Ministry Archive

For those on the Local Missions Team – you’ll be getting e-mail updates. But I’m going to blog about it first.

I had a good meeting today with S.B. who works with “Communities that Care.” Her job is to find the areas of dysfunction and provide prevention measures. It really seems like a cool job. Anyway, looks like she’s given us a couple of really good opportunities. WE tried to divide it out into two basic “approaches.”

First – research existing ministries and partner with an existing outreach ministry to children that best suits our particular congregation and our focus.

Second – talk to leaders in the community and research “holes” that need to be filled in terms of immediate need – for the purpose of new ministry development.

So two targets – partner with an existing ministry and build a necessary one. I’m interested in hearing from any readers or other Crossroads members who have good ideas about which ministries we might partner with. I’ve heard of one called “The Zone” that focuses on teens. That one is an option. I also know some of our members are involved with Open Door Crisis Pregnancy Center. That’s a good option, too.

As for building a new ministruy – Sondra gave me a really good idea, but it would definitely take the passion and involvement of other people. Her idea was to build a Faith-Based Community Youth Leadership Organization. Basically providing Peer Support for prevention, leadership training opportunities, and service projects. Who do we put on that one?

Thing is. I really want to avoid spreading ourselves too thin. I don’t want to be involved in 100 different ministries and being only nominally effective at them all. I want to push that we do just one or two things. And we do them well. ONE ministry that we partner with. ONE ministry that we work to develop. And for now – we leave it at that.

Any thoughts?

I want to thank Martha for taking the heat on an issue that I struggle with. And I think it really just hit me that I relate to her so well. You know the story right? Well, here it is, just in case.

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I thought about this last week, but this story didn’t hit me until last night. I’m Martha. I’d like to be Mary, but I’m Martha. I’m Martha because when it comes to service or ministry, I’m just like her. I get worried and upset about many things. I worry about getting to all my meetings on time. I worry about making sure everything gets done thats supposed to get done. I worry about preparing sermons, preparing lessons, preparing for counseling sessions, preparing for tomorrow, preparing my kids for school. All this preparing I do.

But Jesus lesson is simple and pointed. All these things are things we can get worried and upset over. But really there’s only one thing that we need to make sure we are “worried about.” In this context – sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him. In the sermon on the mount, he taught the same lesson in “outline” form. I just read again, Matthew 6:25-34 and the last two verses strike me with relevance once again, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

As I work on simplifying things for the my good friends, brothers and sisters at Crossroads, I really should work on simplifying things for myself!

Any thoughts: How would simplifying your life make a difference? What would have to go? What would you begin doing that you don’t already do?

If I remember correctly, “Always be Prepared” is the motto of the Cub Scouts of America. Or maybe it’s the Boy Scouts. Or maybe it’s both. Honestly, I don’t remember, I was only a part of a Cub Scout troop for about one Cub Scout meeting. I had a rather traumatic experience. At only 9 years old, I was invited by a school friend to attend a Den meeting. Which was fine, and fun, until I met the Den mother. I’m sure she was a beautiful lady, and possibly still is. But I remember that her eyes didn’t point the same direction and she smoked. I was unfamiliar with both – and quite frankly it was frightening. I have nothing against Marty Feldman – he’s my favorite actor in Young Dr. Frankenstien, but I was only nine years old and was a bit sheltered. Quite frankly, I wasn’t, well, prepared.

One of our mission goals at Crossroads is to “Become Equipped for Ministry.” I am so glad the Bible gives us a key strategy to make this happen. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” As we continually engage in our mission to “be equipped,” the Word of God must forever be our guide. What strikes me as fantastic about this verse is that the Bible is profitable to equip us for every good work! In other words, the Bible says that the Bible itself will help us to “always be prepared” for every good work.

Can you imagine that! The Bible equips us to help people cross the street, be house moms, be hard working grunts on the job, be honest, dedicated, lovable and loving, and every other good thing you can think of for us to do. That even includes the “religious” things like prayer, song, preaching, teaching, giving, and remembering our Savior in the Eucharist. All of these are good – and the Word equips us to do them all.

There are and will be those moments in life when we run into our cross-eyed smokers and feel like a nine year old boy in the face of the eerily unknown. I wasn’t ready then. Even now – I don’t think I’ll be attending any Den meetings. But the more we become aquainted with the Word, the Bible, the stories of faith and instructions God gives for living – the more prepared we will be not just to survive those traumatic events, but to do good works in the face of them.

Where to start? If you’re just getting acquainted with Scripture, I recommend starting in the New Testament with the gospel of Luke, Acts, the letter of James and 1 Peter. If that’s too much, focus on the Sermon the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and the book of James. Those are great places to start for simply learning how to live.

Have a great week.

Our churches are crying out for men of conviction to fill the pulpits. Men who are not soft on doctrine. Men who are confident of where they stand and are, at the same time, able to speak the truth in love in a way that communicates to people of all ages, all backgrounds, varying levels of education and spiritual maturity. But is this really what we want?

I’ve experienced myself, and seen in VERY recent history, that churches do indeed want men of conviction, as long as their convictions are the same convictions held by the majority of parishioners. A recent case has me wondering…

A man I have never met before was recently asked to step away from his ministry position because of his views on women’s role in the church. Even though, according to some, he had agreed not to push the issue or teach his particular view in his home congregation, he was asked to leave. A teenager was asked, “Was it okay for the elders to fire this person because he didn’t have the same view as they did on this particular issue?” I guess what we have to ask is – why were they going to fire him? Was his doctrine anti-Christian or sinful? If so, did he need firing or did he need Scriptural rebuke? Was his doctrine based on opinions about some issue addressed (or not addressed) in the Bible? If so, did he need to be fired? Or did there need to be clear, open, and honest communication?

Honestly, from a business and legal perspective, the elders of any church have the “right” to fire anyone they want for possibly any reason. I have a hard time, however, finding Biblical precedent for getting rid of an evangelist for “doctrinal differences.”

Firing someone because they refuse to repent of sin? Sure. Firing someone because they’ve denied the Christ or begun to Judaize the believers? Sure. But firing someone because they have a different view on some issue? Come on! I know – elders have a right to do this. But think of what this creates for ministers. Again, our churches cry out for men of conviction. But what we really want is men whose convictions look very similar if not exactly like ours.

I know what it’s like to be a person of convcition. I know what its like for people to value their own opinions above friendship. I’ve experienced this very thing myself. It hurts. Let me tell you point blank what this creates.

It creates an atmosphere where men who truly seek to study and seek out truth, will be afraid to change their minds – whether their change of mind is right or wrong is not relevant here. Sometimes we’ll get it right. Sometimes we won’t. But we’ve developed a system of leadership among some churches that perpetuates the status quo at all costs. So a change of mind for the better or for the worse is simply not permitted. We’re not just interested in maintaining doctrinal purity, but we are often even more adamant about maintaining doctrinal stagnancy.

The climate says, “Believe what we believe, or else!” “Tell us what our itching ears want to hear!” Even if what someone ears want to hear is right, it is not the obligation of the minister to scratch those bigoted lobes.

It is sad that today’s ministers must walk on theological eggshells. Free to think as long as their thinking stays within the confines of the popular opinion. Which is, as you can see, not really freedom at all.

The question that was asked the teen resurfaces. “Was it okay that our elders fired someone who didn’t believe what they believed about women’s role in the church?” I think there is a fundamental problem with the question. At least, there’s something else that has to be addressed first. The underlying question is: Should we, as a church, develop or have an atmosphere that really encouraging people to think for themselves and not merely parrot popular theological ideas? Forget about whether or not elders have a right to fire a minister, for certainly they do. The real question is: Is that the kind of church we ought to be? A church that forces teachers and preachers to say what’s always been said?

Let me tell you. There are, without a doubt in my mind, hundreds if not thousands of ministers in our churches out there that simply dont’ see eye to eye with their elders or the larger congregation about many things. And I’m convinced many of them are dealing with very real psychological issues because of their fear to talk about what they really beleive.

What will happen if these preachers start to say what they really think? I’ll tell you what will happen. Some churches will veiw it as a “fresh wind.” Some of these preachers will be labeled “heretics” and cast aside on the unbiblical grounds of “doctrinal differences.” But something else will happen as well. Other men who see that this kind of boldness can and does exist, will begin to develop the courage within themselves to preach what they beleive to be true regardless of what the pewsitters think. Some will be persecuted, but all will benefit.

So does today’s church really want men of conviction? Well, whether she does or not – God knows she needs them.