It’s easy to be open and accessible when the church you oversee is only 100 people or so.  I wouldn’t know how to “pastor” a church much bigger than that.  It would be a learning curve.  But as of late, I found a whole new reason to be an “open pastor” as well as a vulnerable pastor…I needed help.  I needed the body.

Last week was not the first time my wife has been sick to the point of hospitalization.  And although this current illness fails in comparison to the cancer that infected her in the past, I non-the-less needed the body of Christ to pray for her, and for me.  I needed specific help with everything from personal items to the care of the church.  I needed to know that people were praying for Regina’s recovery and that they’re faith was in agreement with ours as we prayed for wisdom in a diagnosis as well as other specifics we were praying about.

I need their encouragement.  I needed the aged to come to the hospital, to lay hands on Regina and to pray for her.  I need their experiences – both good and bad to teach us of the faithfulness of God.  I needed the texts, the flowers, and the cards.  I needed to know they care.  Maybe a better title for this post would have been, “The Needy Pastor.”

Yes I am needy – I am open  – and I am vulnerable.  I think pastors miss a blessing when they keep to themselves in times of personal trouble.  I regularly remind the people of Connections that although I tend to be discerning and prophetic – I don’t read minds.  I need people to tell me where they are, what is troubling them so I can help them find God in it all (whatever it may be).  Shouldn’t the same be true in my case?  I think that it is good for a congregation not to see the pastor as a clergymen or as the “high priest,” but rather just one gift operating within a priesthood.

Regina is well on her way to recovery because, in part, the people of Connections were praying and supporting us. And yes, I blasted the social networks as well.  The response was wonderful

Thanks again

Good Friday services, lent, communion, cantatas…is it over? Did we arrive at the pinnacle  of all things holy? Are the extra chairs back in storage?  Let’s face it – it would be hard to preform at that level every Sunday.  Thank God we only celebrate the resurrection once per year. Im not really as cynical about the church’s treatment of Easter as I may sound.  Connections’ too put on our Easter face as well with our carefully chosen music, well timed videos, and a pastor whom wore a sport coat.  Let me add parenthetically that I actually enjoyed the jacket wearing.  I received a lot of compliments and that felt pretty good.

But I guess the question I am really asking is, “Will the church get back to normal now that the Easter is over?” …and I don’t mean this in a good way.

I like Easter too. Truly, I do.  I  have many cherished memories of Easter egg hunts with my 4 daughters, new dresses, family meals, and special church services. My wife and I have sang in many-a-musical.  I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.  Nor am I suggesting the our traditional Easter practices should be in any way altered.  What I am concerned about is the over-emphasis of an event as opposed the resurrection’s purpose.

If I understand the New Testament,  the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is now in operation within me. (Romans 8:11 Colossians 1:27)  That tells me that at any given moment I should be able to do and say everything that Jesus said and did as led by that same Spirit.  That’s a lot of power.  I can heal the sick, raise the sea, set the captives free, and live apart from sin – as He did. (Hebrews 2:18, Hebrews 4:15).  But as I look around it appears that Easter is indeed over

I can’t begin to express my gratitude for the resurrection.  Without it, we may as well all go home so- o-speak. I am alive because Christ lives in me. That is cause for celebration.  But between Jesus’s immaculate conception and His resurrection was a 3 year period in which he modeled, explained, and demonstrated the power of a kingdom that is hit if this world. It would seem to me that we should be demonstrating daily  as if the resurrection actually occurred. In Doug World – The purpose of the resurrection reaches further than my gift of external life.  If that event empowered me to do and say everything Jesus said and did, I may have to make some adjustments.  And if the church’s past is indicative of its future, the power of the resurrection will lie dormant until next spring.

What a shame it would be to put so much effort and resources into reminding the church about the blessed event without teaching people how to day by day model explain and demonstrate the kingdom and it’s King.  We have failed if people walked away from our churches with little more than a reminder of the resurrection.

The call of he new testament is to make disciples.  End of story.  The ressurection gave us the power to do that as His body.  We have been given His glory, His character, and His reputation to live a life that resembles the life the jesus lived (no pressure).  How disappointing it would be if we, in the end, only hyped an event as opposed to equipping people to do the work if the ministry.  .

Rest in a restless world comes from learning His ways and doing them + or – nothing.

Society has become a restless. Computers and smart phones, and tablets have given us the world at the click of an icon. Consequentially, we find ourselves urgently needing to return every text, to be notified as news breaks, and to update our every move for the world to see. What I am wondering is if the very technology that should be simplifying our lives has caused us to have a new level of impatience

Restlessness is not limited to the use of electronic devices. Family dinners, for example,  have been replaced by drive-through meals. On a larger scale, many of us are wondering if our country will survive our ever-increasing debt.  There is war and civil uprising almost everywhere in the world. For many, a steady sleep schedule is a myth. We sit with family and friends…and if we do we dare not unplug ourselves from our electronics long enough to invest into the lives of one another.For me, my iPhone is both a blessing and a curse.

I know many people in the Christian community that, although they are certainly a believer in Jesus Christ, they find themselves trying to keep up with everything they feel their family, job, church, and their God is expecting of them.

So how do we find rest in such a restless word?

A look at Matthew 11:28-30 will give us a place to start

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden
I give you is light.”

The yoke mentioned is not the animal harness that was used in the
by-gone days of farming. The “yoke” that Jesus was referring to was a student-teacher
relationship that was common in the first century. In this mentoring bond, the student
would leave his family for many years to study under an expert teacher of the Old
Testament. Aside from the scripture that the student was made to memorize, the
teacher would instruct his disciple in the customs of The Jewish people as well as
impart to him a working knowledge of Israel’s history.

Jesus’ statement was one of comparison. We see this not only in the context of
the scripture from Matthew, but also in other sayings of Jesus that these teachers
placed many undue burdens on the people of God, (Matthew 23:2-4). By offering His
yoke, Jesus was inviting them, and us, to allow Him to be a mentor and to learn of His
ways. Under His loving care, we would find that His yoke was easy and light. When
Jesus used the term “easy to bear,” He means that the life He gives “fits properly” or is
“good, mild, and pleasant”.

Rest in a restless world comes from learning His ways and
doing them + or – nothing.  Stay tuned…

Tammy recently posted something on Facebook concerning, “Expectations,” that I wanted my friends to see as well.

From time-to-time, I make mention of a dear friend and colleague, Dr. Farris Cox.  Dr. Cox is an overseer to me, Connections, and is the overseeing elder and apostle to World Harvest Church of Dublin Ga.

Now that you know Farris, please meet his wife Tammy.  I won’t take the time to offer a formal introduction here, but I will say that she is a Godly woman who is full of grace and truth. Tammy consistently posts wonderful bits of truth and revelation that carries the sweet aroma that can only come from God.

Here’s what Tammy posted on Facebook in its entirety:

When Job prayed for his friends his own captivity was turned. Isa. 58.
When I reach out to the afflicted soul, God turns on the light in my night time. 

When I do good to others my expectation cannot be for them to do good to me,
but my expectation is that God who sees all will see to the things that concern me.

Jesus said, do to others what you would “desire” they do to you….
& knowing that what you do for others GOD will do for you.
~the bible

Release people from expectations and set your expectations
on the shoulders of the ONE who can handle it.

Her last sentence really spoke to me.  We do tend to get disappointed by people who we thought would/should respond, 0r react in one way, only to find that our expectations were not met. Perhaps the person was simply human and made an error in judgment. Often, our expectations of an individual are simply unrealistic. For me, Tammy’s post is dead on.

Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.
Leo Buscaglia

Nudity - full frontall.  I am not talking about a passing glance either. It went on for a few minutes.

Swearing – Lots of swearing even when totally called for.  I’m from NY.  I am not tripped up by movies, nor people who naturally drop the “F-Bomb” in certain situations.  This movie just put them in there for no other apparent reason than to make this movie edgy.

Drug use  - and lots of it

Church - A key flow of the movie was making fools out of Christians, church,  and slapping God in his face on multiple occasions.

I just didn’t get it.  I mean, I understood the movie line – appreciated the actors and the such.  But I guess I am just not hip enough for this weird attempt at blending an indie vibe with a little heroics, conspiracy, intrigue, and some decent effects.

Did the movie have it’s high points (other than Denzel’s cocaine usage?)  Some…not enough to mention

I wouldn’t look for 2 many more movie posts from this guy

Some might make the argument that God is speaking to us about a topic that is important to Him.  Others will maintain that Christian authors are merely trying to stay current with pop-culture.  Whatever the reason might be for this sudden rise of material on the subject of identity, I for one am glad to see it out there.  I will speak more about why I am glad at the end of this post.

Frank Viola has witten a wonderful, down-to-earth post about identity.  In the post titled, “Who are you? Accepting your true identity,” Frank lists some 80 statements, taken right from Scripture, that speaks pointedly about our identity in Christ.

Here are just 6 of them:

You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).

You have been reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18).

You have been accepted by God in the Beloved Son (Ephesians 1:6).

You are kept by the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:8).

You are free in Christ (John 8:36; Galatians 5:1).

You are in Christ’s hands out of which no one can pluck you out (John 10:28).

A lot of personal counseling occurs at Connections.  Most of that time is spent helping people understand the good news of Jesus Christ.  Often this means helping them to identify, forgive, and reconcile past emotional wounds that have caused them to have a skewed understanding of the work of Christ.  Even in my Sunday-morning teaching, I seem to almost naturally  turn toward sub-topics such as liberty, healing, and identity.  I know for certain that when people begin to understand their true identity in Christ, most of their issues seem to go away on their own.

After reading Frank’s post, I can say that his list accomplish at least these 2 things:

1. Identify what  missinformation the reader may have about their relationship with Jesus Christ and,
2. Give the reader a scriptural truth on which to stand

Read Frank’s post HERE

I often teach that if, “truth will set you free (Hohn 8:32),” that it stands to reason that a lie will result in bondage.  Most of the people I counsel have been led to believe lies about their true identity   As I stated early, By helping people understand the truth about their identity with Christ, the “issues” that they originally came to me about seem to take care of themselves.

What this post is NOT is a detailed explanation of each point.  Nor is this post intended to define, defend, or explain in any way the concepts of prophecy, discernment, or what I mean by, “God speaking.”  

Think of these as seeds.  Take them, plant them, and perhaps someone else will water them.  Eventually, if I am hearing accurately, God will add increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

I believe that the Lord is saying that He is doing a refining work in His body.

1. He’s burning away all the wood, hay in stubble (1Corinthians 3:12)
2. He’s requiring us to move more of our personal preferences aside and gather in Jesus name.
3. We must get out of the way – remove hindrances (Hebrews 12:1 / Luke 3:5)
4. Many are getting healthy this year.  This is needed to do the work.  Healthy living is more than a passing fad
5. The standards are higher in 2013, simply repeating 2012 is unacceptable.  Suffering for Christ? (1 Peter 3:14-15)(1 Peter 4:1-4)
6. We’ve seen glimpses of it but God is desiring to show us more of His glory
7. Prayer is needed like never before.

Over the years I discovered that productivity and results were a better indicator of success rather than the time spent doing something. I think this principle is true in church gathering as well – I think.  At Connections, I say I don’t watch the clock on a Sunday morning, but I actually do.  I’d like to say that I am free from a scheduled Sunday morning gathering, but in actuality, I want Connections to start at 11 and end promptly at 12:30.  Am I in sin? How long should church last?

Part of this is merely my personal preferences.  Church is 11am-12pm // end of story.  That traditional hour has always worked well for me.  I am a time sensitive kinda guy.  I’m from NY…spent most of my years in management…I like efficiency.  I see no need to drag-out our Sunday’s gatherings just for the sake of doing so. Frankly, I don’t find long church services more “spiritual” than the shorter, more traditional ones.  It’s my observation that most of the longer church services I have attended wasted time on long, drawn-out segments of announcements, transitions, joking and story telling, and the worship leader feeling the need to create an “atmosphere.”

Much of this waste is often done in the name of “religious freedom,” or my all time favorite, “less is more.”  The latter phrase means that we will no longer require people to serve the institution with 3 separate gatherings (Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night), but instead we will have one big event on Sunday.

Here’s where all this matters to me.  I care about people’s time including my own – but perhaps I care too much.  Connections starts at 11 – its written on our website.  I mean, you gotta give people a time to gather, right?  Often times, however, we are not doing anything but gathering and fellowshipping until about 11:15 when the worship team finally takes the stage.  It does seem to be the natural flow of the church.  But can we not…should we not “start” on time?  Is a schedule no longer cool, hip, organic, or relevant?  Can we not “end” church at 12:30?  Is it an act of, “quenching The Spirit,” to go our separate ways at a designated time?

Where I fault, at least where I think I am in error, is that I lean more toward efficiency on not a more relaxed, causal, and natural feel. We have one segment of Connections that believes that if the worship doesn’t go on for 45 mins – to an hour that we really didn’t experience God.  Others want 3-4 songs, minimal repeating, and onto the preaching.  If there was no clock to look at, would I change anything?  That might be one way to see what might naturally occur on a Sunday morning.

Care to comment?  I’d love some input on this.

For example, in John 8:31-32 Jesus says:

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

If I read this correctly, freedom is a natural byproduct of knowing truth.  The scriptures also seem to indicate that this truth is birthed from and abiding relationship in His word. According to the really smart linguistic people that I read behind, this word “know” gives us the idea of “experiential knowledge.”  That would seem to fit the flow of these verses.  As we learn to take the words of God, and apply them to our lives, we will acquire a trust in those words.  Simply said, we will experientially learn that what God says is true, and that His words are factual and reliable. The end result is we find the freedom that many of us are looking for.

Personally, the measure in which I trust a person is directly proportional to not only the amount of time I invest into a relationship with them, but also the reliability of their words.  The more time I spend cultivating my relationship with God, the more I find that he loves me, desires to care for me, and that I can handle any given situation in accordance with His word.

The same concept seems to be true with Romans 15:13.  Note the words “as you trust him” are surrounded by such terms as hope, joy, peace, and power.  This further validates that there appears to be a growing experience that equates to increasing trust in His abilities.  As we cultivate our salvation through obedience to Him, we find that what he says is true.  Walking in that truth then causes us to trust him all the more and eventually leads to all the peace we all desire.  I see this model in the Colossians 1:9-11 as well as James 1:2-4

I can’t help but to wonder what our relations would look like of we only spoke truth – and did that in love (Ephesians 4:15). What if we chose to let all of our concerns known to God before we went into the cycle of fear, anxiety, and its often-devastating consequences as stated in Philippians 4:6-9? Did you notice the words in verse 9, “practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you?”

Have you found this to be true? I’d like to read your story