The Williams Brothers - Still Here

My Thoughts On Social Media

 It has been made clear to me that our pastors are anti social media; Facebook, Instagram type connections. I have some thoughts that are strictly my thoughts on social media.

First, the dangerous hook-up myth. I remember chat rooms, where supposedly people were connecting with old friends and hooking up with them and by doing this destroying their marriages. Now I hear the same argument being made about current social media. That Facebook is the door to adultery. All I can say is that for me, social connections are not and have never been a way to hook up with someone I am not married to.

Second, the time waster myth. We all spend time doing what we must do and then we spend time doing what we love to do. Social media for me is not a substitution for real life. But it is a diversion from the hustle and bustle of life at times. I do not spend hours on my phone for anything except when I track my ride for exercise. Wasting time can be done in any pursuit. By helping me my phone apps help me be more effective with my time.

I know that I am not the target audience for social media. But I also know that it is a tempest in a teapot to blame Instagram and Facebook for every social ill imaginable.

For me, social media is like writing in a journal. I hate journaling. But I maintain two blogs and a Facebook and Instagram and Twitter accounts. And I still have never hooked up with a female predator or spent too much time scrolling through mindless stuff. So when I hear pastor complain about social media I just smile and nod and listen for more important truth from the Bible.

I learned years ago that the images on the movie screen or on the television screen are stylized and distorted images and not real life. This generation will learn that no one in real life lives or looks like the images on Instagram. 

Prayer Request

 Please keep Bridget in your prayers. Her treatment is very trying on her physically and emotionally. A stem cell transplant procedure is simple but the effect on her body is traumatic. Pray that the Lord will give her strength to bear up and to survive. I am asking God to give her peace through all of this. My prayer is that her family will be able to handle whatever happens to her.

Do not talk to me about miracles. Go raise her up and then we will rejoice with her. But talking about Divine healing is not the same as being healed. 

We as Pentecostals need to learn what to do and how to live when there are no miraculous interventions from the Holy Spirit.

David and the Five Stones

 Every child in Sunday School knows the story of David and Goliath. One question that comes up is why did David choose 5 smooth stones? The bible only records one giant who defied the army of Israel, and it names him and gives us a detailed description of him. David saw one giant man and yet he picked up 5 stones. With God's help David killed Goliath with only one stone. No one knew how this story would play out before it happened except God. 

Some say that because in later years David's men killed Goliath's four brothers. Four plus one equals five. But David as king did not attack one of the brothers with a sling and a stone. They were killed by strength and fighting skill. So what was the reason for the 5 stones? It is spelled out specifically. It does not say that David picked up some some stones, it says he picked up five of them.

If God told David to pick up 5 stones I think He would have told us why. If There is more to this story than what is said then I am in the dark about it. Faith is what David had to run to a fight that others fled from. He did not know how it would work out just that he knew that God would help him overcome an enemy. Not everything is important.

I am content to rest in a God who empowered a young man to do something bold and heroic. Great leaders know how to take bold action in the face of opposition. The seeds of greatness were already found in David as a young man. The number of stones are insignificant to me. The fact that Christ will rule in Eternity as a great king after the example of David is important. Biblical numerology is not.

Grateful For Ministers

 In Exodus 33 we read how the Lord spoke to Moses face to face like talking to a friend. Read it in verse 11. And while Moses was with the Lord, the people waited in their tents until Moses came back out. Pastor Rubi preached on this text tonight.

I see in this narrative a picture of a local church. We have a pastor who spends time with the Lord in prayer and study, and on set days we gather together to hear what the Lord said to our pastor about us and about our lives. No one else's face shone except Moses'. But they benefited from his relationship with the Lord.

In Acts chapter 10, Peter goes to minister to the household of Cornelius and the man's attitude is the same as us when we go to church. In verse 33 Cornelius says, " ...we are all present before God, to hear the things commanded you by God." 

I am grateful that we can pray and read for ourselves. And I am grateful that I can go to church to hear what the Spirit is saying to me and to us.

My First Home Group Meeting

 I went to my first home meeting last night. I hesitate to call it a home Bible study since it's not about studying the Bible and it never has been. It is about a small gathering to worship and to pray and to have a lesson and to get to know people better. 

One thing that I noticed is that people who cannot sing to save their lives still sing with all of their hearts. Another thing that came up is asking questions for which there are no answers. This is something that seems to be a factor of human nature. One final note. When we were asked to define "good works" no one seemed able to answer that and it devolved to witnessing, as though evangelism is the only good work that we can do. I'm sure that was not the intent of the lesson, but it was where it ended up.

Home groups are not miniature church services. They can be valuable times of sharing and questions and fellowship. But I am glad that I went and I will definitely go back for more.

Rethinking Our Immigration Policy

 Here in south Texas we deal with immigration first hand. And I wonder if in our church we need to adopt immigration style ideas to deal with the influx of people who are not from here and probably did not get saved here. 

When my wife and I returned to Prescott after almost 20 years of trying to pastor we were surprised by the coldness and lack of welcoming we felt from some of the old time Prescott church folks. It was a different church that we came home to in 1994 than the one which we left in 1977. Life had been lived and we were not a part of that experience. We had friends and experiences that did  not involve the Prescott folks. It took years for us to feel at home with people we had known for decades.

Moving here I feel some of the same resistance. I hear from some locals that Texans, and San Antonians in particular, feel like they are better than everyone else. And they think that their way is the right way. And I have had to be the grown up and adjust my thinking and my expectations to adapt to the way things are done in this church. I am sorry for my references to Prescott but that is where I am from and that is what I know.

What if we developed the attitude of welcoming new people like they were immigrants or refugees? What if we looked for ways to include them and to make them feel at home among us? We welcome new converts and we should continue to do that. New converts are the reason why we are here at all. But we also need to be mindful of transplants and transfers and others who come here and end up staying and becoming a part of this church.

It is and always has been our calling as Christians to accept and love people who are not like us and to accept the contribution of outsiders who want to help us be better than we are now. Maybe it is time for our church to rethink our own immigration policy.

More Than Men's Discipleship

 I have been to many men's discipleship services over the years. I have heard locker room sermons. I have heard kick butt sermons. I have heard go ye sermons. And then there was last night with pastor Warner. I texted my daughter and told her that it would benefit her to watch this message.

Pastor Warner gave us an encouraging word about being Christians, not being disciples. He encouraged us to trust God and to serve the Lord and to have an appetite for the Word. And then after the service was over, while I was chatting with some new friends, pastor Warner came up to me and greeted me. I didn't know he knew who I am. But he did.

Taste and see that the Lord is good was the message last night. Oh, that we had more pastors and leaders who had a heart like that!

Praise The Lord!

 Today was an amazing day. It was my first experience for a noteworthy event here in this church. And I am grateful that I was there to witness it all in person. I am grateful for all that is happening in our church and through our pastors. I am grateful for the word on Praise and Worship that pastor Warner brought tonight. I am almost speechless. Praise the Lord for the great things He has done!

Grand Opening Thoughts

 This has been the longest, most drawn-out grand opening of a building that I have ever been a part of. I have heard sermons on this new building, I have heard so many times about the influx of visitors in our new building. I have sensed the tension and the stress associated with this new building coming from the pulpit. In Prescott, under pastor Mitchell, new buildings happened, and nothing was said except to tell us when we could move in.

This Sunday it will be a great time as we have our "official" grand opening. Pastor Harold Warner from Tucson will be ministering in both our morning and evening services. Many of our local San Antonio brethren will be joining us to celebrate this event with us. I am curious if we will have a ceremonial ribbon cutting as a part of our grand opening. I wonder who will be running the organizing of this grand opening?

This is a huge milestone for this young church. It's not every day that a small church like ours can build a huge conference center building like this. But we have a church full of smart and capable people for whom this is just another chapter in the life of this local church.

Attendance in the Prescott church rose a little once we moved to a bigger location. People at first were curious. Some new people who were saved but new to the area came in and joined us. People who may have felt crowded at Ruth Street could spread out a little. And quickly the Prescott church settled into the new location and continued doing what they always did. The Prescott church was more stirred for conference than they were for a new building.

We know from experience, and pastor Mitchell taught us, that revival is never tied to big events. It is a move of God for a specific time and place and people. 

Rumors I Hope Are Not True

"Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." Genesis 3:16

I hear rumors from around our Fellowship that there are pastor's wives who seem to do everything in their church except preach. They control the finances, they control the song service, they control the furnishings and decorating, and nothing gets done without their approval. I hope that what I am hearing is exaggerated or misrepresented. I came from a Foursquare background where women did preach and where women ran the church. Thankfully in Prescott pastor Mitchell was in charge and sister Mitchell had no desire to take his place. She was in charge of her home, not his church.

I will go out on a limb and say that first, real men will not attend or support a church run by women. Second, it is unbiblical for women to be in charge in church. God said from the beginning that the men will rule, not the women. Culture does not negate the will of God as revealed in the Bible.

Once a woman is in charge, she will never give that up willingly. Her rule will have to be overthrown with force. Not physical force but moral and emotional force. Read the chilling account in 2Kings 11 of the wicked rule of Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, who took control, killed all the royal heirs, and when challenged she cried out, Treason! Treason! see verse 14. 

My prayer is that pastor's wives will learn to be content as a wife and mother and be an example to the young mothers and wives. And that our pastors will have the courage to tell her no. If our Fellowship is to thrive we must have God's blessing in our homes and our churches. Do things God's way and He will bless you. Rebellion is still witchcraft, even if it is in our homes.

"Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach..." Revelation 2:20