Love Your Pastor as Yourself

I think it really sucks that Moses didn't get to go into Canaan. Is that ok to say? I think it sucked royally. Here is a guy that worked his tail off for years for a group of people that never could so much as work up a thank you fruit basket. I never have cared for this story, but I dislike it more now that I have pastored a while. I know of a handful of pastors right now who aren't working in churches because they can't seem to convince themselves that it is worth dealing with the typical church people. We don't see all there is to see in the story of Moses. We can't see the "behind the scenes" stuff. There is no way to know for sure if there were people calling him all hours of the night because their marriage was in shambles and had to talk at that moment, and then watched them as they ignored all of his advice and stayed unhappy.We don't know for sure if there were people at random times bringing issues up such as music, the youth dirtying things, what version of the Torah to read, how much authority the Pastor should have, what color the new paint should be, whether or not a divorced person can do anything......and the list goes on.

Moses' main purpose was to get the Children of Israel to the Promised Land. Their main goal was to do anything but that.

The main purpose of a church is evangelism and evangelism training. As much as anyone may disagree, children's education, fellowship, and even worship come second. And, as a matter of record, creating an atmosphere for people who don't rule anything in their life to rule over something is most definitely not a purpose of a church. I see why Moses was so upset. It is frustrating when there is a group of people that pay a man to lead them where the Lord wants them to go and then do all they can to stop all of his leadership.

If you are reading this and have not served in the ministry, hear this: You have no idea what your pastor goes through. He has really great seasons, but most of the time it is like shoveling out a septic tank. Regardless, he love the job and he loves you. Even if you think you have an idea, you don't. You will never know what it is like to have the weight of an entire church's spiritual well-being on your back. Here is some great advice for you, and I pray you take it.

1. Pray for Him. I don't mean in the quick sense. I mean in the hyper-religious on your knees kind-of way. He is the main target for every spiritual battle in the church. The devil knows this, the pastor know this, and so often no one else does.

2. Be His Friend. every now and then stop by and talk to him about anything but church. What if every conversation you had with everyone you hung out with was about your job? I know it's a calling, but it's also a job.

3. Protect His Family. Give your life before you let anyone in the church place the burden of church work on his wife or kids. They are not the pastor, but are often treated such.

4. Force Him to Take Time Off. Pastoring is the only job I know of where you are on call 24/7/365. The annual messenger meeting is not a vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Is that enough exclamation point?) Get the church to publicly ok one day off a week. Remember, he spends Saturdays watching your kid's play ball and Sundays is the busiest day of the week for him. He doesn't get a weekend.

5. For Heaven's Sake.......PAY THE MAN!!!!! He should make about the average of the church. While you eek by with 40+ a year, a 401k, and insurance, he starts out(in the ABA at least) around 20-25 a year with the same number of kids you have, with no retirement(and no way to save one), and no insurance. Is he in it for the money? Of course not! It bugs me to no end that the average church member expects a preacher and his family to drive run down cars, wear old clothes, and completely depend on a church for everything. Imagine if you had to depend in the people in your church for everything? Really, think about that mean old man in the 3rd pew, or the young couple that hasn't tithed in 2 years because they are in debt up to their eyeballs. It is not horrible if, for a time, his salary is the biggest part of the budget.

6. Last but not least, Trust Him. Don't ever follow blindly, but remember that you pay him to lead. If you want to lead, then fire him and do it yourself.

L

Screwtape's Prayer Advice

Who knew? Reading really is fundamental. I don't pray. I'm not exaggerating at all. I don't, ever. I have tried time and time again to justify this behavior, but no excuse is sufficient. I have never really been able to figure this problem out. I thought maybe that "I was more of a studying kind of person". While my natural inclination is to study and read, it doesn't lessen God's requirements on my prayer life. I also have thought that, "I have a constant attitude of prayer". That's a crock!! An attitude of prayer is not prayer if that's all you've got.

I was reading the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis a few nights ago, and found more clarity on this subject than I've had in the past 10 years. It is a collection of letters written from one Senior Demon to his nephew Demon on how to carry out the business of satan. I understand that this is fiction, but it gives great insight into the spiritual battle that accompanies prayer. It also showed me how that prayer is one of the easiest tools satan can use to control us. Listed below are the instructions Screwtape (the Senior) gives to Wormwood (his nephew) on using prayer to his advantage.

1. Remind the believer of his parrot-like prayers of his childhood. This creates the belief that little effort is required to please God in prayer. It allows the believer to "feel" as if they have prayed successfully, while, in fact, they have said nothing of worth to anyone.

2. Persuade them that the bodily position makes no real difference. (I have learned and taught that it doesn't matter, but the word for worship literally means "to bow down".) Whether we like it or night, we are mortals. Our souls, to some extent, take their cue from our bodies.

3. Cause the believer to turn his thoughts on himself. When he asks for love, let him create the feeling of love. When he asks for courage, let him create the "feeling" of courage. Then, cause him to grade the success of his prayer by the success in producing the desired feeling. Never let them suspect how much success of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at that moment.

4. Cause the believer to create in his mind an idol. Cause him to pray, not to God, but to his own image of God, based on the pictures or images he has seen. This works even if the images are reverent and religious. Also, cause him to believe in God as a location, not as a person. Cause him to pray directly to a certain wall, or corner of the room, or especially a cross of some kind. Whatever the cost, keep him praying to it. If possible, convince him that silence while thinking on one of these images or objects is prayer. This will occupy his mind.

I can honestly say that I am guilty of all of these things. My prayers become parroted. They all start to sound the same. Why shouldn't they, when all the prayers I heard in childhood all sounded the same. We would ever laugh at church when certain men would pray because we could mouth the words with them. I, always desiring to be rebellious, have fully convinced myself that bodily position doesn't matter. While, in theory, one can pray with any posture and in any situation, there needs to be a time when a man falls on his face before the God of all Creation. Our souls do take their cues from our bodies many times. I have often graded the success of my prayer life on how much feeling it produced. This is one of the main reasons I have become disillusioned with prayer. If you set goals you were never meant to accomplish, you will be disappointed. If you set yourself up for failure, you will always feel like a failure. I am ashamed to say that I have even been guilty of praying to objects, directions, or images in my mind. To "help me stay focused" I have stared at a cross on the wall. I have purposefully turned my gaze to an upper corner of the room as if God were there.

I know that every man that I respect in the ministry is a praying man. Knowing this and desiring to be like these men has never been enough to undo my disrespect for prayer. It has always felt like a waste of time. I know in my heart this is wrong. I know in my mind that it's not.

Now, with the clarity afforded me by C.S. Lewis, I am excited about praying with a correct mindset and with a proper spirit. Thank God for imparting wisdom to those who need it. I've prayed a few times since reading that chapter, and each time, I have been fully aware that satan's workers are fully aware that I'm fully aware. It has quickly become, each time, an intense chess match for control of my mind. I don't know if I can be successful enough for them to back off. It may never happen; they may have inexhaustible resources. I can't wait to be separated from this sinful body that gives them a foothold into my mind. With the Spirit's help, and God's mighty power, I will become a man of prayer.

Belief vs. Belief

Oh go to Hell!!! That is my message to Christianity today. Slightly offensive? Keep reading.

In my mind, there are 2 very different ideas of what "believe" means. One camp says that to believe in a thing means to be aware of a thing and be ok with admitting its existence. There is another type of belief, however, that must always intersect with action. Awareness is not enough. These two apply to pretty much everything. The problem lies in how that we (I) put certain things in the wrong camp. You believe that the sky is blue and do nothing. You believe its gonna rain and get an umbrella.

I don't really buy this whole "Hell" thing. Don't get me wrong, before you call for my head. I do believe in Hell, and all that the Scriptures say about it. Or do I? I know this is gonna come across as a typical sermon, but its not a sermon, its my heart.

Hell is said to be a place of eternal separation from God. It is said to be hot. There are worms that dieth not and flames that are not quenched. I know that the word for Hell in Hebrew is gehenna. It spoke of the valley that became the perpetual garbage dump for Jerusalem. It was always on fire and there were always worms. I don't know if there is actual fire and worms in Hell or if that is the best way mankind has to describe it. I'm not saying there's not those things either. I've been taught that the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man was an actual story and not a parable, but I'm just not sure about that. It doesn't change anything, except that it may be a parable. I know that Jesus said almost 3 times as much about Hell as He did about Heaven. He thought it was important.

The word for Hell in Greek is hades. It is the same word for the Greek version of the underworld, one place separating the good and bad with a divide. Many people take this and make it something its not supposed to be. Is Hell under the earth as the Middle Age idea would tell us? Is it in a spiritual realm next to Heaven, separated by a great gulf? Is it a place where Adolf Hitler is constantly punished with pineapples and Adam Sandler would lead us to believe? Wherever it is, I believe it is there. Did you see what I just said? "I believe it is there".

I know in my mind all that I am supposed to know about Hell. But I don't believe it. If I did, my belief would intersect with action. I don't witness......ever. It has nothing to do with how it is uncomfortable. The fact that it takes effort also plays no part. My schedule has no bearing on it either. I've used so many excuses over the years to justify myself to the people who have tried to hold me accountable. The problem, and I'm just now seeing it clearly, is that my mind and heart have no bearing on Hell. Had I any grasp of what happens to a soul in Hell, it would quickly become as urgent as eating and drinking. I wouldn't wish all that I know about Hell on anyone that I currently know(who knows, maybe I'll meet someone...lol). If I believed in Hell I would hold up the line at Wal-Mart, I would never pay at the pump again, and I would always leave a good tip, so as to not mess up my witness. I would walk the streets and knock on doors regardless of how outdated it is in this area. I would work at homeless shelters and nursing homes, just for the opportunity. I would take a job based on my possible outreach potential instead of how much it paid and the hours it would provide.

Here's another justification: You ready? Maybe that's my problem: it has to be all or nothing. You like that one? Doesn't that sound pious? I sound like an awesome Christian. The best on the block!!!

Here's another: I feel like this pressure is on me because I'm a preacher. Doesn't that make me sound better than everyone else? {Get over yourself Cory. The Great Commission is to everyone. If they are not doing it either, that has nothing to do with you.} I tell 7th-8th graders to worry about their position in Basketball and no one else's. It applies here too. So much for that excuse.

The truth is that when I look out on the lost, I don't see the lost. I don't even generally see people. I see bodies that may or may not have personalities that I want to interact with, much less souls that Christ died for. What a jerk! Does this make me a horrible person? No. Does it make a horrible Christian? Yes. Am I worse than any other? Doesn't matter anyway.

I want to be a missionary. I want to go and do great things. I am learning....who am I kidding? I have learned that a missionary is what you are and has no bearing on where you are. I'm no missionary. I want to be....but there are two "wants" just like there are two "believes".

Gotta Get a Filter

I have really bad water at my house. Jacob's Water Supply on County Road 208 is horrible. We fill our bathtub and see things floating in it. All out whites are now topes. We got a thing in the mail saying that we shouldn't drink the water from the tap because it contains carcinogens. So, what did we do? We bought one of those cool water filter jugs. Why am I rambling on about all this? It made me think of something from studies.

Knowledge is information (i.e. stuff). Wisdom, however, is the capacity to correctly use that "stuff". Knowledge is the water, Wisdom is the filter. I just read the first few chapters of the "Screwtape Letters". It is the fictional correspondence of 2 demons, one explaining to the other how to keep his "patient" from coming to know Christ. The first tactic he urges him to use is, what I call, "knowledge-overload". He tells him to keep him away from the reasoning process and point him to useless information. This story was written in the forties (I think). I'm not sure that when C.S. Lewis wrote this he had any idea of the kind of society we would have today. I can take my phone, and with Google and Wikipedia, tell you all you'll ever need to know about anything. Seriously, the other day, I spent a few hours reading about the Crusades, the Seljic Turks, the Essenes, Renaissanse Art, and Ireland. I know more about these topics than any one person ever should. What blows my mind, is that every teenager in my class has the same ability. I have 5 News apps on my phone. I get messaged everytime Facebook changes. We are in a Knowledge ridden society. In the Old Days, whatever that means, one would have to travel to a library, and not just any library, the only one with the books they needed, to find this information. We are bombarded.

The problem is this: We have an (almost) infinite opportunity to increase in knowledge, but the same opportunity we've always had to grow wisdom. And what makes it worse, is that, even at our best, we had trouble with this wisdom thing. Remember what was said: "Knowledge is the water, wisdom is the filter". How and where do we gain or grow this filter?

1. Proverbs says the "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge(they mean wisdom here). The fear of the Lord means "respect or reverence", or so I've been told. It also means flat out fear. You revere your parents when you fear the belt. Where does this fear come from? Where do we go to learn of God's ideas about what should happen, and the consequences He desires if we do differently? The Bible. Why is that always so hard? I read the Bible, straight through, in a year this last year. It felt impressive(since I never really did it in seminary-really, with all that homework??!!!) until I saw that a friend of mine read through the Bible 12 times last year!!! Why is it so hard to simply read the Bible? I find that all the intellectual questions I have(i.e. doubts) only come when I'm not in a regular reading schedule. It is only in His word that we can learn to Fear the Lord. I'm gonna see if I can read it through at least 3 times this year.

2. Proverbs 1,2,3,4,5,and 7 all start with the writer saying, "Son, remember my commandments". This is not God speaking. This is a father speaking to his son. Parents are the second greatest means of growing a filter. Either parents or "lessons learned in childhood" (however you want to see it). Is it any surprise that our world looks the way it does? Nah. I know 3 to 5 times as many families that are considered "broken", "blended", or whatever, than I do families that have always been together. This doesn't mean these families have no hope, but it does mean that have to work a little, if not a lot, harder. Kids who are raised in homes without the structure God intended have to learn their own lessons or learn their lessons when a working mom or split-time dad can teach them, which stunts their opportunity for wisdom. I'm not running the parents down, they have to make due with the situation they find themselves. If you have to work alot, you have to work alot. Couples from traditionally low income groups have a higher rate of divorce, which leads to kids with less (not without, but less) opportunity to grow that filter. This leads to kids who become adults with no filter. That creates a cycle. Praise be to God that He is more powerful than any cycle. I can't help but think that this is what He meant when He said He would punish ungodliness to the 3rd and 4th generations. It is more important to society now to teach kids about homosexuality and abortion than to teach them the 10 Commandments(I know, I just became one of those idiot Christians who can never leave it alone about the 10 Commandments). Maybe there is something to this.

Should it change? I don't think so, at least not legally or politically. Say what you will, but our constitution always left room for this to happen. That is where freedom leads.....to men wanting to be free from everything, including God. What I do think we should do is stop trying to fight battles we can't win against the spawn of these cycles of "knowledge with no filter", and start fighting to break the cycles in the lives of young people we come in contact with. We've lost the battle of abortion. To hear Christians talk, you'd think that it hasn't been legal for 30 years already!!!! We are quickly losing this Homosexual thing. It is not all lost yet, but let's pick our battles. Let's not vote down a Gay Marriage proposal if we aren't going to love a Homosexual. If we are not going to fight that battle, we should let them be married.

I'm sure there are other filters, but these are the 2 that I found to be the most important. Lesson of the Day: Read you Bible, no matter who you are, and listen to your parents(or be good ones). I'm sure I've rambled on enough.

Who is God Anyway?

So I "happened" to be watching Oprah yesterday and I saw Adam Lambert's interview. Who is Adam Lambert? You know, that flaming ... from American Idol last year. He told Oprah that he was not happy with his life, so he decided to put out his dream to the Universe. He said that visualizing our dreams and desiring them strongly is the same as prayer. Is that prayer? We focus our thoughts on our wants and strongly desire them. The only difference is that we say we are focusing this thought to God and not simply to the Universe. Oprah called the Universe God. so, according to them, it is the same. Do you really believe that? This idea is stated, almost identically, in Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol". There is this idea that is mankind's intellect is his god. Man is capable of anything if he can focus his mind, attain the correct information, and create a positive energy. Oprah pushed this idea when she endorsed a book called "The Secret" a few years ago. This idea is scary. It is mainstream and completely unnoticed. In a nutshell, this is the basic idea behind New Ageism, Wicca, Scientology, Masonry(I know, you're not supposed to talk about them), Darwinsm, and Buddism. There are others, but these come to mind. They all have a different flavor, but, dumbed down, that is what they teach.

Why does this bother me? Because it is difficult for an intellectual person to believe in an Invisible God, an Incarnate, Virgin-Born Jesus, and all the miracles that go with them. We live in an intellectual world. We are constantly bombarded with information from every medium imaginable. Teenagers today know more about science, math, and pop culture than any generation before them. Christianity is, more and more, filled with people who claim to know and serve Christ, but who teach this inadvertantly. We are compartmentalizing our lives in such a way that spiritual things are good for you when you feel bad or feel good, but if you want to be successful, work hard, set goals, do your best and you can be president. God will be there when/if you want him because God is Love and would never be upset with your blessed little self. In the mean time, you are completely in charge of your success and failure. Your "want to" is all you need. Does all this sound familiar?

Why does this bother me? Because it is the natural inclination of man. It is not new. It has been tried and retried since the beginning of mankind. Adam and Eve thought themselves God's equals when they decided to disobey. That's what it was right? "You can't tell me what to do God". Cain did the same thing with his sacrifice. Seth's descendants did the same after generation and chose to mix with Cain's wicked children. Nimrod did it after the flood, convincing the world he was god and that they could reach heaven. This is not even half way through Genesis.

Why does this bother me? Because everything is relative, at least that's what they say. "A sin for you may not be a sin for you" is where it all started. Just look at homosexuality as one of many examples. Our cousins or brothers or friends who thought they were "born that way" convinced us over time that it was ok for them, even if it was not ok for us. Now, we are being told time and time again with these marriage battles, that "since it's not a sin for me, it must not be a sin at all".

I realize that, for most who read this, you haven't had the time to study this topic. It has become a pet of mine. Once you start to see it in the actions, words, and even symbols of today, it's all you can see. It all comes down to one simple question: Will you let God be God, or will you try to be?

Just an Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I figured I would give anyone who happened to see this an update.

Jess is trying to get into Dental Hygiene School. It is a 2 year program. We will move where we have to in order to do this. Pray for us.

I'm not at a church right now, mostly because I don't know where I'll be in a few months. We are really up in the air, but it feels good. We could end up anywhere, as long as we are moving and shaking. We both need some new air in our lungs.

Oh the Cowboy Crazies

For the record, I preached Paul's Message to the Ephesian Elders. My Farewell was his Farewell.

It does surprise me, however, the influence a few words make. I created this blog with my name on it for me, and it still got around. It was very entertaining. I had almost no intention of taking "pot-shots", and I didn't. I will let the Lord do His work. I did find it interesting how that a church member who left our church to join the Cowboy Craze still reads this, and still talks about it to everyone. No hard feelings, really. It's funny. It is funny to know who is scared to come to church if the preacher might started pointing out the disappointing ones. Really, before anyone goes and starts running me into the ground, I'm not trying to make enemies. At this point it really is very entertaining. If only the fear of being embarrassed or talked about could translate into spiritual conviction.

I find that I do the same thing in my own life many times. My motivation for wanting to do right is motivated by what I am supposed to look like. I'm supposed to be a preaching, tithing, witnessing, praying, Bible-reading, loving, caring saint (holy one). Many times I'm just a talking, paying, hiding, hating, sarcastic fool. Keep in mind that those people look exactly the same to you. The difference is motivation. Not to go too cliche or anything, but the Prayer of Jabez comes to mind. There is a difference in "O that You would bless me indeed and increase my territory" and "o that You would be pleased with me as I bless myself and make my territory increase". What is propelling the plane? You(me) or God?

What if we lived our lives with no one in mind but God?