Hey All,
It's good to be back. Angela, Brett and I had a great time with my parents. We were able to see their new home, church, and to watch the RED SOX WIN THE WORLD SERIES with family. hope that you are all gearing up for the holiday season, because it's coming faster, rather then slower.
I am continuing to work on a organizational manual for the music ministry. i believe it will give all of us a focla point in our vision and focus for this ministry. God continues to remind me of things he has placed on my heart and challenges me to reach those goals, as well as continues to bring more passion and desire. The challenge for all of us is not to grow content at where we are at. I want to continue to challenge each of us to move forward within our individual and collective ministries.
There is still a lot to accomplish as we reach out to each other and the community around us. I'm always open to suggestions and ideas about what we can do better, where we are going, and how we are going to get there. I hope that comes across to all of you.
We'll see you all soon
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Invested
Can you believe it, I actually gave the devotional. I think that most of you know that I don't claim to be a preacher, mainly because I'm not called to be, but every so often, with long streaches in between, I will do it.
Many of you are in other ministries on Wednesday Nights and do not get the opportunity to here what happens in the Sanctuary, so I thought I'd give you a run down of what I talked about. It really has been what I've been trying to see accomplished within the life of the music ministry over the past several months.
I talked primarily about Elisha and how he was invested in and then how he invested in others. Here are my notes from that night.
I wanted to start with examples of people throughout the Bible that invested in others.
Jethro to Moses
Moses to Joshua
Elijah to Elisha
Saul to Samuel
Mordecai to Ester
Elisha to Jehoash
Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar
Jesus to the Apostles
Mark to Barnabas
Paul to Titus
Paul to Timothy
· I want to talk about the something that Dan Johnson said on Sunday. He said, “we’re only one generation away from being extinct!”
· 1 Kings 19:16 God tells “the famous prophet Elijah” to anoint someone who could become better then him. How humbling is that? But, so it goes with us, we must pass our torch on to someone else. Your investment in them could change the world in greater ways then you ever could by yourself.
· Just think of those that passed the torch on to you, I’m not talking about a weekly investment, although that’s important, in 2 Kings 2 we see that Elijah and Elisha walked together in an very “everyday living” kind of way. Just hanging out with one another.
· I’d like you to look at this through two different lenses, both the lens of Elijah and the lens of Elisha. All throughout the accounts that we have, Elijah gives Elisha an out (i.e. 2 Kings 2:2). Each time, Elisha realizes the value of being around Elijah, and wants to gleam all that he can, so he decides to press on with Elijah.
· If we take a look at 2 Kings 13:11 - 14, you’ll see that Elisha’s investment was in Joash, the ungodly King of Isreal. I think it’s important to point out that God doesn’t give us the responsibility of collecting on the investment we make (forcing or guilting someone to utilize our investment), our responsibility is just to make the investment.
· Another point is that both Elisha and Elijah invested because they wanted to. Yes, God told Elijah to do it, but Elijah still had a choice, and neither of them received a tangible reward for making an investment.
Sometimes we think that it’s Pastor’s job (or the “Staff’s) to invest in people, and it
is, but how effective is it for a staff of around 10 people (in a church of 250) to
invest, as opposed to 250 people investing in each other and to their circle of influence.
· So I want to challenge you to find someone to invest in, and it may not even be within your generation, actually I dare you to invest in someone one or two generations younger then you. Look for someone who desires to be invested in. Seek them out, teaching them what God has revealed to you through His word and your expereinces. I’ve heard it said that mentors don’t look for you, you look for mentors! But to me it looks like Elijah sought out Elisha.
· Then desire to be mentored, to have a teachable spirit, and allow someone to invest in you. Seek out a Godly mentor. Will it take time, of course it will, but the reward will be lasting relationships with them and a deeper relationship with the Lord.
· For those of you who have been on a Mission Trip, let me ask you, who becomes more blessed by your investment, you or the one you ministered to? I dare say that the majority would answer, I was so much more blessed, then I blessed anyone else. That’s because when you invest, God takes on the same principle and invests in You, so that you in turn can invest again!
Many of you are in other ministries on Wednesday Nights and do not get the opportunity to here what happens in the Sanctuary, so I thought I'd give you a run down of what I talked about. It really has been what I've been trying to see accomplished within the life of the music ministry over the past several months.
I talked primarily about Elisha and how he was invested in and then how he invested in others. Here are my notes from that night.
I wanted to start with examples of people throughout the Bible that invested in others.
Jethro to Moses
Moses to Joshua
Elijah to Elisha
Saul to Samuel
Mordecai to Ester
Elisha to Jehoash
Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar
Jesus to the Apostles
Mark to Barnabas
Paul to Titus
Paul to Timothy
· I want to talk about the something that Dan Johnson said on Sunday. He said, “we’re only one generation away from being extinct!”
· 1 Kings 19:16 God tells “the famous prophet Elijah” to anoint someone who could become better then him. How humbling is that? But, so it goes with us, we must pass our torch on to someone else. Your investment in them could change the world in greater ways then you ever could by yourself.
· Just think of those that passed the torch on to you, I’m not talking about a weekly investment, although that’s important, in 2 Kings 2 we see that Elijah and Elisha walked together in an very “everyday living” kind of way. Just hanging out with one another.
· I’d like you to look at this through two different lenses, both the lens of Elijah and the lens of Elisha. All throughout the accounts that we have, Elijah gives Elisha an out (i.e. 2 Kings 2:2). Each time, Elisha realizes the value of being around Elijah, and wants to gleam all that he can, so he decides to press on with Elijah.
· If we take a look at 2 Kings 13:11 - 14, you’ll see that Elisha’s investment was in Joash, the ungodly King of Isreal. I think it’s important to point out that God doesn’t give us the responsibility of collecting on the investment we make (forcing or guilting someone to utilize our investment), our responsibility is just to make the investment.
· Another point is that both Elisha and Elijah invested because they wanted to. Yes, God told Elijah to do it, but Elijah still had a choice, and neither of them received a tangible reward for making an investment.
Sometimes we think that it’s Pastor’s job (or the “Staff’s) to invest in people, and it
is, but how effective is it for a staff of around 10 people (in a church of 250) to
invest, as opposed to 250 people investing in each other and to their circle of influence.
· So I want to challenge you to find someone to invest in, and it may not even be within your generation, actually I dare you to invest in someone one or two generations younger then you. Look for someone who desires to be invested in. Seek them out, teaching them what God has revealed to you through His word and your expereinces. I’ve heard it said that mentors don’t look for you, you look for mentors! But to me it looks like Elijah sought out Elisha.
· Then desire to be mentored, to have a teachable spirit, and allow someone to invest in you. Seek out a Godly mentor. Will it take time, of course it will, but the reward will be lasting relationships with them and a deeper relationship with the Lord.
· For those of you who have been on a Mission Trip, let me ask you, who becomes more blessed by your investment, you or the one you ministered to? I dare say that the majority would answer, I was so much more blessed, then I blessed anyone else. That’s because when you invest, God takes on the same principle and invests in You, so that you in turn can invest again!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Whose Kingdom Are We REALLY Building?
I am involved in a choir outside of church and we are in the process of selecting a new conductor becauseour current conductor is retiring shortly. To be blunt, being involved in some of the process has been discouraging to me because of the lobbying that is getting involved. Some of the people don't seem to be thinking in terms of the overall growth of the choir, they're thinking in terms of who they like or who they know. Sometimes this same atmosphere is created within the life of a church, but God's desire is to see the larger scope of His kingdom built.
before I go any further, I want to assure you that I believe that God is involved with the smaller scope as well, but I believe that the smaller scope (i.e. an individual or an individual church is how he wants to work through us to accomplish building the Kingdom).
I hope that you're following me so far, if not post something and let me know.
Are we individually doing or part to build the kingdom of God or of ourselves? Before you quickly answer that, I'd like you to ask God to search your heart. Psalm 44 states that only God knows the secrets of the heart. I actully believe that God can make us aware of thoughts within us that we don't even realize are there, but he does.
It's so easy for us give the quick, easy, spiritual answer, "of course I'm building God's kingdom, but I believe that if we aren't asking ourselves this question on a daily basis, we're probably not building God's kingdom because both our humanity and our society are focused on what feels good to "me, and my rights, and the way I think", but the focus of God's Kingdom is away from ourselves, first to him and the way He thinks, then to others. We can all tend to get so focused on personality, perferences, issues, and so much other stuff, but that's the stuff that christ wants to use to draw us closer to himself through relationships. It's how iron sharpens iron (Pro. 27:17) and how we grow together by spurring one another on to good works (Titus 3:8). Paul talks about all this kind of stuff in his letter to Titus.
Sometimes God puts people in positions of leadership for at least three reasons, first to teach the individual leading, second to teach those that are following, and third in order to building His kingdom in each of those first two groups, plus the kingdom in a much broader sense.
So my challenge is, to work out relationships where you're at, look to strengthening relationships, not to run from them. (Yes, I am preaching to myself as well) If it's a theological issue, let it be known in the proper ways. If it's a preference or a relational issue, work it out through communication and resolve to stay committed to one another.
before I go any further, I want to assure you that I believe that God is involved with the smaller scope as well, but I believe that the smaller scope (i.e. an individual or an individual church is how he wants to work through us to accomplish building the Kingdom).
I hope that you're following me so far, if not post something and let me know.
Are we individually doing or part to build the kingdom of God or of ourselves? Before you quickly answer that, I'd like you to ask God to search your heart. Psalm 44 states that only God knows the secrets of the heart. I actully believe that God can make us aware of thoughts within us that we don't even realize are there, but he does.
It's so easy for us give the quick, easy, spiritual answer, "of course I'm building God's kingdom, but I believe that if we aren't asking ourselves this question on a daily basis, we're probably not building God's kingdom because both our humanity and our society are focused on what feels good to "me, and my rights, and the way I think", but the focus of God's Kingdom is away from ourselves, first to him and the way He thinks, then to others. We can all tend to get so focused on personality, perferences, issues, and so much other stuff, but that's the stuff that christ wants to use to draw us closer to himself through relationships. It's how iron sharpens iron (Pro. 27:17) and how we grow together by spurring one another on to good works (Titus 3:8). Paul talks about all this kind of stuff in his letter to Titus.
Sometimes God puts people in positions of leadership for at least three reasons, first to teach the individual leading, second to teach those that are following, and third in order to building His kingdom in each of those first two groups, plus the kingdom in a much broader sense.
So my challenge is, to work out relationships where you're at, look to strengthening relationships, not to run from them. (Yes, I am preaching to myself as well) If it's a theological issue, let it be known in the proper ways. If it's a preference or a relational issue, work it out through communication and resolve to stay committed to one another.
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