Pastor of Fishing

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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I am sitting on my porch enjoying one of my favorite ways to relax…tea and a cigar.  Its pleasant tonight just thinking about the weekend and the concept of Easter.  I try my hardest to enjoy Easter, much like Christmas I get frustrated with the commercialization that goes on around a time that is meaningful and special to individuals of the Faith.  It also is a time for me to dig deep inside and ask the question…do I show I believe?  Its our actions as believers that exemplifies the image of Christ.  It is our walk that people should talk about when discussing our faith.  Do we show that Easter happened?

Anyways, just saying, take some time to be silent and just take in the concept of Easter and what it all is…I know I am going to again and again right now on the porch…

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Temp: 50′s F
Water: High, faster than normal, muddy
Weather: Windy, Cloudy to Partly Cloudy

It was a great opening day for trout.  We started the day out at 5:30am arriving at the park.  We were excited to see that the gates were already open and we were able to be on the water close to 6:00am.  We were amazed that by 7:00am approximately 30 fisherman were locked and loaded by the water awaiting the 8:00am start.

We started out by the corner of Lesher Road and found that it was difficult for those without waders to fish.  We had a report from our trusty fishing scout upstream that the water was fishing friendly.  Immediately we hiked up and were on the hole that produced about 7 fish in a couple hours.  I pulled 2 out of this spot, and one was a very yummy brookie that was about 12 inches.

Overall it was a beautiful day to be fishing.  The wind was whipping, but the 200ft cliff in front of us blocked it very nicely.  Overall we couldn’t complain about the day.  On the walk back I pulled out a little rainbow at the hole that we started at.  There are plenty of trout in the creek and plenty more to be caught this month.

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Recently I have been annoyed with electronic communication.  I feel like it has become so impersonal.  All these great methods of quick short communication is causing us to lose the face to face value that we once had.

This morning I got together for breakfast with a buddy.  It was great, we talked for an hour and was able to just catch up and enjoy the moment.  A time where we can see each other face to face and interact and see our body language and non-verbal cues. A time to really just enjoy.

I have been challenged recently to just stop the madness with the electronic media.  I am trying to use the phone more instead of email.  Even when you use the phone its just not as good as a face to face.  Just last night a friend and I had a conflict and we are texting over it…then for some reason he stopped texting.  Again, now I am left to wonder, is it resolved?  Are things good?  It drives me up a wall how we have resorted to thses one sentence drops of info here and there.

I am not totally against technology, don’t get me wrong.  Right now I sit on with my laptop banging out this thought to all in front of me.  I wonder though, do we take this approach with God?

Recently I have been trying to take time to just relax with God.  Not get all indepth but really have a time to just chill out.  Whether its laying on the floor and turning on some worship music, standing in the middle of a creek and just lookin around…or maybe just maybe…cracking open a book and just getting into what the Lord is saying through the author.  All in all I have been growing and feeling that there is SO much to God that I have been missing…sad huh?  Nah, its like an adventure!

Look forward to hearing some feedback sometime as this site may actually get people on it hahahaha

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One thing that gets me the most in my ministry is the DUH temptation. Let me explain. I frequently am finding myself saying, “DUH, why did they do that!?!”. I get very frustrated with various folks when they do stupid stuff. Its like Jesus saying, “DUH PETER, why did you lop off the ear?” I get this way from time to time. I find that it happens usually at a time when I am deep in something and feel like I am doing toomuch and others are doing too little. When in the end its my fault for not training them right. DUH MAN (yes I get DUH at me more than others!!!!   So it goes. There y’all go my one temptation of frustration with my ministry as a pastor here at my church, the congregation of believers that are just a little screwed up…but not as much as their pastors! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

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Ok, first I am going to use this as my definition of nation as per Wikipedia:
A nation is a cultural and social community. In as much as most members never meet each other, yet feel a common bond, it may be considered an imagined community. One of the most influential doctrines in Western Europe and the Western hemisphere since the late eighteenth century is that all humans are divided into groups called nations.[nb 1] Nationhood is an ethical and philosophical doctrine and is the starting point for the ideology of nationalism; a nation is a form of self-defined cultural and social community. Members of a “nation” share a common identity, and usually a common origin, in the sense of history, ancestry, parentage or descent. A nation extends across generations, and includes the dead as full members. Past events are framed in this context: for example, by referring to “our soldiers” in conflicts which took place hundreds of years ago. More vaguely, nations are assumed to include future generations.

Is America a Christian Nation? Part of me really wants to say yes just to throw down in the mix of it all. I read alot of things that makes me think we are…now do we do it well? No but it seems that our nation was founded on the concept of Christian principles. We created an acccepting nation that welcomes people in. We have a mentality and spirit of the Golden Rule. Governmental buildings used to have biblical speech on them as well as using the Bible to solidfy the concept of telling the truth.

80-85% of the nation align themselves with Christianity. This begins to make me think that it is an affiliation more than a belief. I feel that American is a more Christian biased nation. It is a place that Christians are much more accepted than others of faith. It is also a nation that Christians have created alienation to the other religions and fringe groups.

In the end America is overall affiliated and aligned with Christianity. We wouldn’t have this stereotype for nothing in the world. Do we really look like Christ? No. Not at all, but I think within the nation the people of our country do think that American is Christian. God Bless America? The song that just shows our Christian affiliation.

Our past has Christian roots, I don’t see other religions having such a cultural impact as I do Christianity. Only until recently did the Fundamentalists gain power and influence that showed the negative of Christianity. The alienation of people and a overall elitist attitude.

Today, our nation is changing to a spiritual nation of monotheism. We are acknowledging God and mostly affiliate with Christianity, but there is a greater gain of influence of other religions. As time goes on according of the definition of Nation we have to look at the past, present and future.

In the end I think American started out with this Christian alignment but now it is straying more and more, its stuck in this religious identity. It wants to use spritual influence within its ceremonies and laws, yet wants to be inclusive. In the end it could become the downfall to the nation? No identity with religion?

Eh, anyways that’s my two cents.

Oh, just another thought…did the capitalistic society of America align itself with Christianity because it sells well?  Just another thought…Saw that on another post somewhere…

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My church, a congregation that is a restart upon an existing congregation from a previous Mennonite church. We see this transition in a congregation that dates back to the late 1800′s. The replant created this open heart surgery of sorts to how the church operates. In some ways the improvements were good, and in some ways bad. I will let you into my world to see two examples of how we fight with the attitudes of modernity and post-modernism.

It was within the first few months of attending here that I saw a severe problem within the church body. It was this shallow form of friendship. People were not shallow themselves but rather were not engaging their spiritual walks with each other at a deeper level. Almost a sense of distrust to go deeper. I had seen it before growing up in the Mennonite church. The culture of being close at the time of need, but not on a daily basis. Remembering back from my childhood this was how my parents and their friends were. Even just recently I had a parent ask me if they should be truthful about their past sins if their children ask. Its almost a false sense of real.

Combating this type of problem took some radical behavior on my part. I stood up during a prayer and share time to introduce myself to the congregation and told a little bit about myself. In turn I invited any men that wanted to be my friend to see me after church. Two men came and to this day are good friends of mine. I had to break the mold and step outside the norm for that church to try and climb over “the wall”. The tearing down of structure and going to a more fluid church has had its negative effects. Now our church lacks structure and order amongst its ministries. With the move towards a more post-modern mindset we see this lack of structure and hierarchy to be very flawed. The modern church era hung its hat on the concepts of creating this elaborate ministry structure that ended up becoming such an institutional monster that it needed to be fed constantly. With big monsters come big waste and we see many volunteers get chewed up and spit out with burnout. At the same time the lack of structure creates this nebulous feeling of who’s in charge. Exceptions become hard to control because none are set.

These two examples show how there needs to be a balance between the two extremes. What is happening right now is my time is being taken up by tearing down this wall. Creating a structure that is similar to the church of Acts. A church that has expectations of its leadership yet flexible to handle the curve balls that are thrown. I am spending time just to meld the old and new into a cohesive force to be reckoned with. It seems to make sense why so many churches just close their doors. This transition is one that is difficult and harrowing at times. It is through all this that we will grow stronger and create a church that will have a generational impact on our town.

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“Globalization matters because it fundamentally changes the contexts in which we minister, the way people and cultures perceive each other, how people think, and the means available to reach them. We cannot dismiss the effects of globalization on ourselves as communicators of the gospel message. -Michael Pocock”

Ugh…I really don’t like this at all. I hate the concept of globalization because it means that I as a pastor have to make the church more aware. I had a discussion with someone at church pertaining to why we have no global mission focus as a church? We send our money and we get our reports from missionaries, but don’t know our missionaries at all…

The response was startling to me, “We have enough issues trying to get people to think about their neighbor how can we look at the rest of the world”. This person was a leader within our church and it made me cringe.

I then think of cultures…how many are around me? How many subcultures? I know just when I look at youth in my area there is about 10 major people groups from the jocks to the nerds, the emos to the punks, and so forth and so on. It becomes very clear to me that its here on my doorstep. I can’t ignore it thus the church can’t ignore it. In the end we have to look at who we are and how we are carrying out the assistance of the global church.

Man, I have some planning to do now…

My first thought is rethinking the concept of outreach. Should it be a missions group within in our church? Local, regional, national, global in focus? I don’t know yet, but it is something I would love feedback on. How do your churches handle this?

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Looking over the concept of Jesus as an exile is something that rings true with my spirit. In today’s society the sense of being an ambassador of the Kingdom is very relevant in how I view my reason for existence. Jesus came into this world as a man. A man that had to deal with all the temptations and woes that we face here on the earth. He experienced the ups and downs of life. He knows pain and can relate. He also can heal the pain.

Jesus did not fit the mold. Instead He created a new mold. A new bold way to live. A way that counteracts the negatives of the culture and creates something positive…love. He has us now creating relationships with those in our society. I live in Rome(United States) where my way of thinking and life is counter cultural. I am an exile within my town, yet I have authority with many and respect of those around me because of…love.

In the end we need to look at the beauty of the exile. It is the ability to live outside the box. Outside of the cultural norms that creates a method of life that is foreign yet desirable. Living in the freedom of a child that creates the ability to change the environment around us. Out of the chaos comes creation. We see that as an exile we live by a different standard than our empire. One that allows us to have a destiny with our Father. To experience a love and grace that is not subjective to cultural norms. It is a standard that is…love.

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So its going to start with one blog at a time.  Lately a course that I am taking has really pushed me to take the concept of a blog to God.  Its something that I wondered about for a while and dabbled in here and there.  In the end nothing really took hold.  I wondered why?  Why have I not taken the time to pose thoughts and comments to create interactions among those that I know?  Well in the end I think it was just the timing of it all.  The timing I feel is right…so why a blog?

People within my world have been banging into each other more and more.  The whole Facebook phenomena has really pushed me to look at what is going on within my world.  I have such a diverse group of friends and family that it is only write to start sharing my life more with them.  The hope is that the writings and videos that I will share over time will only spur on a deeper desire to answer the question, “Why…?”  Recently this has been a nagging question to many things I do and say.  Why do I feel this way?  Why do I act like this?  Why can’t I get this right?  Many times I get frustrated, but do I really take a step forward?

The most recent class I have been taking has opened my eyes to the power of public acknowledgment.  It creates a means of accountability that is unlike anything I have experienced.  When you write something down for others to see it creates a mark that others can see.  My hope is that through my public blah blah blah people will interact and start to really look at our worlds…

Hopefully this will help people not be alone…a place that people can express themselves and chit chat about well..whatever.  I look forward to the future and what happens…in the mean time…ENJOY!

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