Emerging Pastor

There is something about the Word of God that can make a person just come alive!

Last night I met with two fellow elders of my church and we sat down to open the Scriptures and nut out a theological and ethical issue that has been nagging at us for some time. We were discussing the importance of baptism and it's linkage to church membership.

Nothing heavy :)

Churches of Christ, the denomination I "belong" to has traditionally held to a very strict "no baptism, no membership" policy since it emerged out of the restoration movement. We were taking a fresh look at it because of inter-denominational transfers and trying to reconcile the traditions of other Christian traditions. (I recently wrote a paper on the issue and my college would like me to pursue some post-graduate research on the topic).

All of that is actually beside the point. Before I arrived at the meeting I was still in my morose, disconnected and melancholy but while I was there and engaged with the Word of God I felt alive once more.

The things of God have the ability to excite me even when I am feeling dead in the world, the trick for me is to be motivated to go into the Word when I feel like this which is no easy task.

the things of God excite

 

This is the third part in the unintentional series on business following on from Confronting busyness with vision and Overburdening our congregations. Burn out, drop out or drop dead.

I say unintentional because initially I was really just ranting about something I see as a problem for the church and pastors, getting those people in the pews committed to the vision of the church (universal) and growing Spiritually.

Something that has been keeping me awake at night, and I do actually mean that it has been keeping me awake, is the questions

1) Are we making disciples of Jesus or just a crowd of followers,
2) If our church was to disappear tomorrow, would anybody notice?

The questions have popped up so many times recently that I know that it is God asking me to explore them in my own life and own church and ministry.

This is the third part in the unintentional series on business following on from Confronting busyness with vision and Overburdening our congregations. Burn out, drop out or drop dead.

I say unintentional because initially I was really just ranting about something I see as a problem for the church and pastors, getting those people in the pews committed to the vision of the church (universal) and growing Spiritually.

Something that has been keeping me awake at night, and I do actually mean that it has been keeping me awake, is the questions

1) Are we making disciples of Jesus or just a crowd of followers,
2) If our church was to disappear tomorrow, would anybody notice?

The questions have popped up so many times recently that I know that it is God asking me to explore them in my own life and own church and ministry.

... more shall be given.

In some breaking news, tonight I was voted on by the church to take up the role of an Elder in our church.

For the past year I've been serving with the Eldership as an "Elder in training". It's basically a traineeship where you do everything an Elder is supposed to do and learn about how to operate in this important area of ministry.

The Eldership at our church is particularly important at the moment because we don't have a Senior Pastor leading the church. It takes on quite a lot of the pastoral responsibilities for the church.

So tonight they voted and tonight I was voted in. It's quite exciting really! To me it says that a bunch of people trust in me to say, I can allow him to listen to what God has to say for this church and lead us in that direction. Quite humbling actually.

I alluded in the title to a piece of Scripture known fairly commonly as the parable of the Talents (Talents being an ancient unit of currency). In the parable Jesus talks about being responsible with whatever God has given us and when we show ourselves to be trustworthy, more will be given to us.

While it's a story about how we live this life and our reward in the next, I also take it as a principle for our lives in the here and now. That when God gives us a certain measure of responibility we will not have any more until we can be proven to be trustworthy with it. Becoming a part of the Eldership in full is for me a confirmation of my spiritual growth and that God is involved and has concern for my life.