White Winter Days in the Church?
Filed under: Body of Christ, Encouragement, Random Thoughts, church growth
Today in South Carolina, we have one of those odd occasions in which the ground is covered in some white cold substance. In the north, it would be called snow or ice, but here we get mixes of all forms of precipitation and it just shuts down the world. Is your church having a snow season? In the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, the witch has kept the land of Narnia in an eternal winter until the children come and along with Aslan, save Narnia from the witch and spring comes. Some churches seem to be having a season of eternal winter that resembles the shut down world of South Carolina in an ice/sleet/snow storm. How do we get from the land of God’s Frozen Chosen to the warmth of Jesus’ love without losing our standards and convictions? We must ask the question of ourselves first. Are we crazy in love with Jesus Christ or are we just trying our best to live by the rules our church culture has put on us? If we are in love with our Savior, the following of him will begin to come naturally. If we are just trying to live by the rules, we will become bitter. (Now that guy in church who never smiles makes sense huh?…pray for him! He thinks he is saved!) Finding our passion in Jesus Christ is the only way to warm up the church and find our way out of the winter freeze!
Standing up for your beliefs!
Today, Scott Roeder’s trial came to an end as he was found guilty of murder. He freely admitted that he pulled the trigger causing the end of the life of abortionist George Tiller who was himself a serial killer of babies. Scott is now heading to prison for a good many years. While I don’t know him, from what I have seen of this man, he is someone who holds his convictions very deeply. He knew he would go to jail. He didn’t try to escape. I believe he had weighed out the consequences in his mind and found the taking of one life to save the lives of others was worth those consequences. He may be in prison, but he can sleep easier knowing that the blood of babies being killed by Tiller is not crying out to God wondering why no one will protect them. I know many Christians feel that Roeder did wrong because he took a life. All through the Bible, there are examples of God sending judges to end the lives of those who are doing evil in the sight of God. I don’t know if Roeder is a Judge sent by God or just a guy who went off the deep end. But in the words of Rabbi Gamaliel in Acts 5: 38-39 “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Roeder stood up for his beliefs and is now paying the price for that. My question for him if I could meet him would be. “Do you have peace in your soul about the decision you made or do you regret it?”
Becoming a great church/organization!
What separates the good or lousy groups/organizations/churches from the truly great ones? Geoffrey Bellman and Kathleen Ryan say we need to dig deeper into the wants, needs and motives that cause people to work together. Bullet points that I admittedly did not come up show us the traits that great groups exhibit:
- A compelling purpose that inspires and stretches members to make the group and its work a top priority
- Shared leadership that encourages members to take mutual responsibility for helping the group be successful
- Just-enough-structure to create confidence to move forward, but not so much as to become bureaucratic or burdensome
- Full engagement that results in all members jumping in with enthusiasm, sometimes passionately and chaotically, regardless of role
- Embracing differences so that group members see, value, and use their diversity as a strength
- Unexpected learning that translates into personal and group growth
- Strengthened relationships among members characterized by trust, collegiality, and friendship
- Great results, tangible and intangible
We have all been a part of groups that just seemed to exist with no purpose. If your church is that way and you are in a position of leadership or are willing to step up to a position of leadership, then help them find a purpose! Remember, Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Those Great Moments!
Filed under: Encouragement, Random Thoughts, Wonderment, accountability, healing, ministry, personal growth, praise, thanks, worship
Sometimes in ministry, it seems as if all is going great! GOD is working beside you and accomplishing great things through you! Those are the Great Moments! Those moments are when hundreds of people pack the altars asking God to forgive them and take over their lives! Those are the moments when you lay hands on a cripple or even a dead person and they get up and walk! Those moments when you are seated next to someone on the plane and before you touch down there is a new name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! So what about the other times? Those moments when our spiritual walk with GOD seems stagnant? What about when we don’t even feel like reading God’s Word and even praying over meals seems like a forced exercise instead of time spent with our best friend? As is clear from my taking some months off from writing on this blog, I just went through a time where my passion for ministry if not even my passion for the Lord was in a very low place. The great thing I learned is that GOD is the same in both places! HE still walked beside me each day even when I didn’t pick up the Bible to start my morning. HE still wanted to spend time with me. That was incredible! So, enjoy those GREAT MOMENTS, but realize that GOD is the same even in the not so great moments.
Filed under: Direction, Encouragement, Fear, Random Thoughts, creativity, personal growth
God has been challenging me lately to be more bold in sharing HIM with strangers. I don’t mean standing on a street corner shouting “YUR ALL GOOOIN TAA HEEELLL! ” I simply share stories with people of what God has done in my life. Each of us has a story to tell. Mine is one I have shared before in this post. You may not feel like your testimony is worth sharing, but each of us has influence with someone! Your story is YOUR’S to share! No one else can share your story! God has given it to you so that HE can use it to reach others for HIM. When we share what God has done in our lives, let it not be just in Church and with other Christians. Step out and share your story with people who might look at you like you are crazy. They may not drop to their knees and ask Jesus into their heart when you are done, but they can’t tell you that your story isn’t true…it is yours. Remember that ultimately, it is up to God’s Holy Spirit to convict someone to realize their need for HIM to come into their lives. All we can do is BE Christ-like and share with them what God has done in our own lives. IF our actions and our words are saying the same thing, even the most hardened atheist will listen. At the writing of this blog, NOT ONE of the people I have shared with since God put this challenge in my heart have come to know Christ as I was talking with them. While I would love to say that I led hundreds of people to the Lord in the last weeks, that isn’t so. What I can say is that God has let me share with people about HIS work in my life, instead of just talking about the weather. Each of those conversations at very least made the person think. One lady asked me to pray for her…so I see that as a step toward Christ rather than away from HIM. It has also meant that I have had the chance for some very real conversations with people. If you are tired of the “It sure is cold. “ “Yep, I wish it would warm up.” type conversations we have in checkout lines, try sharing something real that God has done in your life.
PS. It was good to take the break, but I had some things to say…so my shut down blog is on a hiatus. Have an awesome day!
15 Minutes of Glory!
Filed under: Body of Christ, Encouragement, Prayer, Random Thoughts, Sunday Reflection, Wonderment, community, evangelism, fellowship, ministry, missions, personal growth, praise, worship
Yesterday, I had a chance to see just a little bit of what the party in heaven must be like when someone comes to the Lord! NewSpring Church had a 10th anniversary celebration at the BiLo Center in Greenville, SC. Just being able to praise an ALL POWERFUL GOD along with 15,000 or so other people was incredible. The great thing was the altar call…over 350 people came forward to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior! The service was about 2 1/2 hours long and could have gone longer! During the altar call people clapped and cheered for those who were laying their lives down to let Christ take control of their destiny! For 15 minutes, 15,000 people were in unison praying for those down by the stage. For 15 minutes, there were no problems, no divorces, no debt, no tax issues, no kid problems or parent problems! For 15 minutes of Glory, people stood and cheered for the ALMIGHTY GOD who was GREAT enough to reach down and save not only those who walked forward but each of us who were cheering as well. We are ALL broken vessels saved by a LOVING GOD who cared enough to make a way for us to find HIM through HIS SON JESUS CHRIST! That was 15 minutes of GLORY!
Great Blog Post!
Just read this post, and while it was written months ago, I found it inspiring!
The original URL is: http://daniellwalker.blogspot.com/2009/12/looking-back-to-obamas-election.html
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