Life is a Journey
Thoughts on LifeArchive for family
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
Insider or Newcomer?
Remember Me? I’m back!
Ok, it’s been way too long since I’ve posted anything here. Let’s see if we can get this moving again.
I know last time I talked about tradition and meant to follow with something else on the subject. Too much time and too many thoughts since then.
I have a strange thought process rolling around in my mind. Who counts more? Newcomers or Old-timers? Insiders or Outsiders? Strange question? Think about it. In the average church do we base decisions on what is best for insiders or outsiders? When we consider opinions and reactions are we more concerned with newcomers or old-timers? Is that a simple question or is it more complicated than a first glance suggests?
It seems to me the longer you are a follower of Christ the less you understand how someone far from God thinks. We “once were lost, but now we’re found.” Once we knew what it was to be far from God, unfamiliar with church and how things usually happen there. We become a believer and begin to attend church. We get to know what life is like there. What is expected and accepted. We begin to grow and learn. Then one day, not sure exactly when, we become an insider. We become a part of the established congregation. We’ve been around a while. You might even call us an old-timer. Old-timer is not an age; it’s about how accepted and established a person is. You can be in the youth group for a few months and be an old-timer, an insider.
You might be an insider or old-timer…
If you’ve ever said, “Who are all these new people?”
If you’ve ever thought that it’s not fair or appropriate for someone to ask that “new” person for their feedback or opinion before they ask you.
If you can’t easily remember how foreign and difficult the initial experience at church can be.
You might be an outsider or newcomer…
If you find yourself wondering how to connect with some of these people who already have their relationship calendar full and sometimes seem to look at you like, “who are all these new people?”
If you wonder why most of the music is kind of slow.
If you wonder what makes an organ sacred.
If you don’t know what KJV, NIV, NASB, CEV or ESV stands for.
If you can’t quickly find the Bible book of Micah.
If you occasionally feel like you are in a foreign place and need a translator to understand what is happening.
So, back to my question. Who matters more? Should more decisions be made with consideration for Newcomers or Insiders? You know, policy decisions, music decisions, mission/purpose decisions, outreach decisions, pretty much everything. Well, I don’t think the answer is quite that simple. But consider this. Best I can determine the mission our Lord left us with involves some pretty serious involvement with Newcomers. If we ever develop a we vs. them mentality we are in trouble. It wasn’t so long ago that I was a Newcomer (ok, maybe it was a while…) and so were you. If any church gets an Insider mentality or approach to decisions across the board, it is a matter time before Newcomers no longer feel welcome. The ability to reach and disciple new people will significantly diminish. The word Ichabod comes to mind.
So, who matter most? We all do. Get over any mentality that produces labels. It’s about us, we, family, community. We have one Lord, one Faith, one God and Father (see Ephesians 4:1-6). You, new or not, are not separate or different. We are all sinners saved by grace, adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ. Next time you look across the table or aisle and think, who are these new, old, different people? Walk over and introduce yourself and bridge that gap! Take the initiative! Be family! Be one, as our God is one. There is no we vs. them, there is no me or them in God’s family.
A Transformed Church Building…
A couple of weeks ago Kim & I went to see a movie in a refurbished building here in town. In fact, it was the old building that used to be the home of the church I pastor. Just in case you don’t know this already, in July of 2005 we moved from the old downtown church building that had been home to this church family since 1929. It was a difficult decision, but after much prayer and research it was determined that it would be more costly to remain in the old building than to relocate and building something new. There were issues of accessibility, code compliances and space issues to name just a few of the determining factors. After a long journey of looking for land to build on, planning what the new building would be like and the actual construction process itself, our church has a new home on the west side of town.
Interesting thing though, people keep asking me what I think about what they’ve done to the old church. I have learned that not everyone means the same thing when they ask that question. Some people are asking what I think about the cosmetic changes, like the new stucco on the outside of the building. They are curious about whether I like the changes. Others aren’t talking cosmetics at all. They want to know what I think about an old church building being transformed into a place of business. The old building is now home to two movies screens, and soon a tanning salon and various other business ventures. I have quickly learned that some people have some rather strong opinions on this issue. Some feel it verges on being sacrilegious to take a “church” and do these other things in it.
So, what do I think? Well, I like the cosmetic changes. I was a skeptic during the process of covering the old brick, but the finished product looks great. I think they took an old building and improved its looks significantly. At the same time they did all of their improvements without losing the unique character of the old building.
What about using this old “church” for new things? Should we be concerned about that? Well, I wouldn’t want to see it used for anything immoral. The new owner plans for The Blackhawk Plaza to be a family friendly place, so that doesn’t seem to be a concern. You see, when it comes right down to it, the building is not the church. It is a place where the church meets. The church is a group of disciples of Jesus Christ who join together to seek the purposes of God together. Granted, there are inevitably some emotional connections to the building a church calls home. Important events take place there. People meet with God there; significant times of worship, emotional and often life changing decisions take place there. People are baptized, married, and memorial services take place there. So, it is normal and appropriate for us to connect great memories to such a place. But, is it wrong in any sense for something new to take place there after we move to a new home? No, it’s not. In fact, I would rather something take place there that adds value to our community than for the building to sit empty and be unused.
Actually I believe it is more wrong for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ to allow inappropriate things to take place in and around our bodies. After all we learn in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV) 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. The building is not the temple, we are. Wouldn’t it be a tragedy to be more concerned with what happens to an old building than we are with what takes place in our body, where the Holy Spirit of God lives?
So, next time you drive by a church building, remember, we are the church, not that building. God doesn’t live in buildings made by men, but rather in the hearts of His children. So, honor God with your temple.
Life is a Journey – Enjoy the ride.
A couple of things have contributed to beginning this blog. Both of our daughters, Lindsey and Laurie, blog. You can keep current with many of their thoughts and the significant events of their lives through their blogs. Recently Lindsey sent me a link to the blog of a pastor where she lives. I enjoyed reading it and the wheels began to turn. Then last week I had lunch with a new pastor friend that has a blog. After lunch I checked out his blog and I was convinced.
I will be writing about many things here. Sometimes it will no doubt seem somewhat random. There will be thoughts about this journey that God has us on. Many times I will share my observations on the road of life. Often what I write about will be related in some manner to the church. Sometimes it will be the church I am privileged to pastor and sometimes the church in general. Sometimes I will write about family or motorcycles or just the stuff of life.
Life is a Journey. I’ve been on this journey long enough to realize a few things. I am convinced that God intends for us to enjoy this journey. I think some of the best things about the journey are the little things, the things that we didn’t plan for, the things that happen while we are on the way to something else. I think sometimes we get so caught up the busyness of trying to go too many places and do too many things that we lose the point of the journey. I fear that many people are busy going somewhere in this journey of life, but when they arrive they might be surprised or even disappointed at where the road they chose led them to. It seems to me that on this journey we really must choose carefully. We must choose our direction, our path, our values, what will be most important to us, how we will value the people we journey with, what we will do with the God that gives us the opportunity to take this journey and many other decisions that affect our journey.
So, I look forward to sharing some thoughts with you. Next time I’ll share some thoughts about a transformed church building. Until then, enjoy the journey.
Al
