Questions Without Answers

 Because we are a youth oriented church there is no ministry to the elderly except to do their funerals.

Because we are an evangelism focused church there is no ministry for those who cannot evangelize.

Because we think there is only one place to go to church we make it hard for those who need to move.

Because pastors are not allowed to retire we listen to them slowly fade away, telling the same old stories.

Because we think that warehousing the elderly is good we make no provision for taking care of our elders.

Because we spend so much money on bigger building is there any left to help people in need?

Because, because, because. I wish that I had the answers to these questions.

Support Your Pastor

Did you know that people who lose a lot of weight often feel angry about it? They seem to resent the fact that they had to work so hard just to be thin like those around them. That they had to suffer and sacrifice just to be accepted as normal.

I wonder if pastors ever feel an inner resentment over the sacrifices that they had to endure to build a work for God. They say it's a work of God and not a work of a man. But, they did a lot and they put in a lot of work to make that happen. The years of doubt and uncertainty, wondering if it will ever work. The fasting and praying and outreaching that they did at the beginning. They may wonder how it works when it finally does work. But they paid a dear price just to be accepted by their peers and their pastor as the real deal.

We need not only to pray for our pastors, but we need to join them and we need to accept their vision as our own. We will never work as hard for it as they did. But we are critical to the success of our church just like them.

We Can All Get Better

 Have you ever wondered why professional athletes need coaches? They are the best in the world. They epitomize excellence every time they take the court or the field. And yet every one of them has a coach or a manager. Is this superfluous, or is this necessary?

I listened to a professional surgeon address this idea of coaching. He hired a retired surgeon to be his coach. Not for a day or a week or even a month. But for a year. This coach did not find any glaring errors. But he found a list of small things that would make a professional surgeon better. Coaching made him a better surgeon.

In the ministry, we train disciples, help them get started. And if they are successful, we let them go on their own. Conference is not a time to learn how to be better at preaching or teaching. Conferences are public events, like a championship game. It is a time to shine, not a time to improve.

We are too young of a Fellowship to have retired successful pastors who could work as coaches. But could you imagine the excellence that could begin to be exposed if we did? How many times have you heard a guy preach who is a terrible public speaker? But because he is God's man, no one can correct his flaws or instruct him on how to get better. We think that anointing makes up for terrible conduct in the pulpit. If anyone says anything then they are rebels.

All professional athletes have coaches. Professional orchestras have conductors. Business professionals have managers or corporate officers. Pastors are on their own. God help the successful pastor who grows so big that he cannot be improved. We can all get better. It is a rare man who does not need coaching.

No church will grow beyond the ability of the pastor to preach and teach in public. He owes it to himself, and to his church, to be better. There is no virtue in remaining ignorant and unlearned if you can be better.

Random Thoughts

Is a church service for the sinners in the pews who are saved, or is it for the sinners outside who are unsaved?

Is church just an outreach, or is it a place where sinners saved by grace meet with God?

Is discipleship where we make guys better soulwinners, or is it a training ground to make new pastors?

When we have no visitors, our pastors almost do not know what to do.

What happens when young men choose careers over ministry? When our vision does not capture them?

The Tabernacle and the Temple were not seeker sensitive. 

Men look for better methods. God looks for better men.

To be much for God, we must be much with God.

That's all, folks.

The Future Is Known

Artificial Intelligence is not God and honestly, it is not even good at what it does. AI doesn't do half of the things that it's promoters claim. Could it be that AI isn't a tool to help us but a weapon to control us? People use AI to create funny pictures or YouTube content. We are overwhelmed by virtual doctors and virtual experts who are wrong. The few things that Gemini or Claude get right are useful, but rare.

I remember life before the internet. I definitely remember life before AI. Tech is looking for ways to control us, not ways to help us.

I see a time in Bible prophecy when this current trend could come into play to fulfill God's plan for the Christ-rejecting world.

"He causes all both small and great , rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13:16-17

So while the lords of tech make their plans in secret, God already has revealed to us what will happen.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Things That Happen As We Age.

 I recently read about things that happen to us as we age no matter how hard we work and no matter how much we wish and pray that they would not happen to us.

1.Your body is changing and it will never be the body you had as a youth again. The secret is to cooperate with the body that you have and not feel betrayed by the body that you used to have.

2. You circle of life is growing smaller by the day. Life naturally narrows with age. People move away. People disappear. People die. If you live long enough you will outlive all of your family and old friends.

3. Your prince is not coming to save you or sweep you off of your feet. You yourself are responsible for your own emotional wellbeing. 

4. Relevance changes with time. The reason you feel invisible or ignored is because technology has moved past you. You are not as influential or important as you once were. And you no longer need to compete.

5. Regret can suffocate you if you let it. You did the best that you could with the tools you had and the rules you lived by. To survive you need to make peace with your past.

6. Time becomes more and more precious. We do not have time to waste on drama or on conflict or on vision. Wisdom teaches us what is really important to invest the time that we have left on.

There is one more thought to add to this list. I call it the "But God" card. Life diminishes as we age. But God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

Security In Being Settled

 I moved here to be close to my family. I was tired of being all alone. But since I moved here I have decided that this is where I will live until I die or until Jesus comes again. It is not a perfect place to live. But I can make a life here. I have made good friends and I have a good place to live. So this is where I have started over and have put down roots.

As long as I can I will live in this old house. As long as it's there I will be a part of my church. Who knows what the future hold. But as far into the future as I can see this is and will be the place for me.

There is a security in being settled.