Dreamers

 "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." Joel 2:28

As an older man who has been in the faith for a long time I am particularly interested in the part of this verse dealing with old men. It says that old men will be dreamers. To me, dreams are forward facing or future focused. But in my conversation with older folks I find that they seem to be more interested in what used to be than they are in what is next. They like to reminisce over the good old days. But when I ask them a question about what if or what could happen they seem to be void of wisdom and inspiration.

Lord, will you help our seniors to focus less on their aches and pains and on their history and help them to be dreamers like You promised. Amen.

Moving On

 We said goodbye to pastor Gamboa and his family last night. They have been with us longer than I have been here. Pastor Gamboa has been a great blessing to me and to our church. We will miss all of them. They will be a great blessing to the church where they will serve as pastors beginning this Sunday.

In Prescott we have seen them come and we have seen them go. Here, this church is still very young at this sort of thing. I hope they do not lose the family atmosphere that they have here. I pray they do not become cold and jaded to new people and resistant or numb to change. It can happen.

Why Paul Is Not Your Pastor

"Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother." 1 Corinthians 1:1

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother." 2 Corinthians 1:1

"Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead). Galatians 1:1

Paul was not a pastor. He did not claim to be a pastor. He did not do the work of a pastor. He chose and appointed pastors. He was an apostle. Just the the original 12 and then the 11. He along with them was a witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  That was the qualification of the original apostles. He followed his calling to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone.

Among all of the original apostles Paul is the only only one to do this. Peter dabbled in world evangelism. But the Bible tells us that apostles had unique responsibilities that no on else could do.

Paul took his calling seriously. He worked hard to finish the work given him to do. But he is not the pattern for a pastor. 

There are still apostles in the church today. Just like there are pastors and teachers and evangelists. 

We do not need titles to do what we do. But we need to be careful that we do not step into fields that we are not called to work in.

Paul was a great man. But he is not your pastor.

The God Factor

 "And Saul said to David, you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." 1Samuel 17:33

"And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was nine feet nine inches." 1Samuel 17:4

In the story of David and Goliath we read the story from the vantage point of history. But at the time, those viewing and assessing the proceedings would have gotten it wrong by being right.

Goliath was the champion. He was big and strong and fearless. He has a reputation for winning in battle. The army of Saul was afraid of him. Saul rightly assed him as a man of war. 

David was a middle school aged boy. He was small. He had zero experience in war. He had no chance against this monster of a man named Goliath.

But what David was about to find out is that with God, the size of your enemy does not matter. God was the deciding factor in this fight. God made David a hero that day. This story tells us that David was destined to be king one day.

Wayman Mitchell was not a great man. He was not an eloquent man. Before Prescott he had very little impact or success. He was not held in high esteem by his denomination. We look back and see God shaping him by the things that he went through. But Wayman Mitchell went to Prescott not to see revival but to try one last time.

Our Fellowship is a work of God. Just like Foursquare was that we came from in their day, we are today. 

"...He learned obedience by the things that he suffered." Hebrews 5:8

Trying to paint pastor Mitchell as a man of God before Prescott is like trying to paint David as king before Goliath. God was preparing Wayman Mitchell for something that only God knew was coming. To pastor's credit, he learned and he sought and he did all that he could do to fulfill God's will. 

The Next Generation

 As our churches age I see certain attitudes forming. I see older saints who were there in the early days; who remember the initial thrust of revival, who were young and zealous, who saw Jesus as the the focal point of life, and who felt like the rapture would happen before we grew up.

Today those early saints have indeed grown up. Or at least grown older. We're still here, we didn't leave or backslide. We contend for the faith that was committed to us, and we are doing none of the things that we used to do.

Then I see another generation of mostly young people now in our churches. They grew up in our Fellowship. They grew up without television or movies or secular music. They also by reason of exposure became bored with the sameness of what we hold dear. And they do things and say things that make us elder brother saints cringe.

I see things that church folks do for fun outside of Prescott and I wonder why we were not allowed to have any fun. I hear of what church kids in Prescott find satisfying and fulfilling and I wonder where we dropped the ball. 

No one can live on the front lines. People get tired of marching and fighting. High alert gets us out of immediate trouble, but it is impossible to live with that amount of internal stress. So people with no reference points like ours will dress and speak and act different than we used to at their young age.

Our children and grandchildren are not unsaved or heathen. They are normal Christian kids who think more about college and career than about the fields white unto harvest. 

My question revolves around; do we try to force this generation into an old, archaic pattern, or do we find what works today? Will we work with kids as they are? Or will we lose them to churches who understand them? The country is full of dying churches who are holding fast to a standard that they do not fulfill but that they will not let go of.

Growing In Grace

 As a fellowship we are focused like a laser beam on what we consider to be the marching orders of the church. Evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. This is the legacy of pastor Mitchell. He labored for years to keep the main thing the main thing in our churches. This sets us apart from mainline denominations. They believe it, we do it.

One problem that comes from an ultra-focused ministry is that, as we get older, we come to realize that not all ministry is for everyone. When you are a man but not striving for ministry or getting "sent out" the men's discipleship services are meaningless. We agree in principal, but in practice we are on the outside looking in. When you are widowed, marriage sermons are trips down memory lane at best. When you are dealing with the ravages of aging, outreach is something the young people do.

One thing that we find in the Scriptures is that the grace of ministry is not one size fits all.

"As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1Peter 4:10

Manifold can be understood as many faceted. There are many layers to God's grace that He has invested in a local church.

"...Therefore, every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." Matthew 13:52

Not only are those who minister instructed to be wide ranging and speaking to a wide audience, the saints also involve this new and old idea.

That the Christian life is not static or unchanging is clearly spelled out in the Bible.

"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principals of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God," Hebrews 6:10

There are doctrines that are irrefutable and steadfast. There are structures that are subject to the culture and personality of the local time and place. While we do support the vision of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, I think there needs to be a wider and fuller ministry to the rest of us. Ministry to people where they are in life. Whether they are young or old. God calls us to grow in grace. He will help us do that.

A Change of Heart

 It was a blessing to have pastor Greg in south Texas this past weekend. Last night he preached to the men and before the dust had settled he was on his way to the airport to fly home. Pastor Greg seems to be as busy as his father used to be.

As I listened to pastor Greg on Sunday morning I realized that he is not my pastor anymore. I have made the change and left where I used to be and have become a part of this church here. I am grateful for pastor Richard Rubi and the men who work with him to help us.

Men's discipleship services used to be important to me when I was a young man full of faith and hoping to learn and to go. Now I find that listening to someone talking about how to be a better pastor is like listening to someone talk about how to be a better husband. It does not apply to me. Not all ministry is for everyone in a local church.

This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Amen!

A Man For The Times

 I want to make a bold statement. We will never see another Wayman Mitchell in our Fellowship. Why you might ask? Because pastor Mitchell was a unique man for a critical time. No one else could have done what he did. No one else has the personality that he had. No one since has demonstrated the determination that he displayed. Our Fellowship would not exist except for the influence of pastor Wayman Mitchell. He took a move of the Holy Spirit and steered it into a movement of local churches.

There seems to be a pattern of this type of leader in the Bible. No one who came after him did  what Moses did. There were other prophets but none like Samuel. Israel had many kings but none even comes close to David. There were many apostles but none carries the weight and influence of Paul. God in His infinite wisdom seems to make sure that at critical times in history the right man is ready at the right time to steer God's will in a new  and a fresh direction.

You will notice that I omitted Christ from my list. He is unique in all of creation and for all time and eternity. No one could have done what Jesus did. He stands alone.

Churchill was the political leader in WW2. Reagan was the political leader that ended the cold war with Russia. The United States sits as a city on a hill and shines as a beacon of hope to people around the world. You may know of an elder or ancestor who stands out among your family or an educator who changed your life. 

The world is full of good people. Our Fellowship is full of good pastors and good churches. And we all have a bright future. But God help us if we ever find ourselves needing a new pastor Mitchell.

"I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me." 1Corinthians 4:14-16