sea [storm]" (Ps 77:13 & 19 NKJV). The point that I am trying to make is that you do have a choice. You can go God’s way, or you can go your way, but when you go yours, there is a lot more heartache and pain, and the reality is that we have brought it upon ourselves. But the choice is yours.

Understand this: You have been picked for a purpose. And you need to recognize that God has too much invested in you to let you get away with the things that “self” is trying to get you to do. He will send storms your way and even sink your ship if that is what it takes to get you to do what He has called you to do. If it means that you have to come on a stretcher… when He calls you'll come.

If you have to leave behind a relationship, or an addiction, or a personal agenda, you'll come.

And you'll know it's God, because you'll be willing to leave behind those things which now mean nothing, in order to live for those things which now mean everything.

So, for your own good, make up your mind to walk with Him all the way and follow His plan. Make a decision now to just do it God's way.

The Orders Remain Unchanged

I stumbled on this little piece today that spoke volumes to me and I wanted to share it with my readers. I hope it speaks to you as it did to me.

One of the most fascinating sites to visit in Washington D.C. is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. For 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a platoon of 30 honor guards protects the tomb through rain, snow and even hurricanes! It’s been guarded every minute of every day since 1937.

A single sentinel takes his post guarding carefully, walking exactly 21 steps then pausing for 21 seconds before turning around and continuing his duty. The number 21 is in reference to the 21 gun salute which is the military’s highest honor given to a soldier. When the changing of the guard takes place, the orders are passed from one soldier to the next – “Orders Remain Unchanged.”

As we enter into a New Year, the world is rapidly changing before our eyes! As the war unfolds in Israel, a new President takes the helm in the U.S., the world economy is on the brink of complete collapse – one thing hasn’t changed — our orders from God to preach this gospel of the Kingdom to every one!

Continue to stand guard, watching and being ever alert of the times in which we live; and never forget that our “Orders Remain Unchanged!”

With so much work to be done, let’s be sure we enter 2009 with our priorities intact –

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you…”