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Dave Datema, UB ordained minister and endorsed missionary, talks on his blog, Freakin’ Missionary, about how God works slowly, and of our attempts to speed him up. He started with a post called “God’s Slow Ways,” which was followed by “Speeding God Up.” The latter says:
I find it hard to know when to wait on God to work His purposes and when to launch out in faith. Great perils await us when we go to either extreme. Some people wait and do nothing, expecting God to do everything. Others are always doing things, sure that “God helps those who help themselves.” So how do we know which to do?
Scott Hardaway’s June 29 blog post, “What I Don’t Believe,” presented 26 things that he doesn’t believe. It’s an interesting list. Here are a few of them. (Scott is pastor of Pathway Community Church in Jackson, Mich.)
Does that peak your interest? You can read the rest of the list on Scott’s blog, and he invites you to add your own items to the list.
Todd Fetters, Devonshire Church, Harrisburg, Pa.
At a recent funeral, I heard the classic hymn “Amazing Grace.” The familiar second line of the first stanza has since stuck in my mind: “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”
While it is true that Christ saved me when I was a mere seven years old, it is also true that Christ is still saving me. And because of God’s amazing grace in the last 12 months, I could easily amend the second line to read, “I was stuck, but I’m progressing, was discouraged, but now am hopeful.”
Okay, so my amended lyrics don’t flow as well. My point is this: God’s grace is always amazing. We make a huge mistaken when we think God’s grace is amazing only in relation to our moment of salvation. God’s grace has got to be amazing to you right now…in the past week…in the past month…in the past year.
I’ll bet you can point to ways in which God’s continuing transformational grace has recently touched and transformed some aspect of your life. You could amend the lyrics to “Amazing Grace” just like I did. Here are a few other edits that I think would be relevant to Christians today:
What lyrics would you choose to describe your most recent encounter with God’s amazing grace?
Recently I preached at one of our churches at their Saturday night service. After the service, someone handed me an envelope with my name on it. The envelope had been placed in the offering plate. It contained a three-page letter outlining concerns regarding the pastor of another church in the area. The letter was unsigned.
Bishop Ron Ramsey and I have an agreed-upon policy regarding unsigned letters. We toss them. Not that we callously desire to ignore people’s concerns. There are times when people may have legitimate concerns that should be addressed. But sending an anonymous note to the Bishop (or a pastor or board member) violates the principles of Scripture. If I have a problem with a brother, I need to go to him. The whole process is outlined in Matthew 18.
It is also unfair to throw out criticism (and many times venomous accusations) against someone and not be willing to face them or discuss it with them. I often wonder if the writers of these notes would want the same done to them.
So if you want to raise a concern with us regarding what is happening in one of our churches, you must understand two things.
We must follow Matthew 18 in our relationships with each other or we are no better than the world around us. And we give Satan the opportunity to have a foothold in the life of our church.
We need to be change agents in our churches. Change involves a three-step process:
The neutral zone is a tricky area. Change is occurring, but it hasn’t become fully implemented in people’s hearts and minds.
People may say, “Yeah, we’ll try that for a while to see if it works.”
No, that’s the wrong attitude. You do it because it’s what God called you to do.
The management of change occurs in the neutral zone. The problem is that you are implementing change, but a lot of stuff you left behind is clamoring for your attention. The challenge is to not get so tied up with what you’re leaving behind that you don’t get to where you want to go.
Many of us have attended conferences at Willow Creek and have been greatly influenced by the ministry of Bill Hybels. Willow recently released the results of the Reveal survey, as they call it, which took a sobering look at the level of life transformation actually occurring at Willow and other churches across the country. As a result of that study, they are making some major changes.
Unfortunately, too much of the information about the reported changes has not been accurate. Bill Hybels finally felt compelled to address the misinformation. He did that through this video, which explains what Willow is actually doing–a mere “strategic adjustment,” he calls it. The video not only clears up the confusion, but gives some good insights into reaching the current generation and the way “seekers” have changed over the years. Willow staff Nancy Beach elaborates in another YouTube video.
When Jesus was ministering to his disciples, the mother of James and John wanted to know which of her boys would enter the Kingdom first. She wanted them at the front of the potluck line.
The issue is control. Churches too often have people who want to control what happens, because they think they know better. They want to decide which table goes first at the potluck. That is carnality.
I had a whole bunch of people at Mainstreet who didn’t agree with me, but we got along and were excited because we baptized another 12 people on Sunday. Give up trying to control what happens in your church, and focus on fulfilling the Great Commission. It’s not about who goes first at potlucks. It’s about lost souls.
At Mainstreet, when I prepared my sermons, I would frequently hit a road block, unable to get my ideas to gel. That was always frustrating. So I would go visit people in the hospital, and in between hospitals, I would preach at the steering wheel. Lo and behold, it sounded pretty good! I’d stop and jot down some ideas, and things came together.
I prepared a lot of sermons that way. I would get excited about something, pound the steering wheel, and feel like I wanted to kick the tires. People in other cars probably thought I was nuts.
I still find myself doing that. An idea will pop into my head while I’m driving, and I’ll start talking about it out loud. I can think better when I’m talking than when I’m writing.
Some preachers manuscript their sermons. I don’t. Many times I’d write my sermon outline on a note-card, with several words on it.
As a pastor, I was always well-prepared. I studied hard, going back to the Greek and Hebrew to research the original meaning of words, and reading as many commentaries as I could find about a Scripture passage. But I had a hard time putting everything I learned into a 30-minute package, and would go into the pulpit and basically speak without notes.
I’ve been criticized for that. But I tell people, “I’m not giving a speech. I’m preaching.”
A few items of possible interest:
