29 October 2007
Red Sox Nation celebrates!!!
Again, it has been a joy to cheer the BoSox in Red Sox Nation. They win the series 4-0!
19 October 2007
Ministry belongs to everyone
I've been thinking about ministry as I prepare for our upcoming Quarterly business meeting. It's been said ('cause it's true) that God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called. And while I've always assented to that truth, I had a thought the other day that opened this whole thing up for me.
If God qualifies the called, we can never really say, "I don't think I could do that." Or, "I'm really not into that sort of thing." Nor can we excuse ourselves for not having the necessary skill set. The reason is that if God does the qualifying, we shouldn't presume we know what the required skills are. And the reason God doesn't call those of us who appear qualified from our perspective is that when we succeed, we can't say, "Gee thanks, but I do that all the time." That's called doing it in our own strength.
If I say, "I'm just not wired to do that," we may well speak the truth, but that doesn't let us off the hook. Moses had a bad temper and was not an eloquent public speaker, yet God called him to appear several times before the leader of the Egyptian empire, and to lead the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land (and as Lincoln Brewster observes) without a PA system!
David's Biblical epitaph reads: "He was a man after God's own heart." Yet David was a mercenary, an adulterer and a murderer. Solomon couldn't keep his eyes on one wife. Noah was a drunkard and he was called to save the world! (Could this have implications for the TV show, Heroes?)
So if I approach someone whom I've prayerfully considered for ministry in some capacity and that person responds "I don't know if that's my thing," I wonder if I shouldn't strongly encourage the person to do it anyway. Just to make sure it indeed isn't his or her thing. After all, God may actually do something extraordinary through them.
Wouldn't it be nice if every time we prayed about a ministry position, and God gave us a name, that when we approached that person, he or she would say, "I was hoping God would use me somehow. Now I know where He wants me."
Like I said, its' just a thought.
If God qualifies the called, we can never really say, "I don't think I could do that." Or, "I'm really not into that sort of thing." Nor can we excuse ourselves for not having the necessary skill set. The reason is that if God does the qualifying, we shouldn't presume we know what the required skills are. And the reason God doesn't call those of us who appear qualified from our perspective is that when we succeed, we can't say, "Gee thanks, but I do that all the time." That's called doing it in our own strength.
If I say, "I'm just not wired to do that," we may well speak the truth, but that doesn't let us off the hook. Moses had a bad temper and was not an eloquent public speaker, yet God called him to appear several times before the leader of the Egyptian empire, and to lead the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land (and as Lincoln Brewster observes) without a PA system!
David's Biblical epitaph reads: "He was a man after God's own heart." Yet David was a mercenary, an adulterer and a murderer. Solomon couldn't keep his eyes on one wife. Noah was a drunkard and he was called to save the world! (Could this have implications for the TV show, Heroes?)
So if I approach someone whom I've prayerfully considered for ministry in some capacity and that person responds "I don't know if that's my thing," I wonder if I shouldn't strongly encourage the person to do it anyway. Just to make sure it indeed isn't his or her thing. After all, God may actually do something extraordinary through them.
Wouldn't it be nice if every time we prayed about a ministry position, and God gave us a name, that when we approached that person, he or she would say, "I was hoping God would use me somehow. Now I know where He wants me."
Like I said, its' just a thought.
07 October 2007
No church Sunday. This is weird!
If you notice the timestamp on this post, you'll note it;s Sunday morning, and you may wonder, "Why isn't he in church? He's a pastor!"
We closed the church today for Faith In Action Sunday. We've encouraged our people to go out today and serve their community or neighbors is some small tangible way. The premise being the church doesn't exist for us. It exists to serve others. That's what Jesus meant by we are "salt and light." And we said that what we do doesn't have to be big.
So we're going to try and visit my wife's boss's father who lives in town and likely doesn't get any visitors other than family. He may say No, but we're going to try. We're also going down to the new cafe in town and hobnob with some of the townsfolk. That's something I'll likely touch on in another post.
We closed the church today for Faith In Action Sunday. We've encouraged our people to go out today and serve their community or neighbors is some small tangible way. The premise being the church doesn't exist for us. It exists to serve others. That's what Jesus meant by we are "salt and light." And we said that what we do doesn't have to be big.
So we're going to try and visit my wife's boss's father who lives in town and likely doesn't get any visitors other than family. He may say No, but we're going to try. We're also going down to the new cafe in town and hobnob with some of the townsfolk. That's something I'll likely touch on in another post.
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