In Jesus Name

Operation Iraqi Freedom is a controversial subject in America. From what I have seen I would not refer to it as an operation, but call it by its true name; War! From the outside looking in it seems to me like most things in our culture this War and its soldiers are not talked about like they should be. It has been regulated to quick blurbs by most national news stations which has frustrated me lately. No matter what you believe about this War you probably are concerned for the well being of the soldiers, and you should be!

As a Desert Storm Veteran I wish I could explain what War actually does to someone, but they would be mere words. Time spent in combat changes a person in ways that they do not immediately recognize. You are living with the same people everyday, wearing the same clothes, eating the same things every week, and fearing for your life most of the time. During this time of "sameness" a persons psyche begins to wear thin. It is a life of complete stress and focus on survival and accomplishing the days mission. Some have mental breakdowns , and some become hardened by what they experience. No matter what a persons age or gender are there is one surety of War for every soldier; They will forever be changed by their experience. You might not want to think about it, but it is an undeniable fact. The unfortunate thing about the American Soldier in our Country is that we do not have a process for them to go through to find healing. We also do not have a process for the parents and spouses of the Soldiers to help them cope with the burden of their loved ones being gone to War.

I have decided that it is time for the Church to step up and get to it! I have decided to start a support group for the parents and spouses of Soldiers overseas to help them deal with the gamma of emotions that they experience everyday. We need to be doing ministry in different ways and need to be reaching out in the context of our culture. This is a need that fits into the context very well. Imagine parents and spouses of soldiers interacting with other parents and spouses. Imagine these parents and spouses leaning on one another and praying with and for each other. It is the type of ministry that Jesus invites those who are His apprentices to do. We do it for His glory and honor and in His Name.


The Soldiers are going to continue to leave and by the grace of God continue to come home. The parents and spouses of these soldiers are going to remain with us in the meantime and they will continue to wait everyday of their lives. They will wait for a letter, e-mail, or phone call just to let them know that their loved ones are still alive. While they are waiting the Church should be stepping up to help them through this difficult time. If we learn to do this right now then we will be more apt to minister to the American Soldier once their tour is done. In Jesus Name I hope and pray that the Church will carry this burden.

Spiritually Fat?

This past week I received my new CBD (Christian Book Distributors) catalog in the mail. I buy just about every Christian book from them and I enjoy their catalog very much. This web based book store has everything you can imagine for the Christian to grow. Not all of it is good, but most of the publications are solid. As I began to look through the catalog I noticed several items that I plan on purchasing and was delighted at the prices. The rest of the day I kept thinking about all of the resources that every Christian has in this country. It is beyond what anyone else is probably able to get. With all of the resources we have for the Christian life we still have too many problems in the Church and too much inward focus. This is what really makes me mad.


We have Christian bookstores, Christian Conferences, Christian music, Christian web pages, and Christian TV. With all of these resources you would think that we would be filled with so much love and joy that it would make the rest of the world jealous, but that's not the case. We have become inward focused and self indulgent. We have become Spiritually Fat and consumed with our own Spiritual happiness. We need to put a stop to this! The Christian life is one of action and not one of just absorbing information.

A true apprentice (disciple) of Jesus is always to be growing, but that growth is to promote good works that the Apostle James talks about in the second chapter of his letter to the Church. This is the part that we leave off most of the time. People keep talking about getting fed and they are mostly the ones who never want to reach out. The Church exists for you to grow and serve. When you just grow you become Spriritually Fat and don't accomplish anything for your Church or for God.

Marathon Training as Parable

For the past 1 1/2 years I have trained to run a Marathon that I have never run. The first time my first child was born so that came to an abrupt end. The second time I pulled a groin muscle that did not recover in time to continue the training. Now I am on my 3rd attempt and at the front of my training regiment for a Marathon in St. Louis for the month of April. Not all people enjoy running, but I always have. As a person who has been running for a good portion of my life I have realized that training for a race is very similar to training for the Christian life.

While most runners enjoy running there are rarely 2 days that are the same. One of the most frustrating ascpects of being a runner is that the way you eat today will affect your run tomorrow. This might not sound like a big deal, but if you have a sweet tooth like I do then it can be a huge problem while you are training. While I am an early morning runner and normally love getting up early it does not mean that I always feel like running. Somedays I am so tired that I have to talk myself into it. The funny thing is that after the first 2 miles I am always glad I followed through. Some days I wake up and feel great, but when I start running my body refuses to get into a good rythym and for whatever reason I feel about 100 lbs heavier and every mile becomes a struggle. To run everyday regardless of whether you are training for a Marathon or not is always an interesting adventure. To be a steady runner takes perseverance and diligence. The same is true for the Christian life.

No matter who we are in the Church or what position we hold we have to persevere in our relationship with God. I am writing these thoughts today because as a Pastor I have encountered too many people who do not treat their life with Christ with attention and care that is needed and required. When this happens they get out of shape spiritually and every problem that comes their way seems to overwhelm them. The hardest people to minister to in the Church are the ones who want a quick solution to problems that have been festering for a good while and problems that God was never invited into. Those who conquer and overcome quickly are those who have trained themselves in the Christian life. They are the ones who understand that there is EXPECTATIONS from God of His children.

Everyday as a Christian has its ups and downs just like running does. Those who keep going regardless of what they feel like are the ones who always have a close relationship with Jesus. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul about what our part as Christians should be.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. " (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, NIV)

Are you in training?

Monkish Thoughts

One of the most frustrating aspects of being a Pastor is the lack of confidence and time that people in the Church devote to God through the study of His Word. Every time someone comes into my office with a problem I have 2 basic questions that I ask them.

1. How much time do you pray every day?

2. How much time do you spend in God's Word each day?

I ask these questions because as a Christian I realize that without constant care of my spritiual life my world can crumble before me in just one short moment. There is no class that I ever had in my training to prompt me to ask those 2 important questions. Those questions are from years of experience of watching people in the Church trying to tackle everyday life without the guidance of God.

Many believe that only the Monks or Pastor's perhaps have the time or the drive to spend quality time with God each day. That is far from the truth. Before I went back to school to begin my training as a Pastor I was a delivery driver for a well known Food Distribution Company. I worked on an average of 65 hours per week. Even with feeling exhausted everyday I still carved out quality time with God because I knew that I can't make it through this life like I want to without the strength of the LORD working through me.

Psalm 119:93 in the NIV Bible says "I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life." Our spiritual lives hinge on prayer and Bible study. There are other facets to the Christian life of course, but without a steady diet of the Word and Prayer you will not get very far. I have seen people completely frustrated with their lives as a Pastor and just about every one of them gave little or no time to God. What is the saddest part of all is that these are the ones who call Jesus their Savior.

If you want to move forward with God then begin to think like a Monk. Get some type of routine for your time in the Word and in Prayer. Set a time if you have to and stick to it. God somewhere quiet and let God begin to speak to your heart and your life situations. If you get into a spiritual routine and give God a chance to move in your life as a Christian I can promise you that you will not remain the same.

Recruiting The Priests

There is a lot of frustration in churches of 150-300 people at times. It seems that in churches this size you can advertise all day long for people to get involved in ministry and nothing seems to happen like we want it to. I have been one of those who have been frustrated in the past, but have turned over a new leaf concerning this dilemma. I found a solution recently that has been a great help.

So what is the solution? It is the simple and time tested approach of recruitment. Even though people here there is a need for more people to be involved with ministry over and over again we can't expect people to come running. That includes those who would really like to be involved as well. I am not a psychologist, but one thing that I have learned about people in the Church is true for just about every facet of life. People want to be needed! People want to know that others need them to accomplish goals. It is true in life and most definitely true in the Church.

In 1 Peter 2:8 it says "You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, His very own possession (NLT)." That is a wonderful piece of scripture that talks about how God views His people. The problem is that even though we preach and teach this truth to God's people they still need to be approached. When someone is personally approached to do ministry they know that they are viewed important and needed. You are telling that person that they are valuable in the eyes of the Church.

Over the past several months I have put into action what I am proclaiming to you now. We have approached 2 men in our congregation who are younger and both have great leadership skills. They were both involved in ministries, but it was time to get them to take on greater responsibility. By doing this we help fill in a couple of gaps where leadership was needed and we have hopefully shown theses 2 men that people need to be approached. Now I would like to note that this is not just about men for leadership either. Both men and women need to be involved and need to be approached. It just happened to work out that both areas we needed to fill were just right for the 2 men that I mentioned. The recruiting process should always be an ongoing event and should be done by everyone in leadership. The Pastor cannot do it all by himself and that is not a model of the NT Church. Blessings.

Are You Kidding Me?

Strange things always happen in the Church! Things that you never expect. Yesterday was one of those days. There was a woman in the Church who I knew was upset with me because I did not know who she was. In God's wonderful providence she just happened into the Church yesterday to help out with a ministry.

After she was done we had a chance to sit down and talk about her being upset. She is in her 50's so the baby boomer mentality was there. What I mean by that is the baby boomers are known for their "me" type of thinking (my parents are boomers so I know this generation). When we began discussing the issue at hand I asked her politely if she was mad because I did not know who she was. She affirmed that she was. She also informed me that it was because she was a daughter of one of our Elders. Can you imagine that? First of all I told her that I had only been at the Church for 9 months now and it was immposible for me to know everyone here because we are a decent size Church. She still thought I should have known. In my mind I was really thinking "well, if you would attend regularly I probably would have known!" Did I also forget to mention that she has never introduced herself to myself or my wife? Well, now you know.

In the Church people are starving for relationships, but the problem is that know one wants to put out a whole lot of effort. Church should go beyond coming to Sunday morning worship and putting your blessed assurance in the pew and expecting everything to work itself out. To build relationships in the Church requires EFFORT! It requires time and patience to develop relationships with other people. It is not an overnight event. It takes a person who is committed to loving God's people as we are commanded to do.

To be honest I am glad that this has happened. It is a reminder to me as a Pastor that people need opportunities of fellowship so that they can get connected to one another. As a Pastor I am realizing that if the Elders and the Staff are not highly motivated, and involved with connecting people to each other outside of Sunday Morning Worship then it will not happen like it should.

What's it About?

This is a blog with reflections from a 36 year old Missional Pastor. The Church in America is always doing something. Many people don't think about what goes on Monday-Saturday, but there is always something to do or someone to minister too. I have decided to open myself up with this blog to help people understand the Church and how it works in greater ways. I don't know where we will go from here, but it will probably be an adventure.