06.19.09
Titles and foolishness
Senator Barbara Boxer recently held her crown high while talking to Brigadier General Walsh. Here is the video. She asked that General Walsh call her Senator instead of Ma-am during a hearing. She explained that she worked very hard to get that title. I would have been satisfied to know that she worked very hard to have the opportunity to “serve” her state in Washington DC. I would suggest that Sen. Boxer realize that the General also worked very hard for his title too. As a matter of fact, some might say that is a more noble title than Senator considering the lack of faith in politics today.
I have the title of Pastor and Reverend. Yet, I don’t expect people to call me Reverend or Pastor Scott. I don’t expect people to call me Mr. either. Many times I have told people to simply call me Scott. I do not consider myself above anyone else. By the way, I have worked very hard for my title too. As a matter of fact, I came from outside into this role as a first generation Christian in my family by working at very small churches. My wife and I have raised 2 children while serving at two different churches carrying 3 jobs a piece plus studying for ordination. Later, I added to my ordination by receiving my Bachelor’s Degree while pastoring and working part-time jobs. Yet, again, I do not expect anyone to call me Reverend or Pastor. I, too, like Sen. Boxer am in a role of service. Yet, the difference may be that I don’t think of myself as being something greater than I actually am. That exchange between her and the General really left a bad taste in my mouth because I took her to be someone who is uppity and out of touch with us “common people.”
Respect is earned and not given. To expect otherwise is foolish. And by the way, I think that the General did show her respect when he said Ma-am. I would have addressed her that way too, and would address a male Senator as Sir out of respect.
What is more frustrating this week is that a Republican Senator admitted to having an affair. This is upsetting because his country needs him. We needed him to set the example by considering family important. What is more, Senator Ensign was involved in Promise Keepers and other ministries. This goes to show that action must accompany belief. This is one of the most crucial times for our country when you consider the dangers we face abroad and the pitiful economy at home. We need our best people to deal with these issues with their undivided attention.
It was maddening to hear that the person he was involved with was also married and was promoted by the Senator and had her salary doubled recently. It makes you fear that looks and sex have turned out to be the qualifications to gain a higher place of influence with our government officials. I would rather, during these tough times, rely upon someone’s mental resume instead of their physical attributes for help and advice on putting legitimate ideas into the arena for solving America’s crisis’.
I do applaud the Senator’s wife for her willingness to work through this situation and her committment to reconciliation. My hat is off to her! My prayers are with them too.
Sen. Boxer and Sen. Ensign should remember two things. How to gain influence, and how to properly handle influence. These are two people who need to remember that great responsibility comes with leadership. Both should use it wisely to serve our country instead of themselves.
06.04.09
We feel better when someone cares
Exodus 4:29-31 (NIV)
29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
Interesting. The Hebrews were not free yet. As a matter of fact, they still had more hardship on the way. Yet, in the previous chapters of Exodus, out of bitterness and desperation the Hebrews prayed to God. So I think that it is interesting that although they are still struggling with their lives, the fact that they knew that God knew about their suffering actually was the first moment of relief for them. They felt better. And they were going to need to because their bitterness was about to increase. So how many times would we deal with a hardship in our lives if we could simply take comfort from the fact that God knows all about it and that He is working for our good too? Many times we just need to know that someone cares about what we are facing. And that Someone is God.
So what made them worship? The signs or the fact that God cared for them?
05.30.09
Politics and Baseball
It is beyond me how Americans have come to a place in history where we hold our professional athletes to a higher standard than our politicians. For example, Manny Ramirez, one of the greatest baseball players I have seen to date was caught using a fertility substance that is banned by Major League Baseball. So now he has been banned for 50 games.
My goal is not to defend Manny. Instead, I have a problem with the way we Americans want to be disgusted by this type of abuse from an MLB player, but not as outraged when The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, seems to be lying to the American people about her knowledge of the government water-boarding accused terrorists. Whether or not she is telling the truth is a different issue than Manny using a performance enhancer. But there seems to be enough confusion about what she really knew that we should put her and all involved under oath to see if she is being straight with us.
We have had other professional athletes testify before congress about the abuse of steroids. This is what is so mind numbing about our country today. How can the issue of doping in professional baseball be more important enough that players should testify before congress, or Ramirez being encouraged to sit out of an all star game as a form of repentance, than finding out if The Speaker of the House is telling the truth. If she is, than let’s find out so that Americans can know that we have a trustworthy person in that office.
04.30.09
Responsibilities a small church pastor
I thought I would share some of the “hidden” things that a pastor does since he is only seen by most on Sundays. I’m sure that we have all heard the jokes that pastors work 2 hours a week. I have been senior pastor for almost 3 years now and I have noticed that a lot of times this job is not taken seriously by many. I was also a youth pastor for 7 years before and that type of job definitely does not get a lot of respect. As I type this, I think back to those times when, as a laymen, I thought those who were in ministry were simply taking it easy. I thought this especially when I was working in the summer 7 days a week 12 hours a day. So, here are some of the responsibilities that I have as senior pastor which should give a glimpse into what most of this job entails.
- Preach once or twice a week at church.
- Visit the sick and home-bound people of our church.
- Counsel with different people as a community service and to those in our church.
- Conduct funerals and minister to their families.
- Lead couples in pre-marital counseling.
- Perform weddings.
- Seek out prospects. In other words, invite others to receive Christ as their Savior and to attend our church.
- Meet with local board and staff.
- Administrate various issues that pertain to church; organizational issues, clerical, labor, and etc.
- Seek out new ways to build relationships in our community.
- Pray for our community and church (people).
- Keep office hours.
- Remain available at all times of the day.
- Take part in many different types of meetings, some are short and some are all day.
- Be ready for anything that comes up.
- Must find time to dream and cast vision to get to the next level.
- Must also find time to take part in community needs.
So what? None of those responsibilities are too strenuous. Consider this, when the minister preaches many people might think that he is simply speaking off of the top of his head. Likely, many pastors do sound this way and maybe me included. Yet, the amount of preparation time is never known by many who hear the message. Most messages can take 8-10 hours to get ready. I may be either short or too long with 8-10 hours according to other pastors. But this is what it takes me to get that sermon in my head for the following Sunday. Now, the trick is not to always repeat yourself in your sermons which is very easy to do. You have to repeat doctrine though, for example, Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven. Although, you have to find different ways to present that truth. This means that after 3 years of preaching 2-3 times a week, like I did when I first started as senior pastor, that I feel like I have nothing new to say to the same congregation. And I am a story teller, so if I have writer’s block, this means that I am drained. Oh, but this is when the work starts. To be creative, relevant, and engaging, and some may say I’m not even close, I have to read, read, read, and read. Big deal, right? It is because I am an ENFP personality type (which means that I become scattered, have trouble focusing, and am easily distracted . . . Hey! Look there goes a bird!), also a Sanguine (which means that I am a talker looking for fun). As a result, I have to beat myself into submission to read and do what I needs to be done. I have to read to stay fresh, find good ideas, new illustrations. A lot of times there might be a key sentence that inspires me about something else. Further, I am a slow reader and have to beat my mind into submission weekly.
As a small church pastor, I easily commit much time to visiting with the sick, homebound, and especially those who are prospects. I actually enjoy this most times because I love impromptu conversations that usually take place during these meetings. Likely, large church pastors, I do not mean large by Wesleyan standards but larger, do not spend much time in this area because they have grown in ways that demands that their time is put into other areas of ministry. On the other hand, large churches may hire staff to do this, almost certainly rely upon small groups to fulfill this type of ministry. Yet, the goal for a small church pastor is to maintain good caring relationships with church people while seeking to develop new relationships with other people so that you can earn the right to share Jesus Christ with them. Plus, for those who are between churches, you have to cast vision while carrying on a relationship with them. Relationships in a small church are crucial to keeping people and finding lost people. Building relationships goes beyond a regular 40-45 hour work week.
As a small church pastor most of the ministerial work tends to come home with me. This can be an issue when you are tyring to be a husband and father. This is where seminars come in with the goal to convince you to put down your work and spend time with your family.
Imagine maintaining all of these responsibilities while you try to keep an eye on church finances. Most in the United States are shook up about their personal finances. Here’s where you can add a lot more stress on. Taking care of God’s house is not something that should be taken lightly. And by the way, teachers (that’s me) are going to give an account to God about how we managed His resources. A little frightening isn’t it?
Hopefully, you can see that a lot of hours can get wrapped up into ministry for the small church pastor. As I pointed out earlier, if you are in a sourmood, you do not have the luxury of showing up to work and being grouchy to everyone either. You have to smile and suck it up. Yes, pastors can be in bad moods too. Well, at least this pastor can. I never said that I was normal. : ) This means that as a small church pastor, I have to be ready at all times to give a comforting word to people who need to hear it. If you receive encouragement and comfort regularly, don’t blow this off as that is no big deal, many people do not have anyone rooting for them. Therefore, it is very important that we are able to do this.
I may post more about this later. At least this is a snapshot into what a small church pastor does.
03.26.09
Does God use you?
It is a simple question really. Does God use you? In my years of being a Christian, 14 years now, I have met all sorts of people who asked questions about why God had not done anything big with them like He did with those in the Bible.
I have also met Christians who were jealous of other Christians when they saw amazing things happening in someones life. They felt that God did not helped them to make a difference. Then there are those who attend churches that do not seem to be making a difference in anything. These people are continually looking for a place where it is happening. This sounds fair, right? Yet, it is likely that it is not happening because these people are looking for a way for it to happen without faith.
Consider a large church. They have many resources like people and money. These churches can almost do what they need to do without faith. Yet, God is always at work with His servants. What I mean is that although we desire to make a difference, He still uses our service to teach us about having faith in Him. This is how He reveals Himself to us in new ways.
It is often that we believe that we know Christ in an intimate way. Yet, we have not seen Him move mountains for us. This is what happens in churches where it doesn’t seem like anything is happening. But this is the school of faith for that local body.
You may ask how then do we know that God is trying to use us? This is another question that I get asked sometimes. The answer is in the condition of your heart. This is the key. I say this because there are a lot of people who just want to go out and get busy for Jesus. That is fine, but if you want the Spirit to be part of it, it should be something that burdens you; not something that looks like what you should do because you are a Christian.
Here is what I have noticed about Moses recently. He was a rescuer at heart. In his own way, he was driven to action to rescue a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian taskmaster. In his own way, Moses decided to simply kill the Egyptian. It seemed like a rescue to him. And it was; sort of. As a matter of fact, I believe that Moses went home and felt good that he did such a noble thing. After all, what was happening to his people was wrong.
After fleeing to Midian because Moses was wanted for murder he bumped into shepherd girls watering their sheep. I want to pause and say that Moses was awesome. He not only found God, later, in the desert, but he also found a wife too. Not many can go into a desert find those two things. Kudos to Moses. Anyway, these shepherd women were being bullied by men. Moses jumped in and rescued them too. Do you see what is going on in his heart? He already had a desire/burden to rescue people from injustices. He was frustrated enough about what he saw to do something about it.
Finally, God, who had been watching all that was taking place, took a person who had a general desire/burden to rescue, and gave Moses a special burden/call to be used by God to rescue Moses and God’s people. So God called Moses to be used on His mission instead of Moses being on his personal mission.
The answer to the question, does God use you? involves what burden is in your heart? If you are moved to action already about rescuing someone, God will use you. Those who desire to be missional must understand that missional is not a glamorous fad to say you are a part of. Instead, it is a calling for God’s people to be burdened enough to action. Then God who sees all will give His special call so that we can be used by Him.
Those churches who are not seeing anything happen might be able to trace their problems to unburdened hearts that do not desire to rescue the lost from going to Hell. Missional is about rescuing people from a terrible eternal fate and from bondage in this life. Until we get some Moses’ who will stand up and do something about what is not right, like people missing Heaven because they have not met Jesus, God won’t use any “Christians” until He sees a genuine desire in the heart.
03.22.09
Thoughts about Doctrine
I shared several weeks ago that we took a survey at our church to see what topics people wanted to hear in a sermon series. One of the topics was “What is the difference between Wesleyans and Baptists?” What should be made clear is that both denominations believe that Jesus Christ is the Way to Heaven. There is no other salvation for humanity.
I have also pointed out in the past that many people, especially in a Baptist culture, do not understand who The Wesleyans are. As a result, this becomes a barrier to church growth for us. This is unfortunate. Since Wesleyans and Baptists are Christians; a.k.a brothers and sisters in Christ. Now, this is important! We are all Christ followers first! Doctrine is man’s poor attempt to explain God. However, for some reason doctrine, which is supposed to help us understand God, has become a divider.
It has become a divider because there are too many clergy and laymen who insist that you beleive exactly as they do. Here is some damage that this has done and both sides are guilty.
- People leave a Bible teaching church to attend a church that teaches doctrine over Christ.
- People do not join a church even though The Holy Spirit has placed a desire in their hearts to join. Instead these people will go somewhere else because they will say they are their self-chosen denomination first instead of simply being a follower.
- When new Christians are touched by Christ they cannot help but share with family and friends about it. As a result, those family and friends who attend churches end up preaching what they want these ”Babes in Christ” to believe instead of allowing The Holy Spirit to use the Word. People, if someone has an experience with Christ at a church there is a good chance that God is using that church. So there is no need to deliver them from that church especially if God is using that church to make disciples. In my opinion, those who insist on interjecting doctrine upon a new Christian are likely shirking their responsibilities of evangelizing those who are lost.
- I have seen sheep tampered with who are growing to become more like Christ over how they were baptized and whether or not they did it fast enough. Listen, I know there are those who say that baptism is the moment of salvation. That is fine, I happen to believe that you can go down a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner.
Those were real situations that in my opinion are silly.
Here are two issues that seem to really divide Wesleyans and Baptists.
First, the issue of security. Wesleyans beleive that since God has given us free will that we can choose to reject Christ and fall away. On the other hand, Baptists believe that although God has given us free will that there is nothing we can do to lose our salvation. Here is what is ironic; when we witness someone who lives a life of sin after a confession of faith Wesleyans will say that they have forfeited his or her salvation. Baptists will say that that person who confessed Christ were never saved. This is silly to have a divide over this. What difference does it make if that person lost his salvation or was never saved? They are still lost! And both denominations agree on that.
Finally, there is division over whether or not we must continue to sin. Wesleyans say that by God’s grace and our surrender to Christ that we can be Sanctified. In other words, God can change our hearts so that we can finally be delivered from sin. This means that we can desire not to sin. If a mistake is made, like going 60 mph in 55 mph speed zone, because we were not paying attention, while it is wrong it is a mistake only. We did not intend to willfully disobey God. Baptists would say that we cannot be changed until we get to Heaven. I can’t bend on this because this is why I need a Savior now. I need to be delivered from sin now. This does not mean that I will never sin again, but it means that I do not have to be bound to sin now. This is Good News!
So here we are. The last time I checked, God has worked through both traditions and continues to do so. Those of you who insist on tampering with God’s children for the purpose of taking from one church to add to your own, Stop it! Why? You are dividing Christ. Christ is the only loser in this debate. Besides, the Bible says that The Holy Spirit calls and leads His people to a local Body of Christ. This means that you may be placing yourself against God and His work.
Jesus said that those who are not against us are for us. This was after some of the disciples saw others, besides them, baptizing in the Name of Christ. Sounds very familiar doesn’t it.
Sunday Recap
- 59 in attendance this morning.
- Several more came to our dinner after church.
- One thing that everyone comments about our church is that our ladies know how to cook.
- It looked good seeing our sanctuary full today. It is a reminder that we are going to have to move forward by faith to grow larger. We really do not have enough parking or seating to seat people comfortably.
- Our District Superintendent delivered our morning message. Buddy Rampey taught on the Jesus’ parable of The Mustard Seed. It was a good reminder that God can grow something large out of something small. Matthew 13.
- We cancelled our PM service since we had a long afternoon eating and a board meeting.
03.15.09
Sunday Recap
Here’s the breakdown for our service today.
- 47 in attendance
- 30 for Sunday school
- Rainy Sunday
- Sermon Series “Encounters”
- Sermon title “Betraying Christ”
- Sermon text Matthew 26:14-25
- Subject: As a result of divided loyalties Judas finally betrayed Christ
- 3 ideas why Judas betrayed Christ while it was foretold that Jesus would be betrayed, Judas showed that Greed betrays Christ, Christ was of little worth, and he fooled himself. Greed caused him to dip into the treasury as John pointed out. Amazingly, Judas desired money even though he witnessed Christ teaching that you cannot serve both God and money. This desire for money actually demonstrated the little value that Judas had for Jesus Christ. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver! Mary of Bethany in contrast demonstrated how much Jesus was worth to her when anointed Him with the expensive perfume. This helps us to see that Judas really betrayed Him for small cash. Judas ended up fooling himself because he was one of the 12 who Jesus sent out to cast out devils, preach, and heal the sick. In other words, he was able to perform the works that Christ does. This means that although Judas heard Jesus teach that when Judgment comes there will be those who performed all these types of things, and yet, the Lord will say “Depart from Me, for I never knew you.” This means that he only fooled himself into believing that he was squared away with Christ, but was not.
- Three questions that all Christians must consider are: Are you betraying Christ through greed? In other words, loving money more than Him. Which one has your heart? Are you betraying Christ by demonstrating that He is worth little to you? This can be done by chasing whatever divides your loyalty for Him. Oh, let’s say, . . . not showing up for church when you really can. Choosing other things over what Jesus has called you to do. Putting other things like money, family, friends, and the things of this world ahead of Him constantly. Are you fooling yourself believing that you are squared away with Christ? This means that you are a Sunday morning Christian only. You preach Jesus but do not really live for Him. May be you have taught His Word, but you don’t have it in your heart. May be you have guided others to Christ but you yourself are really far from Christ. This sounds like a large piece of the American Christian Church.
- We had a song service during PM service since Pastor Jon and I went to a Growing Pastors Dinner.
- The trend that I see in our church is that there is a third of our people that are missing on Sunday mornings. One third is absent, but then the third that was missing the Sunday before returns to take their place.
- I felt the Spirit’s Presence again this Sunday. Praise the Lord!
03.13.09
Newpring and Unleash
I went to the Unleash 09 Conference this year. Without a doubt, this was the best conference that I have been to. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot things that made an impression on me were:
- The happy-to-do-it volunteers. I think there were 500 of them. Every one of these people smiled and waved to every vehicle pulling in that I could see.
- There was a mob volunteers who hootin-n-hollerin with everyone that came in. These people were located at the entrance. They gave directions to where you needed to go. They spoke to everyone that I could see.
- It was a Thursday. I wondered how many of these people gave up a vacation day from work to help at this event on behalf of their church? I can’t even get people to come to church on Sunday consistently; and like it.
- I know that these volunteers have been coached that what they do is important. And, that they must make everyone feel welcomed; it works!
Pastor Perry Noble was straight forward in each main session. This conference was not the type that has someone come in to do some group counseling. Instead, Perry challenged everyone to weather whatever storm they were facing and go hard for Jesus. Let me share some thoughts about Perry Noble:
- As much as I would like to, out of jealousy, I can’t deny that God is using him. I see it!
- He had a breakout session for Senior Pastors only. This was conducted the right way. Pastors were able to ask questions and he answered every one. He did this graciously.
- Every pastor wanted to know how he did it. Pastor Noble was careful to point to the mission of spreading the Gospel. In other words, sharing Christ is the difference.
- He is straight forward about salvation through Jesus Christ alone. This is not a liberal preacher. He fears for people who are lost because they will go to Hell if they do not give their lives to Jesus Christ. Preachers and churches everywhere would do well to be burdened in this way.
For those seeking the formula for church growth. And, I suspect that is why most churches and pastors showed up to this conference. They want to know how to get to where Newspring is; and is going.
- Preach Jesus Christ! He is Savior, Lord, He will be Judge, He is coming back soon, He is Healer, Miracle Man, He is All that we need.
- Terms that were called a fad: Contemporary, Emergent, Missional, and etc. He believes these will outdated in 3 years. I think he is right.
- A funny illustration about Missional: All churches are missional or they are not churches. Saying that we are missional is like a fish swimming around saying I love water.
- There is no formula! Just Jesus. Amen.
The worship team was phenomenal! I would say they are as good as anybody that I have paid to see. That is saying a lot.
- I have not been moved in worship like that in a long time. Let’s admit it, we get bored with the way we systematically do it.
- It was good to see one of the singers get moved by the Spirit. I have not seen that for a while.
- The songs were so good.
- The music was loud. This meant that I could sing loud and not make anyone sick.
Let’s talk about the money!
- $59. Did you read that! I will say it again, $59.
- They did not make any money, I don’t think. They gave each person Lee McDerment CD. Great worship music! It would probably cost $16 to buy it.
- They gave us Chik Fila for lunch. $6 to buy it.
- Free drinks and snacks all day! $5 per person.
Hey! Christians! Let’s get motivated to preach Jesus. Thank you to Newspring for caring for all, no matter what denomination that is Christian, because we are on the same team. As Perry said, we don’t compete, but we complete each other. I have been refreshed.
To all of those that Perry and Newspring down, get over it. Let’s all do what God called us to do without worrying what the other person is doing. Did you know that there are enough lost in Pickens County alone that they could not possibly fit into all of our churches? I am going to seek to do my part in God’s Kingdom. What about you? Or, will you focus on petty things and continue to put Newspring down because they are getting it done?
It has been a while since someone encouraged me like I was at Unleash. Thanks be to God!
