Sunday School Thoughts 10/31

 Here are some thoughts that were inspired by pastor Rubi's Sunday School lesson this morning. 

1. Maturity is the ability to see the big picture. To be content with the part that you play knowing that it is not the center of attraction. To understand that the kingdom does not rely on you doing everything yourself.

2. Maturity is the ability to support your pastor's vision without being the pastor. To live with the understanding that you are not the keystone and the vortex of all that the Holy Spirit is doing in our church.

3. Maturity is the time when you can be happy without being giddy. That you can have joy without being silly. That you can trust God wile making some decisions without Divine Guidance. You can pray to touch Heaven and not to show how super spiritual you are to us. You can fast and no one will know you are fasting.

4. Maturity is growing up as a person and as a spouse and as a parent and not living your Peter Pan fantasy cloaked as spirituality and zeal. Maturity is living within your limitations without making excuses.

5. Finally, maturity is what happens when you keep coming and do not give up. Maturity is the result of trials endured and conflicts overcome and faithfulness over time and still being here when you have chances and reasons to leave. 

He that endures to the end will be saved. Anyone can stay saved for 6 weeks or 6 months or even 6 years. But will you still be saved when better people that you have turned away from their faith? This is how we become mature Christians.

My Year Of Discovery

 I am 8 months into my year of discovery in south Texas. I set out to learn and to grow and to find out what life is like in this strange new place. Just as life is similar everywhere life can be so different as to be unsettling. Everything from the traffic to the weather to the food to the culture is different from what I am used to. My new church is different, living near my children is different. Things that people here are familiar with are different to me .I was prepared for this and I am working to learn and to grow, but it ani't easy!

The way God created the universe and the world reflects how we as people depend on familiarity and predictability. The times and the seasons are things that, once we learn them, we can plan around them. Once we learn how people act and react we can make plans involving people. One thing that God is is He is faithful; we can count on Him in every situation of life because He is reliable. God says and does nothing by chance or luck or off the cuff. His compassions are fresh every morning! Like clockwork.

Some people never try anything or do anything new because of our need for familiarity and predictability. It is easier to do nothing new and it gives stability to life to have a familiar path to walk down. But it is good from time to time to stir up the nest and to try new things and to see what we've been missing. You may find that the old wine was better and go back to it. But you will be richer for having tried something new no matter how unsettling it is in trying.

Growing Pains

 All of the time while in Prescott and we either moved to a new location or built a new building I never remember pastor Mitchell or pastor Greg spending much time focused on our involvement or our commitment to doing what the new building would require.  I remember looking at the new floorplan and wondering how many more ushers we would need just to take up the offerings. But it was facts, not fear, that drove my curiosity. We needed a bigger cleaning crew and a security team and ushers and nursery workers. But otherwise it was business as usual and people filled the needed positions as they were asked to help out. It was more exciting than stressful.

Our church here has moved many times over the course of it's short history. You would think that this is the first major move that they have made the way our pastors are focused on making sure that we get it. Preaching sermons and using adult Sunday School to emphasize the need for an expanded service crew.

Or is this the first building that they have built that is driving all of the stress and concern?

Pray for our pastors. They carry the weight of responsibility that none of us carry.

Why I Attend

 We had our fall church picnic today. We get together by what are loosely called Bible Study groups even though there have been no home studies here for over 2 years. Each group cooks it's own food and prepares all the fixins and we loosely eat together.

I attend, not because I enjoy eating outside or because I am a fan of watching volleyball, but because it is too easy for me to stay home all alone. So I make myself go and I enjoy it for a while. But I am glad to get back home again. And I am glad that I do not have to hear about it in a phone call from my family. I was there in person.

One way to combat loneliness is to be with other people. As a part of a church I do that on a regular basis. 

Fall Festival

 My first year of living here has been my year of discovery. Learning how life is lived in South Texas. Learning what it means to be a member of the Door. My plan has been to be open minded even when I do not approve or understand.

This Sunday night we are doing a Fall Festival in the parking lot during our Sunday night service. I have no idea what this is about or what it will look like. But I intend to go just to see for myself what this is all about. 

We're not in Prescott anymore Toto.

Eat The Fish And Spit Out The Bones

 Driving down the freeway the other day I hit the scan button to find a radio station to listen to. A so-called Christian music station came on so I listened for a while. I do not normally listen to Christian radio as I do not like the music that they play. But as I listened I noticed that as the song played they reached the end of the song and proceeded to repeat the end over and over and over again. And it hit me; we sing songs in church that someone heard on the radio and liked and thought they would be good songs to sing in church. And we sing them just as they are played. We do a good job at copying the song in every detail.

It's no wonder why our song service is so hard for me to get in tune with. We are singing songs in a style that I personally do not like or enjoy or listen to on my own. The impact of the words do not carry beyond the spirit of the performers who recorded those songs. But at least now I understand why we sing songs like we do here. It is the same reason why I sing songs like I learned them to begin with somewhere else. 

I do not expect this church to change. But it makes it easier for me to ignore the things that annoy me.  I am able to eat the fish and spit out the bones.

Faith That Ministers

 I caught some sort of a bug on my trip to Corpus Christi this past week. Just feeling overall listless and weak with a little bit of a cough. Definitely not covid sick, but sick enough that I will stay home from church tomorrow so that I do not share what I have with others. I put a mask on to go to the grocery store to keep from spreading any germs. I do not need any government health official to tell me how to behave when I am sick.

But this is not about the CDC. This is about my family. My daughter came by today after asking if there was anything that I needed. It was nice to have someone to check up on me. When I had real covid-19 I felt like I might not survive and no one in Prescott came or called even after I missed church 3 services in a row.

Our faith might be useful to win souls but if it is not strong enough to help us be mindful of sick brethren maybe our faith is not all it needs to be.

Still Learning And Growing

 I am so glad that we have church this morning. I am interested to see how things are after conference here compared to the post conference experience in Prescott. I do not compare SA to Prescott to criticize but for my own benefit to help me understand this world using the only reference points that I have which were my years in Prescott.

For example my friend in Prescott has served on the donut crew for years. He told me how many donuts and how much coffee they go through in a day during conference in Prescott. In our conference we used a small fraction of those items. That is interesting to me. Our conference this past week was a great time of ministry that was perfect for the pastors and disciples in this region and out of this church. It was not Prescott Conference but it did not need to be. It was refreshing to me to see and to hear how things are said and done at this level.

I pray for my pastors. Pastor Mitchell grew with the Prescott church and the Fellowship. Pastor Rubi has done the same here. Pastor Warner also grew with the Tucson church and that part of our Fellowship and has become one of the premier elders of our Fellowship. I know how important it is for younger pastors to gain the invaluable experience of ministering in a conference setting no matter which conference it is.

I am grateful to be here and to be saved and to be able to learn and grow even at my age. 

The Curve of Cultural Adaption

 This diagram is a very simplistic illustration of a very real phenonium. The dreaded culture shock that many experience when relocating to a different culture. Students experience this when studying abroad. Missionaries experience this on the foreign field. I experienced this and I am continuing to work my way through this since I moved to San Antonio. Adjusting to new people and to new cultures and to new food and to a new church climate can be stressful. There are the internal battles and there are external battles. All I will say is do not make it hard on expats who live among you. It is hard enough for us without you adding fuel to the fire. And pray for our missionaries. They go through the same things that everyone living abroad does. And do not let your emotions or your so called friends make you leave too soon. The best is yet to come! God saves the best until the end. The end of a things is better than the beginning of it.

One final thought. San Antonio is a military city and the Door has numerous military families who are here by the will of Uncle Sam. They need your help and your support and your love as much as any new convert from the mean streets. Some of you have been saved long enough to know this and to know better than to be mean to people trying to adjust to your crazy world.

Prayer Request

 Please remember pastor Harold Warner in your prayers. He broke 2 bones in his lower leg. They did not have to do surgery but they did put his leg in a cast. Pastor is a courageous man who preached twice on Friday with a broken leg. His race is not run yet. There is more for him to do in Tucson. We need these leaders to continue to contribute to our spiritual wellbeing for a while yet.

Blessing And Cursing

 I wondered when it would finally happen. Tonight after serving all week at conference, an old time saint here came right out and said that they were far superior to me in spirituality because they would never leave their church to move somewhere else like I did. That did 2 things. One, it earned that person a place on my do not talk to list. And second, it allowed the Devil to fire a firey dart at my mind. It's sad when church folks do the Devil's business for him.

My prayer is that God will bless those who bless me and that God will curse those who curse me. Amen!

Great Word From Pastor Warner

 It was good to see pastor Warner seeming to be well rested and alert and preaching in his usual style. An excellent message. Hour long sermons can be great when they have the material to fill them out!

Also, we made it to the end of the donut crew with no more conflict or bossy women and so I may just volunteer to serve like this again!

A Good Day

 Today is the final day of our conference. I am looking forward to one more day of serving. I am looking forward to hearing pastor Warner this morning. And again tonight. I am looking forward to the announcements that I expect to hear tonight. All in all today ought to be a good day in the Lord.

Conference Anouncements

 Exciting Thursday night announcements from conference. I trust that the church will post the announcements on the web page like Prescott does. But pastor Rubi announced four missionary couples tonight. To Vietnam, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Hawaii. The couple to Hanoi is from our church in San Antonio. Tomorrow night is the time for more announcements as God always saves the best for last.

If you want to join in with us you can give on our web page. The Door Church San Antonio.

https://www.thedoorsanantonio.com/

Long Winded Preaching

 Last night pastor Warner preached for one hour. It was a good message. But it was not one hour worth of material. It seemed like he was filling time at the end to hit a certain mark. It felt like a pop song that repeats at the end before it fades away. I was spoiled by pastor Mitchell who could say more in 40 minutes than most men can say in one hour or more.

I think that pastors who preach long do it by repeating themselves too often and by digging too deeply into material that is not that dense. When you over explain it is either because you do not feel like you did a good job explaining in the beginning or it's because you think that your audience is not smart enough to understand what you are saying.

No one is doubting the authenticity or the validity of pastor Warner or his message. When you have heard as many sermons as I have you begin to notice things beyond the giddiness of those who are hearing things for the first time. Or they act like that anyway.

There have been times when I was enthralled by words preached by pastor Warner. My prayer is that God will strengthen his mind to understand what his church needs and give him the ability to continue to minister to those needs in a way that does not wear them out in listening. 

Pastor Mitchell used to tell us that the mind can only understand what the seat can endure. I was always grateful that pastor Greg set a timer when he began his sermon to tell him when it's time to end. 

Don't let your enduring legacy be how long you preached but rather what you said.

The Coffee Crew

 I am grateful for the chance to help with the refreshments crew at conference this week. It is not a big job nor is it a hard job. But it meets a needs for the conference attendees to have a break in the morning. We provide coffee, doughnuts, juice, and watermelon slices. Plus the weather has been perfect so it is pleasant to go outside to fellowship with your friends. We do all of this while y'all are inside hearing the preaching. And we are glad to do this for you. If you think that this is worth it put something in the offering marked "Refreshments". Thanks!

Great Conference Ministry

 A great word from pastor Greg this evening on Distractions. Wow, I knew that he had a word from God tonight. I was so blessed to hear my former pastor preach twice today. I can only say thank God for a great day today. 

Conference Thoughts

 Watching pastor Greg on stage last night made me realize how much of an influence he has had on my life. I felt like I am not crazy and that there is a reason for what I do and how I do it! Pastor Greg did not jump to his feet when everyone stood up to sing. Not everyone in the Fellowship stands to sing my friends. To see him scanning the audience during song service, which I do every service, and which pastor Rubi does not do, was interesting.  To see him worship when it is time to worship and not worship pedal to the metal the whole time. I felt like I was almost home last night.

Change is not easy but it is necessary to keep us from getting stuck in a rut. But to see a familiar face in a changing world was like a breath of fresh air last night.

The rest of the week I am helping during the day. I have one of the few jobs that I am not required to wear a suit and tie to do. They sure do things different in south Texas.

Conference Time in San Antonio

 Conference begins tonight for us and this is strange. To be in conference and it's not Prescott. I have been to other conferences as a pastor, but this is a first for me as a layman. So I will see how it works and how it goes. My prayer is that God will visit these pastors and their wives with a breath of fresh anointing by the Spirit and that young men whom God has called will surrender and do what the Lord has called them to do.

One other thought. Facebook and Instagram have been down all day. It made me wonder what would happen if it went away? Social media is a luxury not a necessity. We do not need social media to live like we need food and water and shelter. Which makes me wonder if the whole tech revolution has caused us to major in minors and focus on sideline issues. It's like making a meal out of ingredients rather than prepared dishes.

So it's off to conference tonight. I won't be posting pictures on FB.