Past or Present?

One thing we cannot do is to compare yesterday to today. We cannot compare what happened in the past to what is happening today. You cannot apply today's standards to yesterday's problems or events.

People want to know about pastor Mitchell and what he did to build the Prescott church and the the Fellowship. No one but pastor Mitchell knows those details, and he is dead and gone. Those early days happened in a different world than the world we live in today.

One thing about God is that he is always today. He does not live tied to time and space. He is always here and now. Unfortunately the Bible is an ancient book written thousands of years ago and it is a lot of work to apply ancient words to a modern world. We run the risk of becoming irrelevant.

Some things are unchanging. People are people all of the time. God is God all of the time. The Bible can be understood and applied to any generation. The grass was always green no matter what side of the fence.

Instead of wondering what happened in the past, why not find out what God is doing now and do that? 

A Personal Faith

 Tonight pastor mentioned Fundamentalists Anonymous, a group started in the 1980's to assist people who were fleeing fundamentalist churches. I had never heard of this now defunct group. But in Prescott I saw a similar phenomenon happen.

The children of the first wave of converts who grew up in our church and who were affectionately called church kids all seemed to grow up and grow cold and left our church when they got out on their own. Pastor Mitchell tried a few things to help these kids and to minister to them and their families. We managed to save a few of them, but we lost far more than we kept.

Those Potter's House kids who made it are strong and steadfast to this day. Those church kids who left are angry and bitter and hateful to this day. It took years before I could have a simple conservation with my son after he left. He has grown up and I have mellowed out and we communicate now more than we have in a long time.

Some of you will remember You Might Be A Potters House Kid as something church kids had fun with for a short time. Some of you will remember Slam The Door, a place where former Fellowship folks could vent their anger. I began my first blog because I wanted something besides Slam the Door to come up if you Googled Potters House.

God wants us to be saved more than we want to be saved. The only way to lose with Christ is to quit.

God has no grandchildren is not just a film. It is how the Christian life is. It's personal. No one will be in Heaven who does not want to be there. Faith is first and foremost personal; it's you and Jesus with no other mediator. He is the mediator between God and man.

God wants you to be saved, but He will not violate your will. You have to repent and believe to be saved.

Growing Up

 The older I get, the better I was. This seems to be a prevailing idea especially in men as we get older. One thing that I have noticed is how many guys who talk about the great things they used to do are not doing those things today. They talk about these things like it is current events. But in reality, it is history at best.

In churches there comes a time when we need to reevaluate our standing and current position. Failing to do this might make us victims rather of deceiving ourselves, talking about old times like we are still actively doing what we used to do. We talk about the outreaches we did or the people we witnessed to or the ministries we were once involved in and to me it sounds almost like they are bragging.

There are men who will never get sent out or who are too old to be sent out but that uncertainty of calling still weighs in on their decisions today. There are men who never witness but who talk like they witness all of the time.

You can support the vision of our church without being on the front lines of what we do. Instead, maybe it is time to grow up and to be content to do what we can with the time we have left.

My future is still bright, but not in the same way as when I was a young new convert.

The Greatest Commandment is Go?

 "And He said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

Our Fellowship, and our church, are built on our obedience and faithfulness to this command. We may not be perfect in everything. But I believe that our obedience to this command has gained us God's favor over the years.

Did you know that this is not the only command that the Lord gave us? Another command is given us in John chapter 13.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34

The second commandment is also written in red, just like the first one I mentioned. Both are commandments. The Lord expects us to obey both of them. We only preach on one of them with any regularity.

And yet, Jesus said that love defines us as true disciples of Christ.

"By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

Paul, the great missionary, told us that the greatest attribute we can have as believers is love.

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1Cor.13:13.

So, while we rightly focus on evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, maybe we ought to give a little time to love, the first and greatest commandment. Loving God, loving one another.

Why I Blog

 I realized that, while few people read what I write here, I get a benefit from writing. Which is why I started blogging to begin with. I do not care to keep a journal. I do not write in a diary. But I have always used a blog to write down my thoughts or my ideas or my inspirations.

Once in a while someone will read what I write here and I enjoy that. I cannot see who has stopped by, just a grand total of visits.

I am not a writer and I have no interest in starting a podcast. So once in a while, when something interests me or something moves me to write, I will stop by and post my thoughts.

Taking A Break

 I am going to take a break from this blog. It will remain in place. I just won't be writing on it for a while.

Death and Dying

 We are very concerned about getting a person ready to die so that they will be saved and ready to meet Jesus. We work hard to make people ready for Heaven. And we do nothing to help saints face the realities of death and dying. We want to make it to the Rapture. But if we do not live that long, we will die. We can die suddenly, or we can die slowly. Do we know what to expect when those we love die?

Because Kathy died suddenly and unexpectedly, I never got to say the last goodbye to her. She was alive when I left for work and she was dead when I got back home that evening. We were not prepared for her death. She died suddenly.

One thing about death and dying is that we have a lot of crazy ideas and beliefs about it all. Maybe death could be easier if we didn't think about it all wrong. It is natural to die. It is our bad ideas and crazy doctrines that make it so hard.

Death and dying is for the survivors, not the dead person. People can die on their own. We must live life after they die.

We need to know more than we currently know about death and dying.