Pray For Your Pastor

 Have you ever hung on every word that your pastor said while preaching? Have you ever been so engrossed listening to your pastor preach that you wished he would never stop? Has you pastor ever said anything that amazed you or made you stop and wonder at his words?

I was so blessed to be under pastor Wayman Mitchell's ministry for so many years. There were times when he affected me like that. Most of what I know on how to live a Christian life I learned from him.

Pray for your pastor. Pray that God will help him to be a great preacher. Pray that none of his words will fall to the ground. Pray that his focus will be on the people in front of him and not the people watching from afar.

A great preacher will first and foremost preach to his church sitting there, and not to the camera watching him.

Faith is Faith

 "Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John20:29

There are many things in the Bible that I have not seen, yet I believe have happened. I believe that God created the natural world by only a word. I believe that Noah's flood was world wide. I believe that Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. I believe that Christ was born of a virgin. I believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and that he is alive today in Heaven.

Climate change believers also believe in something they cannot see or prove. They are as religious as we are. 

"Put them in fear, o Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men." Psalm 9:20

Jesus and Santa: Two Separate Worlds.

 The birth of Christ and Christmas are two different things. The birth of Christ in Luke chapter two tell us of the events around the virgin birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary. The shepherds, the wise men, Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus are all there. It is a story that we focus on that the the early church seemed to not think was important to mention.

Christmas, and especially American Christmas, is the big holiday that we celebrate on December 25th. The music, the food, the videos, and the memories are all unique to this holiday. There are things that we do for Christmas that we only do for Christmas and no other holiday. The tree, the lights, the stockings hung up, the cookies and eggnog, and Mariah Carey singing. It only happens this time of year.

It is the church's job to remind us of the birth of Jesus and what it means for us. It is also the church's job to help us navigate through this tumultuous time of year so that we survive and thrive and make it through December. 

Don't work too hard trying to force the birth into Santa's world. Let them be two separate things.

Adding Insult To Injury?

 Thanksgiving Day has become an interesting day for me. While I am grateful for being near my family, it is obvious to me that I am not a part of my daughter's family. They have their traditions, they have their friends, they have their habits, and I am only a spectator at their holiday gatherings.

Years ago I talked to old folks who lived alone and I asked they if they had family they could live with. Often the answer was yes, they had children and grandchildren, but they did not want to be shoved into the corner and not be allowed to do anything. That is how I am beginning to feel.

I guess that I will have to speak up and volunteer to do something on Christmas day. 

I am not the patriarch of my family. I do not cook anything  except what I bake to bring to the gathering. I do not help set up or clean up. And everyone is younger than me and I am finding it hard to just chat with these good folks.

It's interesting how I used to be critical of older people and how they acted. Now that I am older, what they did makes more sense. I am not ready to be a Sun City senior, trying desperately to act young when I am not.

Our Fellowship is youth oriented. We who are no longer youth often feel left out or relegated to being just spectators. Then we are mildly criticized as being good people doing nothing. We are old enough and smart enough to know what we can and cannot do. Do not add insult to injury. 

Advice To Preachers

 "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." 1Cor.14:32

I have noticed something in my years of listening to preaching. A good preacher can bring a word that ministers to people right now. A great preacher can preach an appropriate message for the time.

Great preachers can and do say a lot when they preach. And one thing that a great preacher can do is preach a calendar based sermon. For a wedding he can preach on marriage. For a holiday he can preach on that particular holiday. He can preach a Christmas message at Christmas. He can preach a Thanksgiving sermon the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. He can even preach a patriotic message on July 4th. He knows the Bible well enough to be able to bring out a word from God for a specific time.

This takes work on the preacher's part. He has to know the Bible. He has to know history. He has to understand what certain days mean and how the Bible speaks to those unique times and days. He has to have a well of knowledge that he can draw from so that he can say, Thus says the Lord, on a specific day.

Setting yourself on fire and letting people come to watch you burn has a time and a place. So does a national or state holiday. Weddings should be a no brainer. Preach on marriage. People do not usually get saved at a wedding. God can save people even if we do not preach an evangelistic sermon.

So you can wing it and get by. But people will notice if you grow and develop as a preacher. They  might even start coming on Sunday night just to hear you preach.

One more thought. You will have to become a topical preacher to do this. There is no American Christmas or Thanksgiving Day or July 4th in the Bible to expound on. 

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

Holiday Thoughts

 In America, in our effort to get God out of the holidays, we have secularized Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving is all about family gatherings and American football. No mention of the Pilgrims and their struggles and all the happened a long time ago. Christmas is about the season, the tradition, the family, and gift giving. Christ born of a virgin is never mentioned.

I wonder, with the attacks against the nuclear family, why family gathering is still a big deal in this holiday season. I also wonder if people with no family, or who had a bad family, feel left out during the holidays.

I wonder how many people are lonely during Thanksgiving and Christmas. I went to great lengths to be with people during the holidays. Not always friends and family. I just did not want to be alone. Lonely people learn to get by during the holidays. They do not mope around singing the blues.

If you never had a Thanksgiving or Christmas to remember, maybe you do not know what you are missing. You have nothing to compare it to. 

Thanksgiving is mostly about family. Christmas is about children.

Growing up and growing older your view on the holidays changes. I get joy where I can. I celebrate as I am able. I uprooted my life mostly so that I would no longer be alone for the holidays.

I am grateful for our church tonight. Do you think that your pastor can preach a Thanksgiving sermon and not mention evangelism? It's on days like today you find out how good your pastor is in the pulpit.

PS: please daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas. I don't want to see my momma cry!

Pillar and Ground of Truth

One thing that pastor Mitchell often said is that if you ever hear me preaching unbiblical doctrines, leave. I never left because I never heard him say anything like that. He also scoffed at the idea that we are a cult. Pastor would say that no one does what he tells them to do, so how could we be a cult. We looked to pastor for truth and insight and guidance and counsel. He was, in all things, a good pastor to the Prescott church.

One thing we can do is that if we ever hear our pastor teaching or preaching lies, we can leave. No need for a fight or a confrontation. Just go away. 

Our pastors traffic in truth. They are a reference point that we can lock onto. We are blessed to have good pastors who both tell us and show us what the Bible says.

"...that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the pillar and ground of the truth." 1Tim.3:15