Confessions of a Modern Pastor

The Harvest - Part 2

2010-10-19T11:17:00.000-06:00

I love when God's plan comes together.
After reading 2.9 "the Chaff" and seeing the importance of straight rows when plowing, i read Proverbs 4:25-27

²⁵ Look straight ahead,
      and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
²⁶ Mark out a straight path for your feet;
      stay on the safe path.
²⁷ Don’t get sidetracked;
      keep your feet from following evil.

I was so encouraged to read something from the Word that directly confirmed what I had been thinking after the reading. Margaret wrote "Aaron's words reminded me if how small compromises in my own life can lead to big consequences. I appreciated the idea of looking for something, or Someone, ahead in the distance to reset onto the right course." - Page 96
All i could think of is how important it is in our lives to keep Jesus as the focal point. He says over and over in his Word that he will direct our paths, but we need to be focused on Him and in right standing with him.
This also reminds me of what i learned in Ballet. When learning how to do Chaine Turns, the first thing that is taught is to pick a point in the distance and make sure your head snaps to the point in every turn. This keeps the dancer from becoming dizzy and keeps the beginning turner on a straight path.
A good lesson for me, never take eyes off of the focal point!

The Harvest - Part 1 (from Scouting the Divine)

2010-09-29T07:50:00.000-06:00

Ok - this one is going to take a minute to answer.
After hearing why the farmer still spread seed on the stony ground, Margaret Feinberg shares where she has stony areas in her heart yet is still seeing some growth. This made me think and also be so grateful that God, our gardener is still striving to plant seeds even in our hardest areas.
So here's the question... where are the hard, stony areas in your life???

Scouting the Divine Part 2

2010-09-21T16:26:00.000-06:00

Ok - so here's the truth! I loaned my book so I can't look at my notes. Let me know what you thought anyway. Maybe you can jog my memory!

Scouting the Divine Part 1

2010-09-13T19:33:00.000-06:00

"Once they respond to my beckoning I have them forever" page 39

I remember when the Good Shepherd, Jesus, did this to me. He beckoned me. Often repeatedly.
There were so many times I ignored Him. Maybe I would tell Him not now. Sometimes I would agree to come to Him only to take the decision back when something more convenient came up.

But one day I finally decided to respond to Him, for real, with my whole heart. To this day I will never forget the the joy and unconditional love I felt at that moment. There was no scolding that it took so long just a simple embrace of acceptance.

When I read "A Shepherd's Embrace" especially the above line, it took me back to that moment. For me this was my favorite part of this section. I love the confidence the Lynne has as she knows, now she has this lamb forever. What a great picture!

What stuck out to you?

Knowledge of Good & Evil

2010-09-10T11:10:00.000-06:00

Our time in church last Sunday was so thought provoking I am still digesting some of the ideas that had been brought up. I tweeted a few thoughts this week so to refresh your memory here's what I tweeted:

"From church yesterday "when we judge someone bet good & evil, we limit our love.

We need to be addicted to God's love and not judging"

So I've been thinking about this a lot this morning and was prompted to reread Genesis chapter 1. As I read, I saw that every time God created something He called it "good." So in His mind it was all good and He was proud of His work. In the NLT, when all is said and done, verse 31 says "Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was excellent in every way."
From here God then lays down the rules, you can eat any fruit EXCEPT the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil.

So let get this straight, at this point humans could only see everything around them as good. Even though God did have knowledge of good and evil he chose to only see the good and that's what we were intended to see as well.

Then they ate the fruit...

All of a sudden they have a knowledge of both good & evil and that does something to their psyche. They choose to hide. Did they not see themselves as good anymore? Possibly. Now judgement has entered the garden and they begin to judge each other & themselves. Realizing they don't measure up to God they decide they better hide so He doesn't see it too. (Ha, that always makes me laugh. Like He couldn't find them. But in reality how many of us do the same thing... another post perhaps)

Ok - so here's what I'm thinking. If His original intent was for us to see things as good, then I should try. Now, I know some things like murder, war, abuse that's all bad and I won't be walking around saying "Oh that's OK - I only see good." No. But what I am saying is, I will try to do my part in seeing people the way God intended them to be. I will try not to judge myself or anyone else to a standard that cannot be reached. I will choose to love myself and others and try to understand why we act poorly, and try to love myself & others in spite of it. I will, to the best of my ability, become addicted to God's Love and not judgment.

AMEN

Online Book Club

2010-09-02T22:18:00.000-06:00

I like books.

I like them a lot.

Most of the time I am reading Historical Fiction Mysteries such as my current read, Paganini's Ghost by Paul Adam and I really prefer to be left alone. I want to read in private and I have no desire to hear what someone other than me thinks. Especially if they have figured out "who done it" before I have!

With that said, every once in a while a book comes along and I feel it must be shared. I feel that reading this book alone is not only a disservice to myself but to very human living today! Ok - that may be a bit hyperbolic.

This latest book to fall in the "must share" category is Scouting the Divine by Margaret Feinberg. While I have read only the first part, I can tell you this book is beautiful. Margaret Feinberg uses very familiar images from the Bible that our culture no longer understands and takes us on a journey to meet shepherds, farmers, bee keepers and vineyardists so as to explain "Good Shepherd","the Harvest","Milk & Honey", and "Wine Skins." These stories come to life as Feinberg asks the questions we have all longed to ask. In the end, as I have found, the reader comes away with a deeper, richer understanding of our Savior.

So here is my suggestion... what if a few of us bought the book and read it together? Sounds like a book club to me! But this book club will be conducted online, on this blog site. Questions will be asked and comments will be made, whether there is 2 women or 20, I want to share this book with someone.

So grab a book (http://bit.ly/bswm2L) or if you are not a reader but prefer to listen, there is an audio version and lets all meet back September 13!

Leave me a comment if you are in!

Christine

Why i love my church part deux

2009-11-21T09:27:00.002-07:00

For thanksgiving this year, our church wanted to bless some families who will not have a thanksgiving dinner. Now we are a small church, but I have always told them "I want to be the little church who could."

I went to our neighborhood Elementary school and asked if they had any families that could benefit, they gave me 10 families. This was twice as much as I had anticipated. So as any good pastor would do i panicked first, prayed second. I told them, "We could do it." Silently I hoped I had not overcommitted our church.

I went home and sent out an email. Within a hour not only had our church committed to 10 but now it had grown to 15. We also enlisted the help of a local Starbucks and the PTA of the Elementary School. Now it really is a community event!

The beautiful thing is, our little church is about to feed the same amount of people (or more) that we currently have in it!

PRAISE GOD!

Why I love my church & chili cook-offs

2009-11-15T17:11:00.003-07:00

Behold!

The Golden Chili Award!

The coveted prize in our church's Chili Cook-Off. For weeks I have been perfecting my chili recipe, tweaking things, adding secret ingredients and now was ready to take on the people in my church for this award. Finally the day came, 10 entries were tasted and in the end, I came up two votes short!

What's really frustrating is that I was almost beaten by as last minute submission just taken out of a freezer!

BUT, here's where I won... I had so much fun. WE, as a church, had so much fun. And that is why I love my church. This church can play, we can dream, we can encourage and we are a safe place. It has taken 5 years of praying and communicating the vision, but in the last few months it has become a reality.

Our church has opened it's doors to the community. Our Chili Cook-Off is actually for a community chess club that meets in our building. The 100+ people we served yesterday don't attend our church but have said many times how much they love working with us. Great relationships have been forged because of the partnership and many of our "guests" have donated time, money and resources when our church has a need. I love it! There was a long time when I struggled thinking we had to have a large wealthy congregation in order to be what others considered a success. Yesterday, watching so many have fun together, I realized we were a success! I pray it continues and that our church will be the little church that changed a city.

And now... on to eat more chili!

Christian Tele-marketers

2009-01-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

As i sit in the office this morning, the first time all week, the phone continues to ring. They are not friends of the church call to encourage me, they are not those needing prayer, they are simply those trying to get me to but their "God Ordained" ministry helps. In essence, they are Christian Tele-marketers.

Seriously!?

My conundrum is how in the world do i handle them. If i say "no thank you" they continue as if i have said nothing explaining to me how my church "needs" this and how God wants us to have it. My feeling is if God did want me to have it, He probably would have told me first.

Anyway, the worst are the organizations that need money. They are good, worthy, Godly exploits who need money but our church is already involved in so many other worthy community organizations that we are hard pressed to give to yet another. Somewhere i have to draw the line. So I say no, hoping they will understand and they DON'T. They start pressing me for whys and telling me why there organization needs this... what's a compassionate pastor to do but politely decline... then decline again... then hang up (in Jesus Name.)

Resolutions of "not"

2009-01-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

This year, instead of a list of things to do, I have determined to try to make a list of things NOT to do.

Such as:

I will NOT assume I have all the answers and that I am always right.

I will NOT side with someone of a negative persuasion.

I will NOT forget to pay bills. (i hope)

I will NOT beat myself up if the house is not clean.

I will NOT waste any moment given to me nor will I say, "I can't wait till..."

I will NOT allow myself to look at the circumstances, but always look to Papa.

I will NOT attempt perfection, therefore I will stop the NOT list now.

Looking forward to a great 2009!

2009-01-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

My first blog...

Maybe I should start with who I am.

I am a pastor in Colorado Springs, who is desperately trying to change the status quo of the christian culture today. Too much is about "church." What we do at church, how big our church is, what the church can do for me, how much parking do we have a church, what programs are available, etc.

We forget the Bible and Jesus were never about church.

I'm pretty sure it's about love. I believe the Bible and all of the teachings can be boiled down to this, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself."

What else is there? I try to encourage those around me to concentrate on this, it seems simple but really so many find as they begin the journey how deep it can be. When one loves God in this way, there is total trust, there is love and peace, there are better relationships. When we concentrate on knowing Jesus, not following, knowing Him, we begin to know ourselves. Then as we know ourselves, we begin to love ourselves, which allows us to really love others.

Sometimes I forget to stop and let the father tell me how much he loves me, when I forget, I find myself cranky, irritable, critical, easily annoyed, selfish.... should I go on?

But when I stop, allow him to love me, be quiet before Him, thank Him for all he has done, I tend to be nicer.

I like being nicer, and so does my family!