Life is a Journey
Thoughts on LifeReading from Bill Hull’s book, Christlike – the Pursuit of Uncomplicated Obedience.
He makes this statement in the introduction: I believe that our consumerist, hyperactive, impatient church has hijacked the idea of spiritual formation. When we walk into the door of a local church, it seems as though we are in a negotiation mode: “God, how much of my life can I still control and yet reap all the benefits of submission?” Is there a way to address the inner life without being selfish? Is there a way to move Christians from being consumers predominately focused on self to being committed followers predominately focused on serving others? I think there is.
It is time to rethink what it means to be a Christian. It is time to rethink how, if we did become mature spiritual beings, we could affect the world.
Wow! He’s got my attention. Then, reading from Acts 16 I find that verse 25 bothers me. Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Could it be if I was less consumeristic in my Christianity I could be more like Paul and Silas? Could it be if I walked in the fullness of His Spirit and lived more in light of His Kingdom agenda (and less concerned about my comfort and agenda) I might be more likely to have a witness like these men? Why is it I’m less likely to have a heart full of songs of praise when life is hard? Hmm, this needs additional attention in my life and walk…
Thoughts on Acts 13
It occurs to me while reading Acts 13 today that verse 52 has something important to say to me. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52 (NIV) This verse comes after Paul & Barnabas have been run out of town. The Jews, jealous because of what God has been doing through these men incited influential people in that town to the point that they were persecuted and expelled from the region. Slandered, persecuted and run out of town – and yet they are full of joy and of the Holy Spirit. Leaders influenced people against these men who were simply obeying God. They were simply doing what they were supposed to do. Doing the right thing and spoken ill of. Doing the right thing and talked about in ways that are untrue. Doing the right thing and persecuted.
Our joy is not supposed to be connected to what people think of us. It’s not supposed to be about whether we’re accepted, loved or treated right. It’s about being filled with the Spirit and obeying God. After all, if God be for us who can be against us? If we’re obeying God is it really all that important that people agree?
I pray that we are reminded today that it’s not about how people treat us, but about what God thinks. May we seek the Lord with our whole heart and seek the filling of His Spirit that can empower us and fill us with joy regardless of how others treat us. Then God will be glorified. Then our joy will be full.
Sabbatical update:
As you know, my sabbatical began January 4. During this first month I’ve intentionally kept my communication with the church at a minimum. This time of disengagement has been good for me. It has helped me focus more on simply walking with God and seeking him for rest and renewal. From a pastor’s heart I would confess that disconnecting from the family God has called me to shepherd has been challenging. For the remainder of my sabbatical I will be posting regular updates for those interested in following this journey.
As I write this my primary emotion is one of gratitude. I am thankful for a time of rest to begin to get my strength back. I’m thankful for my bride that walks by my side. I’m thankful for a church that loves me enough to allow this time. I’m thankful for God’s presence and work in me during this past month. I’m even becoming thankful for the pain and difficulty of the past couple of years because it is causing me to seek my Lord passionately.
The first third of my sabbatical has been primarily rest and renewal. In addition to rest I’ve attended two conferences that have prepared my heart and mind for what God wants to do next. The first was a conference in Dallas January 15-17. The second was the Pastor’s Conference at FBC Jacksonville Florida January 29 – February 2. This event was recommended by Dr. Clark. Between the two I’ve experienced six and a half days of wonderful enrichment and growth. During these events God has used some wonderful men and women of God to challenge, encourage, teach and develop me more in the image of Christ. People like Tony Evans, Ed Stetzer, Al Mohler, Bill Hull and Jim Cymbala. There are others, some that aren’t well known at all but God has used them in some amazing ways in my life during these weeks. I’ll share more with you about these events later.
This coming month I’ll be working toward enrichment and growth. This time will be for seeking God to help me grow and develop in His image that I might be all that He has called me to be. A key element of this will be my reading and study. You can find my reading list on the website if you’re interested. This is reading in addition to my daily Bible reading. I’ll be sharing in my blog things that God is teaching me through this process.
I am also praying about a week of mission/service. I have a couple of possibilities and am praying for God’s specific leadership in this. I’ll share more as this develops.
I thank you for your prayers and support during this time. Please know that I’m praying daily for you and for all that God is doing in our church family during this time.
Pastor Al
Sabbatical
January 4, 2010 I began a three month sabbatical. This came as a result of being completely exhausted. I allowed myself to get to a place of being depleted emotionally, physically and spiritually. Believing that the concept of sabbatical is Biblical I began several months ago to pray and plan toward this point. My church family was gracious enough to support my request and in doing so invest in my well-being and the future of FBC.
This time has already been a godsend and blessing in more ways than I can articulate. God has been at work and I have great hope and encouragement for the days ahead as I seek to walk with Jesus on this journey!
In upcoming posts I will be sharing my journey during this sabbatical. I will share things God is teaching me, ways He is stretching me and preparing me for what He has in store in the days ahead.
Al
Planned negligence…
I was privileged to attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit again this year. Actually it was at a satellite location in Springfield, Missouri. This is always a spiritually refreshing time. God speaks through the speakers and challenges us in fresh ways. I find that it is so important that as a pastor I have times away when I am fed, challenged, directed and encouraged by the Lord. It is easy to let the tyranny of the urgent discourage these times away, but they are of utmost importance. Jesus modeled times of planned negligence for the sake of renewal and time with the Father. I would be terribly unwise and arrogant to presume that I don’t need the same and more.
For me there were three favorite elements of this conference. First God used multiple speakers to confirm some areas that He has been leading me into. I deeply appreciate the confirmation God provides through His Spirit and his people. The second was a speaker named Wess Stafford. Wess is the President and CEO of Compassion International. His testimony of God’s faithfulness to use our brokenness was very powerful. I am praying and looking for ways to use his talk with our church. Finally I enjoyed a talk by Gary Hamel. Gary is the Director of Management Innovation Lab and a Visiting Professor at the London Business School. He spoke on Managing Differently Now. It was a wonderful dialogue on change and why it is essential that we sometimes change. Not change our core beliefs or Biblical foundation, but change our methods and systems for accomplishing our unchanging purpose. When the world around us is continually changing, lately at an ever increasing rate, and the church’s approach to reaching this world does not change we are ever increasing risk of becoming irrelevant to most of our world. It was both a challenging and encouraging talk. I look forward to sharing this with leaders in the church to encourage additional dialogue about the importance of appropriate change for the sake of reaching our dying world. Certainly and interesting and difficult subject.
All in all it was an excellent conference that God has used in my heart and life. I pray God continues to speak to me and guide in this journey of being a pastor. If God doesn’t lead me, I really don’t want to take the journey.
Al
Future Faith – thoughts from my bride
I woke up this morning in prayer as I do most mornings.
Although this morning came with passion for a Future of Faith. Looking out to future generations of faith.
Years ago when Al and I were newlyweds and fresh in the Lord together, in our church there were no couples our age. There were older people who had raised their children in church and had prayers that one day their children would return to the church to their faith, and to the Lord.
I thought often of God’s promise in his words, “Raise your children up in the way of the Lord and they will not depart from it.”
Many years have passed and we find ourselves at the end of the journey of “raising our children in the way of the Lord.” They did not depart from the Lord. And now they our on their own journey of raising their children in the way of the Lord.
Passing our faith on in our families is priority in our journey in Christ. Our daughters were preachers-kids. My constant prayer was that they would find a very close intimate relationship with their Lord and savior. They did.
Recently our younger daughter and her husband moved to the small community of Republic outside of Springfield, Mo. They had been living in Springfield and were attending the 1st Baptist Church of Republic, where they had found lots of couples their age that they enjoyed the worship and fellowship in that church. They joined this church and bought a home there in the community.
Not long after they become actively involved in the ministry of this church, my daughter found herself sitting beside the pastor’s daughter in a Baptist type meeting such as my daughter had never experienced in her fathers ministry. Details were never brought to the surface to anyone’s understanding, toward the Pastor. After too much stress and lack of constructive communication, the whole church staff resigned in one Sunday evening. The Pastor of youth, the minister of children, the worship minister and the Pastor.
When this Pastor came to this church, he was asked to minister in a way that he would bring young couples into the church. He did bring many young couples in to the church. They are all gone now. Now there is a new church in Republic full of young couples and also older people who have a passion for future generations in faith. In their 3rd Sunday of worship together they were 127 in attendance. Worshiping in joy and passion of raising their children up in the way of the Lord.
The 1st Baptist church of Republic recently displayed on their church sign “old fashioned music and preaching.” My question is, do they love their traditions, heritage and hymn books more than they love the Lord or God’s plan for future generation of faith?
I am a Pastors wife that God has given an extreme passion for our young adults and families in my church of 1st Baptist Pea Ridge. I am so thankful for the ministry in our church that promotes the growth of young families and the future of their children. As I become older and hopefully more mature in the Lord, my personal prayer is that I am a part of God’s ministry in a current world. I love seeing the passion of younger people worship with all their hearts in the songs of their time period more than my songs of old, because I see Christ alive in their hearts. And our Faith marches on into the future as God has purposed it to do.
In the fly leaves of my Bible I have what I call my Hall of Faith. My mentors who have inspired me with their faith. Elders of my life who touched me in a way that has formed my inner spiritual character.
Edith Burling taught me simple faith and trust and keeping a single focus on the love for God and all his people.
Maxine Lee reconfirmed the importance of loving the church, God had placed me in. She said this church needs a lot of love. “Love never fails.”
Maxine Richardson showed me faith in action, her presence, her hospitality, her servant’s heart will forever change who I am in Christ daily- thank you so much Maxine.
Maxine Morrison’s great joy and sense of humor, a spinster retired school teacher, she read the Bible through on an average of 6-7 times a year.
Edith Laramore’s caring for others, making sure the Pastor knew of ministering needs of everyone in the church, networking fellowship to care for one another’s needs. On her dying bed as I held her hand a few days before she passed away she expressed her understanding of the churches need to minister to a current world, in new ways.
There are more in my personal Hall of Faith and I am sure more to be added. It has been important for me to remember those who God used in the building of his kingdom and the future of an on going faith.
Please join me in these prayers for our church:
Truth prevails over the darkness of dissention and gossip.
God helps us to see a world in need of a savoir as more important than ourselves and our traditions.
Elders who are willing to Love and affirm young families in our church, and also pray that because we have a heart for future generations of faith, God will increase our ministry.
Protection for the Pastors and all those called by God to lead the Church.
A closing thought:
When I think back about the church that was waiting to see the children who were raised in the Lord to return. Was it the staleness and stagnant traditions of their perceived ideas of church that they raised their children up in, rather than really raising them up in the way of the Lord?
The church split my daughter has gone through left parents behind in the ole church with their good ole fashioned religion and a very small group of ole people who cling to their traditions. Their children, as young adult are willing to move on into the future ministry of new generations.
I want to be one of the ole people that wrap my arms around them and cheer them on, rejoicing in worship with them and hopefully mentoring as God calls me.
–Kim
May 3 Reading: 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17; Psalm 2; Matthew 20
Scripture: Matthew 20:12 These men who were hired last worked only one hour, they said, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.
Observations: This is interesting – first, these men agreed to work for a day’s wages. So the problem is not that they were cheated, but that those who started later, even as late as one hour before day’s end, were paid the same. That doesn’t really seem fair. Well, that’s not fair, is it? After all, they have borne the burden, the majority of the work! Sounds familiar, somewhat like the older brother in Luke 15. No fair, Father! I served/slaved all these years! Grace is seriously unfair!
Application: I need to put away my scorecard, my measuring tape, my time clock and my rulebook. God promises grace – unmerited gifts – riches beyond my imagination – mercy, not justice. Shall I sit in His grace and compare?
Prayer: Father, help me see your amazing grace for just what it is. Help me recover from wanting to keep score. Be gracious to me & my brother – neither of us deserve it! Amen!
May 2 Reading: 1 Chronicles 16; Psalm 106; Matthew 19
Scripture: Matthew 19:25-26 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Observations: Hard for a rich man… Who then can be? If possessions hinder, if riches hinder entry to the kingdom – where does that leave us? We who are physical beings, living in this physical world where our 5 senses rule? Where does that leave us? It leaves us in desperate need of what only God can do. The only way any of us has hope is through the saving work of Christ on the cross. Salvation is completely a work of God – He is our only hope – with Him this is possible! However, we should not ignore the message of the Rich Young Ruler – our possessions cannot be more important than our God – or we are at risk of missing the kingdom for stuff!!
Application: I must trust completely & only in Christ for salvation/entry into the kingdom! I must keep my God as first in my heart & life – not my stuff!
Prayer: Father, help me. Apart from you – I don’t stand a chance of heaven. Remind me to honor & value you and your kingdom above everything on this earth!
May 1 Reading: 1 Chronicles 14-15; Psalm 132; Matthew 18
Scripture: 1 Chronicles 15:22 Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it.
Observations: The Levite placed in charge of singing before the Ark (hence before the presence) of the Lord was evidently selected for this task, this leadership role, because of his skill. Could we assume it is biblical, even intelligent to have people doing what they’re skilled at? Could it be this is more important than tenure or relations? Does this mean we aren’t being unbiblical or ungraceful when we evaluate skill in relation to roles & responsibilities?
Application: Skill matters. This may be easier said & understood than applied in the context of the local church. It seems there are other considerations. Now, grated there are considerations of attitude, walk with God, Spirit control, etc. Skill is most certainly not the only issue, but this makes it obvious that it is an appropriate biblical criteria. Duh!
Prayer: Father, give me the wisdom and courage to use your biblical standards in your church. Amen!
April 30 Reading: 2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 13; Psalm 63; Matthew 17
