Pastor of Fishing

I found this chapter to be very compelling within my own being.  More and more as I begin to dig into the concept of the Spirit I am reminded at the vastness and how just sometimes it does make me wonder how much do I want Him?  Is the He leading me?  I am going to process a couple spots in this chapter because I feel they need to be highlighted and looked at with some more pointed scrutiny.

 Loving the church
 His thought that he posed, “How much do you love the church?  As you look around at your brothers and sisters do you think to yourself,  I love these people so much I pray God empowers me in some way to encourage these people toward a deeper walk with Him “  Wow!  I am finding myself more and saying this prayer.  Why?  I am in love with the church, and yes some days more than others.  Recently it has been harder for me to “love” but I am.  Consistently going to prayer for empowerment is a deep process that is becoming more and more apparent as my days continue.  The other day I caught myself wanting to go to heaven for the shear purpose of leaving this rock of a planet and enjoy the peace of being with God…yet am I not here to create the Kingdom on earth?  Wow talk about a revelation!  It definitely was the kick this war horse needed to be spurred on.

 So what does it look like for us to take interest in what God is doing in others?  It boils down to asking questions about people’s lives.  This is why I have been so bent in the Sunday school class to get people to share about what is happening.  The Spirit is working among us and I so want to hear how!  I want to seek the Spirit for the right reasons…to create the Kingdom here on earth.

 Miracles
I have heard recently (past 2 weeks) a few people say where are the miracles of the bible happening around me.  The theme is they want to see the miracles as they played out in the bible happen to them in their world.  I tend to see a danger in this as the Chan points out.  The “miracle hunting” that is happening more and more within the postmodern church.  I am seeing this hunger to see this happen, yet the lack of how is God to use me now?  This miracle hunting has created a misguided pursuit in priorities.  Emphasizing how we enter into the presence of God and know that He is the one that is calling the shots is rather important…hmmm what does this mean for how I pray?

 Followers or Leaders
 So did the Spirit lead me into the pastorate or myself?  That is the question asked to me with this chapter.  Digging into who I am and how I am walking with God at this point is important to me.  Having two weeks to prep for this Sunday’s sermon has really gotten me into the mindset of being vital in ministry.  God wants me and He wants you!  WOW could this be the key to why we serve?  Not out of obedience but out of our hearts to be wanted and loved?  What does it look like if we are find our being loved through experiencing the Kingdom? Hmmmmm more ponderings on this one.

 Esther…did he have to put her in the book?
These are stories that do not move me anymore…they ache me instead.  Reading these types of accounts tend to make my heart pain.  How easy do we have it?  Yes we, not just I but we.  We have a life that is so simple and safe.  Daily we take for granted that we could have been born into a world like Esther, instead we get this nice cushy life here in America.  We do not understand just how good we have it, yet we forget how much God is doing in our world.

 Conclusion of it all
Basically this chapter has summed up how the Spirit is in my life.  Daily manifestations of the Spirit are being seen, but are we noticing and acknowledging them.  Seeing people being focused on the wrong things and not asking for the empowerment and listening has become the norm.  This Sunday as I prep for the sermon I am continually digging into the concept that it is through our prayers and the interactions with the Spirit and the church that we will see the glory of God!

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I read a book once titled unChristian.  It came to my mind tonight as I look across the world of Facebook at the various people that profess Christ and how many appear to be very unchristian in their postings.  Now I am not here to cast judgment on those that sin because Lord knows I am right there with it.  This is more about a temperature of the effectiveness of our faith in this world we live in.

The book is basically hitting on some of the top things Christians do that are very unchristian in nature.  I am wondering what has started this trend within America.  I am wondering if it has to do with discipleship.  I know I have ranted and raved on this subject before but as I start to look at the stem of how deep this problem can be.

Analysis of our modern church we see this mentality of Christians that they pay the pastor to teach on a Sunday and that is where they get their discipleship from the pulpit.  Maybe some will read a book or attend a Sunday school class or head into a small group.  The majority though go through life not really growing or moving in their faith.

In turn this lack of teaching relationships within their lives do they lack examples in the real world?  Pastors seem to be those that are removed from the world.  They tend to be looked at differently so we need to look at how someone is grown beyond the pastorate.  I am not saying the pastorate is wrong or bad, but as a church grows the one on one or small group setting for a pastor tends to be more difficult to have.

Realizing this we need to start looking at how we structure our churches for more effective discipling growth.  The Anabaptist tradition had this from what we could tell.  They didn’t have the luxury of authors writing books upon books or the instant access of sermons and teaching on the Internet.  It seems that right now in our current world we as Christians have everything we need and more…

Yet here we are in a time where we are seeing a weaker and weaker church.  I begin to wonder why (Mennonite Church USA spends so much time dealing with all these social issues and taking these stances on things yet we lack the discipleship that is necessary to make changes.  I am throwing all this out because it seems to me that we are lacking more and more what it takes to fulfill the Great Commission.  We are lacking it because we are not taking to heart what it is that the Lord wants and asks of us.

The Holy Spirit is still moving yet many ignore the promptings or do not take the time to heed them.  Over and over I see status postings of Christians in despair yet they do not acknowledge their Lord publicly and what He is doing in their lives…

Have we become this weak that we almost look unchristian to those around us?

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Recently as a Christian in America I have been struggling with how I fit in within the grand scheme of the Kingdom. Saying this I do not mean I am struggling with my identity as much as I am saying how does it all work? The bible portrays the early church as a very active force, a force that is almost super hero like and seems to impact the areas that it touches on a regular basis. The early church seemed to truly be one that was transformational in its surroundings. I take this passion and drive of the church of Acts and start to look at how it applies to me today. What created this effort that was so powerful?

I am lead to look first at who was doing this? It was men and women that had a personal interaction with Christ and then those that were touched by the Holy Spirit. They had faith that meant something to them because they wanted to be close to their Lord as well as reach out to others. How did they preserve this passion?

I am embarking on a journey in my life as a pastor because I will be solo at the church. It is a time of transition and uncertainty which drives me to my knees on a daily basis. I am striving to help those in my care to press closer to God and seek His heart for them. When I look at the Church of Acts I begin to weep because I feel in many ways we are so far from the mark. I begin to look at my own world and ask how does this change? How did we get here? What do I as a pastor need to do to lead in this day in age?

Being a pastor in today’s age means I have a mark on me. When I say the word pastor people automatically have a built up stereotype or generalization of who a pastor is, what we do, and how we act. Its almost automatic for many depending on their background. Lately this has been a weight on me. I have spent so long not to live inside a box of others and now…the box is so well defined by those in my world that I tend to want to just rip it away completely and not have that title at all.  Did those in the Church of Acts deal with this label?

I guess where I am going with all this I think is what does it mean to me today? How do I lead in a time when Christians are so poorly defined in our culture? A time when the term Christian is not welcomed always, when being a pastor is not necessarily a positive word, and finally a time when people are searching for a “spiritual” connection to those around them…how do I function around all this?

As I look back on Anabaptist history and reflect this with the Church of Acts I see disciplines formed. Ways of creating good formations of their spiritual life that keeps themselves strong under the times of pressure. Whether its communion or prayer it seems that in order to succeed there needs to be a way of passing on what is good to those that go ahead of us. Recently I feel that as a pastor in the post modern world there is a disconnect from pastors of previous generations to a point where I feel that sometimes I am teaching the old dogs instead of them teaching this pup. Its hard some days.

Recently I have been finding myself pressing for the discipleship that Paul shows to the church leaders of the early day. Pressing to be in relationship with other pastors to sharpen me and push me into something more than I am now. Wanting to be pushed into a direction that creates a stronger man of God is what my heart’s desire is. It has been very difficult forming this wise counsel. It seems that many pastors are just getting by and not really pushing their congregations to grow…I could also just be critical, but it seems that with all these churches around me our towns should look vastly different. Our towns should at least be changing for the better instead I see area after area around me looking bleaker and bleaker. I guess in the end I want to see growth of the Kingdom around me and I want to be a part of it.

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Most of you know me already as a big anti-fear guy.  I am finding that the majority of the reasons things are not done by a church or an individual is the fear of the what-ifs.  This fear can be formed out of a variety of things.  As stated in the book, fear is normal…but is it a pattern that God wants from us when we read Scriptures?

This is something that is tough for me as I look to those around me.  I hate even when I don’t do something because I am a wuss and am afraid.  This chapter though focussed alot on are you ready to be open to the Spirit?  Are we ready to let our guard down?  Can we open our hearts to the Spirit and what He has for us?

Recently in my own walk I have been trying to be more obiedient not so much in the “rules” of the bible but more in how the Holy Spirit is teaching me.  Things from being more organized to setting down foundational spiritual disciplines…all of these are keys to a fuller life with Christ.  So what makes us afraid to tread into the deeper waters? 

Chan has a header that questions,  “What if God doesn’t come through?”.  I think many times this can be us or the concept that nothing happens so now what?  Fear of praying boldy is a difficult journey at times.  As Chan continues to write I notice he goes after our own compensation for the lack of answer from him. 

There is alot in this chapter…so I want to hear from all of you on what it is that you are afraid of?  What slows you down with the Spirit?

“Fear is faithless and Faith is fearless!” – Roth

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In starting this book I was very taken back by the way Chan interacted with the Jehovah Witnesses.  It wasn’t his method but more his post game analysis of himself.  I began to remember in my own life when I found treasures of Scripture that went against what I was taught growing up.  One of these area for me is money.  I found that the call God puts on us for stewardship is so far from how I personally actually practice it.  The scriptures open my eyes more and more to the submissive nature I lack when serving the Kingdom.

Chan calls us to be analyzing the way we interact with the Spirit.   He brings up this notion that we don’t necessarily acknowledge or see evidence within our own churches of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit that is talked about in the Epistles tell us of an amazing power that putis our sin to death.  The Spirit is able to gift us supernaturally and assist us when we humanly could not perform the task at hand.  Should our lives not look radically different from our old?  Maybe for some of us we have been Christians so long we have no old life…and we have become stale?

There is a piece of text that I want to bring up regarding church growth, “Even our church growth can happen without Him.  let’s be honest:  If you combine a charismatic speaker, a talented worship band, and some hip, creative events, people will attend your church.  yet this does not mean that the Holy Spirit of God is actively working and moving in the lives of the people who are coming.  It simply means that you have created a space that is appealing enough to draw people in for an hour or two on Sunday.  It certainly does not mean that people walk out the doors moved to worship in the awe of God.  People are more likely to describe the quality of the music or the appeal of the sermon than the One who is the reason people gather for “church” in the first place”

I want us as a class to focus this week’s discussion on the facts of the Holy Spirit working in our own lives.  Tell us some tales when He has been present as well as maybe some areas you need to start acknowledging.  I mentionedd my finances before…one area also for myself is the methods of giving a sermon.  I feel very inadequate to preach and be in the position of the church at this time…it is truly the Holy Spirit that keeps showing up and covering the bill in my life.  I encourage you this week to truly seek time with the Lord before all else…make sure you spend time relating to the Spirit before your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend, before your job, before your kids, press into this beautiful gift of God called the Holy Spirit! 

Live in the Spirit…not next to it!

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Well, in a nutshell today was an experience of a lifetime for me as a youth worker.  We left our quaint community of Schwenksville to hit the open road on a journey across state lines to Columbus Ohio to experience a week with the greater Mennonite body and the Holy Spirit all wrapped into one.  The theme for the week is Breathe and be filled.

Some of the basic items happend on the trip that are normal…pee breaks, food stops, and the occasional malfunction of a vehicle (nothing bad some warning lights came then disapeared (miraculous car healing?))  It was a great ride out and we ended up in Columbus around 3:00pm.  This is where my pateince was tested and my skills at dealing with the mistakes of my humaness.

Ahh the dratted screwed up hotel reservations…my fault of course I had us arriving a day earlier…sometimes I hate computers and the calendar entry stuff hahaha.  Needless to say Todd at the front desk was able to have us all together and actually the rooming situation turned out better than I had set it up previously…God covers my butt AGAIN!

Then we hit registration…now I will say it is my Rookie year and there is a lot to learn.  My buddy Jason went down to give moral support since I was pretty razzed after the long drive and the narrow parking garage (yeah 6’8 clearance in a rental 15 passenger van…not alot of headroom, found myself ducking inside as I drove).  Once we got down there we had some snafus with registration.  Nothing that wasn’t resolved and this time it wasn’t my fault…but hey Jason kept me calm and we worked through the issues.  God was good in all this cause I really was rather tired.

Well we got our stuff and worked out our logistics on how the night would go with the Youth.  We set up our boundries for the evening and poof…off to dinner and then worship.  Some ate Chinese, some had Italian…and others had Subway(nationality help?).  Great first meal the Chinese I had was EXCELLENT!

After dinner we rolled over to the Nationwide Arena…yes the Arena.  This place is a good sized indoor arena where the Youth Worship was taking place.  Mama spoke about getting the Holy Spirit to refresh us in our lives.  To give up the crap and get refreshment in our souls…it was very powerful.  Tonight at our small groups the reactions were inspiring to hear on the first night.  I thank God we were able to hear her in time…just was one of those late getting to it.

After worship the kids went off into the Convention Center for free time.  Ryan and I hit up a Youth Sponsor’s orientation and some of the Adults took in things for the “older” folk.  Slowly people trickled to bed and the contingent group that was left we walked back to our hotel.

I am giving you a brief overview of this time.  I am anxious for tomorrow to dig into some seminars and interact with others of faith here @ MCUSA09.  I highly encourage you to joing up on Twitter .  We are going to be hitting up it heavy with being out the door @ 6:30am…of course I am still up till lights out of 1:00am…the joys of being the “adult in charge”.

Overall thoughts are amazing…just amazing…its something everyone needs to experience in their life…just so powerful.  I am thankful my wife and son are on this trip to experience it first hand with me…a note of just thoughts…My wife was noticing another child around our son’s age and it hit her…in 16 years he could be interacting with her at Convention…so intriguing how the concept of generation discipling can happen.

My prayer for the night into tomorrow:  May God continue to breath into me as I am here this week.  May I be a vessel to exhale love to those around me and touch the lives  of those in my care.  May the group continue to build unity and let there not be a feeling of being left behind.  Thank you Lord for this opportunity.  Thank you Lord…thank you!

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Over the past months since April I have been wrestling with a large amount of issues.  I have come to some conclusions on things in my life and basically revolving around the Christian concept.  Recently I have been seeing this disease…for I have nothing else to call it but that…of not caring about the outside world.  I am finding that its the issue of actually caring about those within their own world that is difficult.  I am about to embark on a journey to work at creating a missional church.  A church that sees outside its walls but also inside the walls.  This is my new adventure…as well as my burden…

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It was a dark night; the stars were blotted out by the looming clouds of the spring night. Once again we find our pastoral hero on his porch plotting out the ways to hunt down the elusive Missional Church. It seems to be a never ending battle for our hero, day in and day out fighting the lukewarmness of those around him and assist them in rising up as warriors of Christ! I admit this is how I feel some days. The concept of a Missional Church has been dead and buried for so long in the Christendom mindset of this area that I feel like a superhero battling evil doers. In the end I need to strive at what it is that my church will become as a Missional Church.

As a pastor I do not have an option as I write this to shy away from the fact that the church is the local Body of Christ. It is our duty to go and make fishers of men. This concept is one that over time has been lost. We have created positions within the church and expected certain people to be pigeon holed into their certain tasks and that’s just what we do. We form our committees to oversee committees and continue to just grind away at the Church Machine. The Missional Church is not this!

The church that God wants for my church is a church that is fighting against the evil within this world. Evil is taking on various forms within the local and global communities. We see this daily as we open our web browsers and read the news (TVs and newspapers are so archaic) as death lingers in the headlines and the economic crisis looms within the shadows haunting our checkbooks. Yet our God is greater! First the church needs to take a stand to this fear mongering attitude. The church needs to be a place of hope and truth. Through biblical truth can we fight the oppression of fear that Evil so wants us to have.

Of course with this fear rides complacency. We see these examples within our environment and a consumerist culture. My church needs to be a church that takes a stand against this tide. By the end of the year the church will have a plan in place for better environmental and social stewardship. This must go hand in hand as our Lord has commanded us to care for those around us and this earth. It seems that too many times we are only serving ourselves and what is convenient.

We tie all of these together with the relationship that we have with Christ. We as a church need to encourage and focus ourselves on the love affair with God our Creator. How amazing it will be to have people free within their relationship with God. Free to explore the wonders of this earth and their life. Free grasp that God loves them and all those around. Free to have the ability to shout from the mountaintops the Good News.

All these things will not come easy, but it is what I am called to within this church. I have been blessed by God to focus 14 weeks of my life on the subject of church and what it is that God wants us to do collectively. I tell you my brothers and sisters, the kind of church in mission I would want to be a part of in the future is my church.  I have no other choice but to act upon the things my Lord desires for me.

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