A Band of Brothers

One of the abundant blessings God has given me is the friendship of fellow pastors in Milford. Once a month, we gather to share what' s going on in our lives and ministry and we pray for one another. It is amazing how well we get along. There is definitely a spirit of unity present. We are all passionate about serving God and the church. We also have many of the same struggles and frustrations.

Today as we were praying, the Holy Spirit lead me to pray, "God, love your people through me." This really convicted me for some reason. Do the people of Bellwood experience God's love through me? Do others see God's love flowing from me? Am I allowing God's Spirit to fill me up so that I am overflowing and able to share His love with others? I can't fully explain it except to say it was a God-thing of self-examination.

"Thank you God for brothers in Christ whose hearts are turned toward You. Amen."

10 Characteristics of a Growing Church

This comes from a fellow pastor, Perry Noble. http://www.perrynoble.com/

#1 – They have leaders that lead!

“For God so loved the world that He did not send a committee!” Not sure where I heard that…but its true!

#2 – A desperation for God’s power!

Prayer isn’t a good luck charm that is attached at the beginning or at the end of something…people are legitimately desperate for the power of God. They pray Habakkuk 3:2 prayers every day and…

#3 – They believe that greater things are in store.

They don’t just pray big prayers…but they have a sense of anticipation that is contagious! They don’t read Acts 2 and think “those were the good ‘ole days” but rather they think, “that’s where God STARTED this thing…we should be WAY ahead of this!!!”

#4 – They are full of ordinary people.

God always uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. Jesus didn’t choose one scribe or Pharisee when He launched the church…and Acts 4:13 talks about how He used ordinary people to absolutely turn the world upside down.

Respect for tradition

Desperation for God’s power

Use of technology

Passion filled leaders

Belief that greater things are in store.

Ownership of the church – staff would actually attend if they were not on staff.

#5 – They leverage technology.

They don’t view technology as of the devil but rather as a tool given by God to reach as many people as possible for Jesus. (Btw…isn’t it funny that some churches are against the use of technology yet all of them rode to their church in a car and their church building has air conditioner?)

#6 – The church is full of passion.

People in the church actually LOVE the church and do not attend because they feel like they have to! (The only reason people get angry with the fact that you love your church is probably because they have no idea what it is like to actually love their church!)

#7 – They take ownership of the great commission.

They REFUSE to be “keepers of the aquarium” and instead embrace the COMMAND of Jesus to reach the world for HIM!

#8 – There is a willingness to change and adapt, even when it means they have to go against the very “innovative” ideas that they themselves once established!

Anyone can change the traditions of the past…but true innovation occurs when we’re willing to change the ideas that we once thought were innovative and ground breaking!

#9 – Generosity is embraced.

The world has never been impacted in a positive way by people that were greedy.

#10 – The people in the church are OWNERS, not merely “members.”

Members have rights, owners have responsibilities. The people in these churches understand that it is not the pastors job to minister to the people but rather the body's job to minister to the body! And as a result people serve Jesus by serving others instead of sitting on their “blessed assurance” and expecting to be waited on hand and foot.

The Giving Pledge - Why wait?

Warren Buffett says he and Bill Gates have pledges from 40 of America's wealthiest individuals and families to give away at least half their fortunes to charity.

Buffett and Bill Gates, who have a combined wealth of about $90 billion, officially launched The Giving Pledge this year to urge wealthy individuals to give the majority of their money to charities of their choice either during their lifetime or after their death.

The latest list of 40 billionaires includes, among others, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media mogul Ted Turner, film director George Lucas and energy magnate T. Boone Pickens.

"We've really just started, but already we've had a terrific response," Buffett, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a statement. "At its core, the Giving Pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used.

"We're delighted that so many people are doing just that – and that so many have decided to not only take this pledge but also to commit to sums far greater than the 50% minimum level."

This intrigues me. First, it is nice to see that the wealthy are concerned about making a difference in the world. They hope the money will benefit medical advancements, global crises, poverty, etc. I'm sure it will have a big impact for the good. The one thing that bothers me, though is Buffet said in an interview with Charlie Rose that the reason he was doing this was because he's always had everything he needed so it was time to give back. This is a mentality that many of us have when it comes to money - take care of me first, making sure I get what I want AND THEN I will help you after I'm dead and gone.

I'm not sure that is how Christians are called to live. Remember the story in the Bible where Jesus and some of his disciples were watching people go in and out of the temple dropping in their money? Then this poor, destitute widow drops in a measly two cents and Jesus says she gave more than anyone. Why? Because everyone else gave out of their abundance, but she gave from her poverty (and she was still alive)!

Don't get me wrong. I am not judging the hearts of the wealthy who have pledged 50% of their estates. May God bless them. My question is - why wait until you are wealthy and dead before you start to give it away and help others? The New Testament church in Acts 2 didn't wait to give their stuff away. It says that they sold their possessions and distributed to anyone in need. They were so excited by the new thing God was doing that they were totally trusting God to provide. They were filled with such love and compassion for others that material things did not much matter.

How can we recapture this type of sacrificial giving while we are still alive?

I'm done writing because I think the Spirit is convicting me too much...

The Pardon of Billy the Kid

This appeared on Timothy Merrill's blog. Thought I would share it:

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is thinking about granting a posthumous pardon to notorious outlaw, Billy the Kid, who died with his boots on when shot down at the age of 21 by Pat Garrett more than 125 years ago. Richardson's doing this for God knows why.

Actually, I’m not sure God knows why.

And so this is my question: What compelling reason (and he may have one; I just don’t know what it is—I do know about the amnesty thing and “what if” history) moves Richardson to even ponder this pardon? Have pardons already been granted to Jesse James, the Dalton boys or the Clanton gang?

The relatives of Pat Garrett are urging Richardson not to grant the pardon. The Kid killed people, and not even the passing of time erases the calumny of those deeds.

So—Gov’nor? What’s moving you to consider this?

We might also ask the same question of God re the pardon God has extended toward us. God must have a compelling reason, but in this case I know what it is: God loves us and justice has been satisfied.

We’re no more worthy of consideration of a pardon than Billy the Kid, but God’s done it anyway.

http://tmerril.blogs.com/timothy_merrill/2010/08/the-pardon-of-billy-the-kid.html

The Life of a Pastor

August 2 marks three years since becoming a pastor. I am in the process of doing a pastor-congregational review to gauge how it's going. In three years, one thing I have learned is that pastoring is certainly not for the faint at heart. I have to rely on the verse that says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". I definitely cannot do this on my own power (although I forget that sometimes). Here is something I came across last week that describes how pastors oftentimes feel:

"He must generate group enthusiasm as does a cheerleader of a disappointingly slow ballgame.

He feels the pressure to produce a winning team, as does the ball coach.

He is given the responsibility of leading but always from a servant position.

He must give three or more speeches each week to the same general group.

He must not be repetitious or boring. He must have fresh, up to-date materials and data. He must do it without a speechwriter or research team.

He must be approachable at all times regardless of his own personal desire to be left alone.

He must teach from a book studied and read by his students, yet must be fresh and informative.

He is a walking, talking, loving man of God, man of men, man of a family who is called “Pastor.”

He is trained to preach, to pastor, to administrate, but somewhere someone failed to give him the magic word, which changes him into “Captain Marvel.”

He is a man, a good man, but just a man. Without the grace of God his load would be too great and he would break…"

Sometimes the load feels too great, but just like God reminded Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you". Praise God for the power and daily renewal of grace.