The title of "My World Today" seemed as good as any other when I had a job (or 2) to go to on a regular basis. But it seemed not to fit what, it seems to have become, retirement. I'm still trying to come to terms with my life as it is, but with God's help, I'll make it through. But that is not what I want to explain right now. Why did I change the title of my blog AND why "Life Without a Briefcase"? Let me explain.
I graduated high school in 1967 and was going to business college for computer programming. Because of the Vietnam War, however, all teenage males knew that sooner or later a decision had to be made. Without going into the decision itself, or the options, MY only option was what branch of the service I was going to go into. The draft was going strong and the "Lottery" approach to the draft had not yet been enacted. The draft happened on a county by county quota. If your county had a lot of draft age males, perhaps your draft notice might not come until you were 20. But in my county, Madison County, Ohio, there was a shortage of draft eligible males so I knew my draft notice would come shortly after my 19th birthday. So I enlisted in the Air Force instead. After basic training, basic and advanced electronics schools, I was given orders to go to the island of Guam in the Pacific. What I found out was, at that time, each airman carried his own pay records in a dark blue circular tube. This tube was an incredibly odd size and shape to carry. And there didn't seem to be a good way to carry it. I was determined to find some way to carry this thing that wouldn't be so awkward yet would be securely stowed away and I wouldn't forget it. As I looked in stores, nothing seemed to fit. After a lot of searching, I found out that Samsonite had a very thick briefcase made of some type of hardened metal and plastic that was just large enough to fit the large blue tube into the front of the briefcase if I didn't put anything into the back of it. After carrying it halfway around the world, I found it to be handy to carry to work everyday. As the years went by, both in the Air Force and later in the Federal Aviation Administration, I found it to be an everyday necessity. When I started pastoring a church in Michigan and later in Kansas, I found it even more vital to carry. When I retired from the FAA I was still carrying one to my office at the church. But after I retired I brought it home and forgot about it. The other day I happened to look over in the corner of my office, here at home and saw it. I realized that I hadn't touched it since I brought it home the last day I pastored up in Parkville,MO and that was the longest I had gone since I was 19 years old without carrying one. In fact, I carried the same briefcase since I became a supervisor with the FAA in 1986 (a gift from my wife LaDonna). The only reason I had retired the earlier briefcase (I've only had 2 in my lifetime) was that it took an unfortunate stab in it's top by a forklift (another story). I realized that my life had taken a sharp turn when I looked at my briefcase over in the corner all alone. My work life, both the good and the bad were now a thing of the past. Even though I didn't specifically retire from preaching and pastoring (the Lord had just told me to resign the pastorate I was at) it seems clear now, that part is over as well. Not because I wish it to be, but because the need, for me to be either, seems absent.
So, "Life Without a Briefcase" it is!
God bless all who read this,
Dave Mingus
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Faith - misunderstood. And a truly Bad Scifi movie
A couple of items have been banging around in my head (plenty of empty space to bounce around I suppose) the past couple of days. One is of a religious nature and the other decidedly not.
I was watching a television program called "Combat Hospital", I believe this past Monday. One of the story lines centered on a chaplain serving with this particular combat hospital. While not giving away too much of the story, the drama surrounding the chaplain was on her faith. The central theme of her part in that episode was that she was struggling with her faith because she could see no reason for one soldier's loss of the use of his legs in particular, and in general any reason from God for the chaos of the war around her and the concurrent loss of life and limb thus she could see no purpose for her being there. She felt useless! That makes for a good story I suppose; I don't write TV screenplays. What it does bring up is that it is true-to-life for many in our society today. The strength of their 'faith' is directly proportional to how much they THINK they understand koo about what is going on around them. This is understandable since this ranks up high on mankind's shortcomings/sins. It is hard when your day-to-day life is a swirl of confusion and chaos; to remember exactly what faith is and isn't; what God is, and what we are.
What is faith? I'm not going to give you a dictionary explanation. Neither am I going to give you a "Strongs" or "Youngs" definition. No interlinear Bible is needed. I want to give you a definition that may help more in your day's struggles. First of all, true faith is NOT understanding why God does what He does! Faith is a relationship with God! If your faith is based on understanding either God or why things happen in your life and the lives around you; that faith will ultimately fail. In every life there are simply things that we cannot understand! We do not have the capability to understand. Our fallen carnal nature prevents us. We wish for God to explain what we do NOT have the capabiliity to understand. In the book of Job, from chapter 38:4 and continuing through chapter 40:2, God asks Job a series of questions because Job had decided God was required to answer him (Job). This is a scripture we all need to remember, especially in the times of confusion and doubt we have. Job 38:4a is a bellwether for this speech from God. "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" I have heard some men preach this in the manner of God scolding Job for even asking; as if God said 'HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THESE QUESTIONS?' I would like to propose a different reading. I believe God is asking these questions of Job to lead Job to an understanding that all these questions God is asking of Job are elementary questions that Job must understand; have an answer to (beyond 'I don't know') for God to even begin explain to Job why He (God) does what He does.
I spent my working years studying/working on all things electronic & digital for the federal government (FAA). If you were to come to me and ask me for an explanation of the specifics of how radar works, including how the radar waves are formed; how they travel down the waveguides; why ports can be in the waveguide and not disrupt the signal, then I would, at first ask if you've had (and understood) advanced courses of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, differential and integral calculus. Have you had basic and advanced electronic theory? Do you understand the role of magnetics in electronic and waveform theory? Are you current in all computer operation theory, both basic and advanced? If all those things are true then we can start a conversation about the specifics of radar. I believe God is saying something similar (although the answers to His questions are above our ability to understand at all). We as fallen man cannot even answer the first question!! "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" God asks and we must remain silent because we cannot answer this most basic of questions He asks of us!
If this is true (and I believe it is) why do we struggle with this so much? I believe one reason, perhaps the greatest reason is a 'two sides of the same coin' reason. We don't have a HIGH enough view of God or a LOW enough view of ourselves. We have slipped into the sin mentioned in Romans chapter 1. Verse 25 says in talking of mankind 'l exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator......" Put simply instead of the Genesis 1:26 truth 'Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image"' every time we demand of God, or suggest in our minds that God must give us an answer for us to worship Him, we are, in effect, attempting to "make God in our image". To demand of God an answer in order for us to have faith in Him is not faith at all!
We have all done this at one time or another. How can we, with God's help, correct this. First of all, retain God's word in your heart and mind! This involves reading and studying God's Word. Secondly understand that prayer is not some shopping list we give to God. Prayer is about 2 way communication with Him who has established a relationship with us. Prayer is putting that relationship into action. Any valued relationship requires that we invest our time.
Words fail me! This is a poor example to be sure but perhaps this will help. LaDonna is my wife! She is my wife when I understand her and she is my wife when I don't understand her at all. She is my wife when she does what pleases me and she is my wife when she does that which doesn't please me. In all cases she is still my wife! When I talk with her it is a two way communication like none other on this earth that puts that relationship (husband-wife) into gear. That communcation is the grease which enables that relationship to work as it should.
Again, Faith is being in a relationship with God, not about understanding God. We simply do not have the capability to do so. He is HIGH, we are LOW!
So how do we prepare for those 'earthquakes' of our lives that do not make sense to us; that we can't see how this works into God's plan?
The way I've tried to prepare is to grasp the realization that I do not understand the details of God's plan, I never have understood the details of God's plan, and I never will understand the details of God's plan, at least as long as I am on this side of that doorway we call physical death.
Item 2: Definitely not of a religious nature.
I'm a geek. I have been a geek since before the term was used to mean what it has come to mean. As any proper geek, I love sci-fi (not fantasy....flying dragons don't do a thing for me) and I watch sci-fi when I can. So this past weekend I set the DVR to record a movie that had been advertised for weeks on the SyFy channel called "The Watchmen". The way they advertised it, I assumed a good to great plot with a SciFi backdrop. Last night I got around to watching it. What the movie turned out to be was something far, far short of what I was expecting. What was received was a 3 hour movie that should have been a 20-30 minute episode on the Twilight Zone with a plot that can be summarized as this old chestnut: "The ends justifies the means". I shouldn't have watched all of it but I assumed that somewhere in the 3 hours allotted for this movie, it would get better....it didn't! And to make matters worse, the backdrop they chose to stretch this one-liner plot into 3 hours was a bad combination of the old Buck Rogers episodes in the 40's and 50's combined with badly lit poor imitation of the original 'Dune' movie (the one starring Kyle MacLachlan and Patrick Stewart, not the abysmal miniseries done in 2000 which missed the whole 'messiah' idea). Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery but it makes a lousy backdrop for a movie.
I was trying to think of any movies I've ever seen that would come close to being as bad as this movie. I'm sure there are more but there are only two that come to mind. Number 1 was "Inside Daisy Clover". This movie was shown at the "Gloria Theater" (I believe that was what it was called) in Urbana, Ohio at about 3am on the night/morning of one of the Proms I attended while in high school. The 2nd was probably one of the "Valley of the Dolls" movies. Instead of watching these movies perhaps staring at a picture of your least favorite family relation for 2 hours would be a better use of your time. 'nuff said.
That's it for this week. I realize you may disagree with me on one or both of items I've written, so I'll relay something told about me from a Bible College professor who was confronted by a student from the church I pastored in Michigan. This professor told the student that "Your pastor (that's me folks) had the right to be wrong."
I guess we all have that right. Just don't be wrong about your faith in Christ, however you define it!
Stay close to your family and closer to God.
Dave Mingus
I was watching a television program called "Combat Hospital", I believe this past Monday. One of the story lines centered on a chaplain serving with this particular combat hospital. While not giving away too much of the story, the drama surrounding the chaplain was on her faith. The central theme of her part in that episode was that she was struggling with her faith because she could see no reason for one soldier's loss of the use of his legs in particular, and in general any reason from God for the chaos of the war around her and the concurrent loss of life and limb thus she could see no purpose for her being there. She felt useless! That makes for a good story I suppose; I don't write TV screenplays. What it does bring up is that it is true-to-life for many in our society today. The strength of their 'faith' is directly proportional to how much they THINK they understand koo about what is going on around them. This is understandable since this ranks up high on mankind's shortcomings/sins. It is hard when your day-to-day life is a swirl of confusion and chaos; to remember exactly what faith is and isn't; what God is, and what we are.
What is faith? I'm not going to give you a dictionary explanation. Neither am I going to give you a "Strongs" or "Youngs" definition. No interlinear Bible is needed. I want to give you a definition that may help more in your day's struggles. First of all, true faith is NOT understanding why God does what He does! Faith is a relationship with God! If your faith is based on understanding either God or why things happen in your life and the lives around you; that faith will ultimately fail. In every life there are simply things that we cannot understand! We do not have the capability to understand. Our fallen carnal nature prevents us. We wish for God to explain what we do NOT have the capabiliity to understand. In the book of Job, from chapter 38:4 and continuing through chapter 40:2, God asks Job a series of questions because Job had decided God was required to answer him (Job). This is a scripture we all need to remember, especially in the times of confusion and doubt we have. Job 38:4a is a bellwether for this speech from God. "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" I have heard some men preach this in the manner of God scolding Job for even asking; as if God said 'HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THESE QUESTIONS?' I would like to propose a different reading. I believe God is asking these questions of Job to lead Job to an understanding that all these questions God is asking of Job are elementary questions that Job must understand; have an answer to (beyond 'I don't know') for God to even begin explain to Job why He (God) does what He does.
I spent my working years studying/working on all things electronic & digital for the federal government (FAA). If you were to come to me and ask me for an explanation of the specifics of how radar works, including how the radar waves are formed; how they travel down the waveguides; why ports can be in the waveguide and not disrupt the signal, then I would, at first ask if you've had (and understood) advanced courses of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, differential and integral calculus. Have you had basic and advanced electronic theory? Do you understand the role of magnetics in electronic and waveform theory? Are you current in all computer operation theory, both basic and advanced? If all those things are true then we can start a conversation about the specifics of radar. I believe God is saying something similar (although the answers to His questions are above our ability to understand at all). We as fallen man cannot even answer the first question!! "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" God asks and we must remain silent because we cannot answer this most basic of questions He asks of us!
If this is true (and I believe it is) why do we struggle with this so much? I believe one reason, perhaps the greatest reason is a 'two sides of the same coin' reason. We don't have a HIGH enough view of God or a LOW enough view of ourselves. We have slipped into the sin mentioned in Romans chapter 1. Verse 25 says in talking of mankind 'l exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator......" Put simply instead of the Genesis 1:26 truth 'Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image"' every time we demand of God, or suggest in our minds that God must give us an answer for us to worship Him, we are, in effect, attempting to "make God in our image". To demand of God an answer in order for us to have faith in Him is not faith at all!
We have all done this at one time or another. How can we, with God's help, correct this. First of all, retain God's word in your heart and mind! This involves reading and studying God's Word. Secondly understand that prayer is not some shopping list we give to God. Prayer is about 2 way communication with Him who has established a relationship with us. Prayer is putting that relationship into action. Any valued relationship requires that we invest our time.
Words fail me! This is a poor example to be sure but perhaps this will help. LaDonna is my wife! She is my wife when I understand her and she is my wife when I don't understand her at all. She is my wife when she does what pleases me and she is my wife when she does that which doesn't please me. In all cases she is still my wife! When I talk with her it is a two way communication like none other on this earth that puts that relationship (husband-wife) into gear. That communcation is the grease which enables that relationship to work as it should.
Again, Faith is being in a relationship with God, not about understanding God. We simply do not have the capability to do so. He is HIGH, we are LOW!
So how do we prepare for those 'earthquakes' of our lives that do not make sense to us; that we can't see how this works into God's plan?
The way I've tried to prepare is to grasp the realization that I do not understand the details of God's plan, I never have understood the details of God's plan, and I never will understand the details of God's plan, at least as long as I am on this side of that doorway we call physical death.
Item 2: Definitely not of a religious nature.
I'm a geek. I have been a geek since before the term was used to mean what it has come to mean. As any proper geek, I love sci-fi (not fantasy....flying dragons don't do a thing for me) and I watch sci-fi when I can. So this past weekend I set the DVR to record a movie that had been advertised for weeks on the SyFy channel called "The Watchmen". The way they advertised it, I assumed a good to great plot with a SciFi backdrop. Last night I got around to watching it. What the movie turned out to be was something far, far short of what I was expecting. What was received was a 3 hour movie that should have been a 20-30 minute episode on the Twilight Zone with a plot that can be summarized as this old chestnut: "The ends justifies the means". I shouldn't have watched all of it but I assumed that somewhere in the 3 hours allotted for this movie, it would get better....it didn't! And to make matters worse, the backdrop they chose to stretch this one-liner plot into 3 hours was a bad combination of the old Buck Rogers episodes in the 40's and 50's combined with badly lit poor imitation of the original 'Dune' movie (the one starring Kyle MacLachlan and Patrick Stewart, not the abysmal miniseries done in 2000 which missed the whole 'messiah' idea). Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery but it makes a lousy backdrop for a movie.
I was trying to think of any movies I've ever seen that would come close to being as bad as this movie. I'm sure there are more but there are only two that come to mind. Number 1 was "Inside Daisy Clover". This movie was shown at the "Gloria Theater" (I believe that was what it was called) in Urbana, Ohio at about 3am on the night/morning of one of the Proms I attended while in high school. The 2nd was probably one of the "Valley of the Dolls" movies. Instead of watching these movies perhaps staring at a picture of your least favorite family relation for 2 hours would be a better use of your time. 'nuff said.
That's it for this week. I realize you may disagree with me on one or both of items I've written, so I'll relay something told about me from a Bible College professor who was confronted by a student from the church I pastored in Michigan. This professor told the student that "Your pastor (that's me folks) had the right to be wrong."
I guess we all have that right. Just don't be wrong about your faith in Christ, however you define it!
Stay close to your family and closer to God.
Dave Mingus
Friday, August 12, 2011
In My Mind, What a View!
Since I left the pastorate last month, I've been using a devotional written by Free Will Baptist pastor Randy Sawyer called "Regaining Balance: 91 Days of prayer and praise". Each day Pastor Randy calls to attention a portion of scripture and guides the reader through thoughts, reflections and praise to God. I don't normally share my devotions with anyone but I seem prompted to do so today.
Today is day 18 of the study and Psalm 8:1-9 was the scripture. It begins: " O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens."
Pastor Randy asked the reader to take some time to look at a beautiful landscape or think about one. Think about how it all came into being and asked what does it tell the reader about the Creator?
This was my own poor but heartfelt response: " I've seen many places over the earth.....Of all the sights, the one I remember thinking of God and His majesty was not the most beautiful sight I've seen but one I remember well. I was flying back from Chicago to Toledo, Ohio one early evening, some years ago, on Air Wisconsin a small commuter airline. I was flying in a plane I believe was called a Metroliner; a small, perhaps 12 passenger turboprop plane. The plane never did get very high so I was able to see the coast of Lake Michigan and then the farms, towns and villages of northern Indiana and Ohio. As it was evening, the lights of the towns below started coming on but yet I could still clearly see as it wasn't totally dark yet. Even at that low altitude how small these towns and people seemed. I remember vividly these many years down the road of my life, thinking of how small and insignificant I am to the earth and society; how much the world would not even miss me should I pass from this earth.....and yet God, the Creator of all that there is, everywhere, cares for me; loves me; is concerned with my day-to-day life here on this small 'blue marble' we call earth. That this God, the only God loves me....ME!!! That He wants me to be with HIM forever eternally!!! That He provided all that is necessary for that to happen!!!. How could I not praise Him! The psalmist was right: Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
Today is day 18 of the study and Psalm 8:1-9 was the scripture. It begins: " O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens."
Pastor Randy asked the reader to take some time to look at a beautiful landscape or think about one. Think about how it all came into being and asked what does it tell the reader about the Creator?
This was my own poor but heartfelt response: " I've seen many places over the earth.....Of all the sights, the one I remember thinking of God and His majesty was not the most beautiful sight I've seen but one I remember well. I was flying back from Chicago to Toledo, Ohio one early evening, some years ago, on Air Wisconsin a small commuter airline. I was flying in a plane I believe was called a Metroliner; a small, perhaps 12 passenger turboprop plane. The plane never did get very high so I was able to see the coast of Lake Michigan and then the farms, towns and villages of northern Indiana and Ohio. As it was evening, the lights of the towns below started coming on but yet I could still clearly see as it wasn't totally dark yet. Even at that low altitude how small these towns and people seemed. I remember vividly these many years down the road of my life, thinking of how small and insignificant I am to the earth and society; how much the world would not even miss me should I pass from this earth.....and yet God, the Creator of all that there is, everywhere, cares for me; loves me; is concerned with my day-to-day life here on this small 'blue marble' we call earth. That this God, the only God loves me....ME!!! That He wants me to be with HIM forever eternally!!! That He provided all that is necessary for that to happen!!!. How could I not praise Him! The psalmist was right: Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Do you want people to come to your church?
The past Sunday is the first Sunday I've not pastored in the last 8 years. In looking to see where we'll attend, not only 1 Sunday but where to go after that, I've encountered some stumbling blocks
I need to let those who follow me to pass along to their respective churches.
As a past pastor of 2 churches in 2 different states, I've always looked at it from the pastor's point of view; now I've come at it from the 'seeker' side of the information. In putting those two views together, let me tell you what I've found AND not found.
First of all, in looking for information about local (to me in Spring Hill, Kansas)churches, I found two Baptist churches within 8 miles of me that have NO website. Maybe that doesn't ring for some of you out there but let me remind you that it is the 21st century. To have nothing directing people to your church on the web is a mistake of the first order! A great number of people don't even keep a telephone directory in their house; many don't even have an old style telephone line & number. In my household I dropped a POTS (plain old telephone system) line over a year ago and I was a holdout. When I receive a telephone book (and believe me, since I live in a town that stradles 2 counties, I get numerous phone books) they don't even come in my house, they go straight to the recycle bin. I get all my information like that from the internet. And in case you're not familar with me and decide to relegate my opinion to some 'young whippersnapper' I'm almost 62 years old. When you have NO website information, some will never know you even exist! I am painfully aware that some churches are NOT on the main streets of towns and cities. Secondly IF they know you exist they will not come if they don't know who you are! Websites can be put up for free! It doesn't have to be fancy. In fact some more of the fancy church websites should take heed to the fact that at least a portion of the people will be searching on a cellphone that may not work well with image laden or flash laden sites. Churches need to consider either putting a parallel mobile site or making sure that there is a place on your site that is not 'image heavy' or 'glitz laden'. People are coming to your website to get information about your church, not to be 'dazzled' by your website design!
Now as to the information needed by people considering coming to your church, first I want to address something totally non-internet related. PUT UP YOUR SERVICE TIMES!!!!! While you would think that I'm stupid for saying that, we have a local church here in Spring Hill, Kansas that, if you go to their church building; you drive to their church, they have NO information about when their service times are or what services they even have!! How can someone come to your church service if you don't even tell them on your church sign or building when your services are held? Do you have a Sunday School for their children? Do you have a Sunday evening or midweek service? Without service times posted at your church you are saying, "please don't come to our church. We are happy without you coming." Is that really the message you want to convey? I don't believe that was Jesus' message!
Now, back to your 'free if necessary' website, what information are people looking for? Here are a few of those things (not exhaustive):
Service Times --When do you worship?
What is offered during the service such as a nursery.
Style of dress (traditional, casual, etc) Be honest here. If you say casual but everyone is dressed in suits, ties and the women are all wearing heels, they may immediatley walk back out of your front door.
Type of service and worship style: Traditional, contemporary, high energy? Be specific, do you sing traditional hymns or is it more modern day contemporary songs? Perhaps it's high intensity? Just say whatever it is. If you say 'blended' or 'fusion' you may have just confused some people and they will reject your church because they don't understand what that means; again, be specific!
Does your church have group activities? Activities for children, teens, seniors; women, men, etc? Again be honest about whether you truly have them or not. People appreciate honesty, especially from a church!
Consider a short statement about belief. It doesn't have to be extensive but people would like to know whether or not there may be, for example, "speaking in tongues", in your church service. Again, be clear what they can expect.
Don't use your statement of beliefs to 'put down' others. I was reading a 'Beliefs" statement from a church in Olathe, KS last Saturday. At the top of the statement of beliefs they said they were nondenominational and stated they believed that denominations were used frequently to divide christians and not unite them. Fair enough. But then further down in their statement of beliefs they stated that they were pretribulational; premillennial in their beliefs. I admire their honesty and being specific but they just said denominations divide. What are denominations but churches who believe certain things about the Bible and band together to accomplish Christ's mission with like-minded christians? Being specific is imperative but take a second look at your statement of beliefs and see if it is contradictory.
Lastly (again not an exhaustive list), keep you site up to date. Many church sites I visited in the last week or so, have on their list of upcoming events, Thanksgiving or Christmas of last year.
You don't have to change the site everytime, just make sure it's up to date. Also, on your main web page, put the date of the latest update.
A church website can be complicated and in depth or very simple but informative. Let's use every means to reach those around us for Christ!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
How to 'take' the Bible
I was reading various news items the other day and one article stirred my interest. It was a 3 part article about how to obtain peace in the Holy Land. One phrase really caught my eye. The phrase was "If we were to take the Bible literally". The article went on to explain how we should throw out all notions of any historical or Biblical claims to Jerusalem and the Holy Land in order to achieve peace.
I won't debate his biased opinion...others can do that. What bothers me is how easily it is to discard the Bible when it becomes inconvenient! The phrase "If we were to take the Bible literally" astounds me! How else could you possibly take it and have even a thread of honoring it. If the Bible is the Word of God, it must be taken literally. As such, it is perfect in all aspects including history. If a person does not believe it is the Word of God, why take it at all?
What the author of the article is really saying is that he doesn't believe the Bible is the Word of God and wants all others to disregard it as well, especially when it becomes inconvenient.
When the Bible becomes inconvenient or difficult to follow is exactly when we MUST follow it! We all like the part about Jesus loving us; about John 3:16 but we choose to ignore it when it says not to call Him Lord if we don't do what he says (from Luke 6:46).
Life is not a 'gray' area as so many teach us today. It is black and white as the Bible teaches us. Actually, it's black, white and RED (Jesus' words). That's what life is!
I won't debate his biased opinion...others can do that. What bothers me is how easily it is to discard the Bible when it becomes inconvenient! The phrase "If we were to take the Bible literally" astounds me! How else could you possibly take it and have even a thread of honoring it. If the Bible is the Word of God, it must be taken literally. As such, it is perfect in all aspects including history. If a person does not believe it is the Word of God, why take it at all?
What the author of the article is really saying is that he doesn't believe the Bible is the Word of God and wants all others to disregard it as well, especially when it becomes inconvenient.
When the Bible becomes inconvenient or difficult to follow is exactly when we MUST follow it! We all like the part about Jesus loving us; about John 3:16 but we choose to ignore it when it says not to call Him Lord if we don't do what he says (from Luke 6:46).
Life is not a 'gray' area as so many teach us today. It is black and white as the Bible teaches us. Actually, it's black, white and RED (Jesus' words). That's what life is!
Friday, May 6, 2011
A New Direction
Well, Last Sunday (the 1st of May 2011), I announced to my church that I'm resigning as pastor. I've been praying about this and seeking advice of other pastors I respect about this. But it comes down to what God wants.
I don't think it can be explained to others when the Holy Spirit so 'pushes/impresses/directs (there's not really an adequate word)' you to an action.
The first duty of a pastor (beyond direction from God) is to put the needs of his church ahead of his own. While I certainly did not want to resign (I personally wanted to pastor until God called me home) it was necessary for the church. Since very few christians are loyal to a set of beliefs about what the Bible says (that's denomination's purpose), the only way I can see for smaller churches to survive is by living directly in the vicinity of the church.
The trend early in this 21st century is for people to migrate to large, megachurches. While there are certainly things megachurches can do, there are many things they cannot do as well. It is said that each person can have not more than 60 or 65 close friends; beyond that, they are just acquaintances. I believe you lose the sense of 'church family' at megachurches. You lose accountability to one another as well. And I believe that last point is why a great deal of people 'attach' themselves to a megachurch......no accountability! If you're not there, no one really notices! You have no real ministry so it doesn't matter if you are there. You never have to worry about being a part of the worship since all that is done for you; the special singing, the visitation, the outreach, all of it.
The church I pastor MUST decide whether they wish to survive and grow or to stay the same and continue the path we've been experiencing the past few years. It's just that simple!
As for me and my wife, I have no idea what the Lord has in store for us. Few churches in the day that we live in have any use for a 62 year old preacher. I'm not sure how I'll be able to handle that but as the Bible says "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me". I'm going to have to hold on to that promise tightly from now on!
As to those who continue to believe my resignation has to do with the health of my wife......what else can I say, her health had nothing to do with it!!! My decision was directed by the Holy Spirit! It wasn't what I wanted at all!! In the end it wasn't my decision, it was God's.
May God always get the glory!!!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Random thoughts from early 2011
As a man who's been around this old world long enough to pause and reflect AND a pastor who has a great concern for the spiritual health of not only the members of our church but of those who have left the church, I can't help but wonder how the church in the United States has reached the state it is in now. When did the 'Teachings' of the word of God become a minor concern in the church today. It would seem the for many of those who attend church today, making sure that church 'activities' for our families have taken precedence. I wouldn't be as concerned if those same people were actually involved in these activities/ministries but the great majority seemed to want these ministries yet don't want to be involved in working in the ministries they want for their families. Have we really become a 'McDonalds generation. We want what we want when we want it but only want to go through the drive through.....no involvement. I am truly shocked by those I've talked to who would go to a church who's beliefs they don't subscribe to, just to have the activities that would keep their families involved.
My concern is deeper than just that however since I can't believe that our attitude toward our church would be different than our attitude towards our relationship to Christ! Do we really think we can have a proper, satisfying, faith-filling relationship to Christ by giving Him, at best a 30 second prayer at meals added with a 5 minute prayer before bed???? Will attendance at worship church (no Sunday School; no evening or midweek service) really be all we need? Will that kind of a time investment give us the faith that sustains WHEN (not if) life goes bad/ our family turns against us / our health fails / and society at large writes us off as not valuable?
I have questions about these things. I feel that I have been born 'out of season' in the sense that what I see in the Bible about what God expects our personal life; our family life; and our church life in no way resembles what they actually are as being played out in our lives.
I know that the 'MESSAGE" is the only important aspect BUT I presently don't see the "MESSAGE" being given the prime and supreme position it is commanded to be in the Bible.
May God help me to do what I can as close to the way God wants me to do it.
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