About an hour ago I received an email from a friend of mine telling me that he was leaving our church. I am not sure how to explain how I feel. It is like someone has taken a piece of me. I am feeling empty and hollow inside. I am having problems focusing and thinking because all I can concentrate on is the pain I feel. I fell blind-sided. I had no idea that this was coming.
Why is it that we hurt when someone close to us leaves? Why does it feel so hollow? I can look back over the years of ministry that I have been involved in and this is the closest person, of my recollection right now, that has left the church. God has called his church the Body of Christ.
Romans 12:4-8
4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
We fit together, our gifts, talents, goals and visions. And when that part of the body is ripped from us, especially without what we would consider an explanation, there is only pain and hurt left from the “tearing and ripping” off of that body part. Whether it be an arm, leg or even a lung.
There is an emptiness and a confusion of what happened and why? I think that, in some cases, there is also a hurt for the person that left. I just wonder what is going through my friend’s head. How is he hurting right now? What can I do to help with that pain.
There have been times that I have sat back and waited to see what was going to happen with things. This is not one of those times. I will be going over to my friend’s house tonight to talk with him. I am willing to put myself out on the line and fight for this relationship. I want to let God use me.
So, my friend, if you are reading this, I will be over this evening. I am not going to let you go easily. I want to hear your thoughts, your ponderings, and what God has been speaking to you about. I will fight for you. You mean that much to me, and others. You are part of my family. And I don’t just let family go.
January 22, 2008
January 7, 2008
January 3, 2008
December 19, 2007
The Experience- A night of Worship
Worship is what we were created to do. The problem is,
we usually worship the wrong things.
we usually worship the wrong things.
I have been sensing that God wants us to worship together. This is looking beyond church walls and denominations. I look around and see churches competing with each other. When I was a pastor, one of the biggest questions that other pastors asked was, "how many people do you have?" That was annoying to me. I understand people want to know how you are doing, but I felt like the reason people asked was because it was always about numbers. I don't think we were meant to be so segregated. We have separate churches to lead people to Christ in our own area, but the Spirit of God is in each church. Let us come together and Worship the One Spirit.
The Experience, is a chance for churches to get together to Worship God corporately. As one. Jeff Stuttler, a gifted guitarist and singer, will be leading us into the presence of God. He has spent time in Kansas City and Nashville studying both to lead worship, and to listen to the voice of God. Please join us in this adventure.
December 15, 2007
God's Food
Tauni and I were putting the kids to bed this evening and some angels showed up at the door. I say angels, or God's messengers, without really knowing who or "what" stopped by. But as I went down to answer the door after someone knocked on it, There was no one there. I looked down and there were 3 boxes of stuff. I looked around for just a hint of movement or tail lights, but saw nothing.
In these boxes were things that we needed, and or were secretly desiring. I had just mentioned to Tauni that we needed to go get toilet paper. Low and behold, it showed up on our door step. I have really been wanting some meat for sandwiches during the day lately, and haven't been able to buy any. In the second picture, there is a large ham. We had run out of fruit and we recieved that as well. It is really funny because our apartment complex gives us Panera bread each week, and yet I have been wanting regular bread to make a peanut butter sandwich.
We are very appreciative for everything that we got, and wanted to share about just a few things that stick out. All this to say, GOD IS GOOD. I was just looking in the refrigerator tonight and thinking, "how am I going to feed my family?" God has now answered.
In these boxes were things that we needed, and or were secretly desiring. I had just mentioned to Tauni that we needed to go get toilet paper. Low and behold, it showed up on our door step. I have really been wanting some meat for sandwiches during the day lately, and haven't been able to buy any. In the second picture, there is a large ham. We had run out of fruit and we recieved that as well. It is really funny because our apartment complex gives us Panera bread each week, and yet I have been wanting regular bread to make a peanut butter sandwich.
We are very appreciative for everything that we got, and wanted to share about just a few things that stick out. All this to say, GOD IS GOOD. I was just looking in the refrigerator tonight and thinking, "how am I going to feed my family?" God has now answered.
December 5, 2007
Life of Collision #1
Click To Play
This is a large file, so it may take a while to load. You can also right click on it and save it to your desktop, it might be faster that way.
December 2, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
