Planks and Specks

Its weird how a certain day or week can have a theme to it. For example a few weeks ago I was bombarded by people going through difficult times. People where coming to me with the difficulty they were facing for prayer and encouragement. It just seemed like everyone was anxious about things and lacked contentment. For the past few days the theme has been complaining about others or pointing out fault in others. It appears that some Christians have a hard time dealing with each other, go figure.

As I replayed, in my mind (that's what pastors do; we replay over and over the difficult things we face in ministry) the conversations I had in people's homes and over the phone I realized something. Most of us are flamming hypocrites! Many of the people I talked to were mad or upset because others where judging them and treating them unfairly. They had no trouble pointing out the flaws in other; seeing the speck in their eyes, thats how Jesus put it. Yet none of the people I spoke with could see the plank in their own eye. Most of these kind people were doing the same thing to others that they where accussing others of doing to them; they where passing judgement and as a result they where harboring agression and bitterness.

I wonder why it is that we can see the wrong of others but we can't see the wrong in ourselves. Why can't we see the forest for the trees? As much as I dislike visits and talks filled wiht negativity, I did learn something valuable. If I spent half as much time looking at and examining myself as I do examining others, I would be a much better man of God.

Hypocritical Intolerance

I had a conversation with a lady who claims to be agnostic (she believes in a higher power but not a God that you can know). As begain to share the Gospel she stopped me in my tracks and said, "you are so intolerant sir" and she stormed off. Now I must admitt that I got a little upset and fleshly at this point. I hate when people hide behind tolerance and they refuse to discuss the issues. So I chased the lady down and asked her if I could ask her one question. She reluctantly stopped. The conversation when as follows.

"What makes me intolerant?"
"You Chrisitans are always condeming other view points"
"Why does that bother you?"
"We can all be right without having to say the other side is wrong."
"Do you know how ludicrous that sounds?"
"Can my shoe laces be banna peels at the same time?"
"Thats different."
"Do you think I am wrong?"
"Of course I do!"
"You are being very intolerant of me aren't you?"

The conversation went on for a little while longer and the lady refused to give in to reality. There was no reasoning with her. She is a flamming hypocrite and doesn't even realize it. She labels me intolerant because I think Christianity is correct and all other religions are false. Yet she tells me I am wrong. What is so funny about the postermodern thinker is that they are very intolerant of the people they label intolerant. I hope that as you may be reading this you find that fact helpful. It will help to level the playing field as you encounter these people and attempt to share Christ.

No Wonder Jesus Prayed

I recently spent some with a group of guys that, for lack of a better term, are not very holy. They claim to be Christians, and they attend church a few times a year, but man are they lost or at least very backslidden. Some of the language and jokes made this preacher very uncomfortable at times, even a little red in the face. But Jesus spent time with lost people on a regular basis. Often in Scripture He would rub elbows with the lowest people in society; loving them unconditonally and teaching them about the Kingdom which is what I wish to do as well. But I can't help but wonder...How did He handle the blasphemy and corse joking?

The longer I am a pastor the more and more I realize the deep need in my life for prayer. No wonder Jesus prayed all the time; He had so much to deal with during His ministry here on earth. Prayer and intimacy with the Father is the only thing that got Him through. Charles Spurgeon said, "I think we should make it a rule, whenever we hear a foul or blasphemous word in the street, always pray for the person who utters it. Perhaps the devil might find it expedient not to stir up people to swear, if he knew that it excited Christians to pray." What a great statement! I will be praying more for the lost people I spend time with as I am with them and I look forward to seeing what will happen.

Missing Persons

Do you ever stop and think about what would happen if people didn't step up and fill positions and ministries in our churches? There are missing people in the church today and those people are leaders. I can't help but wonder where are the people who are serious about Christ; serious enough to step up and teach, pray, and evangelize.

I believe leadership was very important to the apostles and the early church. I base this statement what I find in Acts 1:21-26. They wasted no time in finding a replacement for the fallen Judas. The truly convicting part of this passage is that Peter and the other Apostles didn't have to look high and low like pastors do today. They found two men very quickly who were qualified and willing. Just typing that statement leads me to another thought. Maybe the reason it is getting harder to find leaders is due to the reality that those who are qualified and willing are few and far in between.

I pray God will raise up leaders. We desperately need men and women who can lead, otherwise the church as we know it will die.

The Missing Ingredient

"Christians" continually amaze me. I had a conversation with a person not too many days ago about a holiness issue. This person claims to be a new convert. The issue being discussed was a matter of clothing; their clothing was inappropriate not only for church but for everyday Christian life. After confronting this individual they made it known to me that they would continue to dress this way.

You see most of us treat the Christian life like some sort of recipe; a pinch of morning devotions, a dash of prayer meeting and a tablespoon of Sunday School and we think every thing is covered. But oh how we overlook what is in the scriptures. In 1 Peter 1:16 the Word of God makes is abundantly clear that we are to be holy; "be ye holy for I am holy". This means separate or set apart. Yet many believers look and act just like the world. We pick and choose what we shall be devoted to in our walk with Christ; choosing those things which are easy or cost us very little and holding on to the desires of our flesh. I am in no position to get on my "high horse" on the issue for there are areas of my life that need improvement. However, I am purposing in my heart to be holy. I want to look like Jesus, not like the world.

Jumping High

In his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell speaks on something he calls "the law of the lid". In the simplest of terms Maxwell compares a person's leadership ability to a flea that has been put in to a jar. Before you give up on reading this blog let me explain. When you put a flea in a jar and put the lid on it that flea will jump and jump; continuously hitting the lid above it. However, after a period of time you can take the lid of the jar and the flea will only jump as high as the place where the lid once was. You see there was limit placed on the flea that did not allow it to get any higher.

The application of this chapter, for the leader, is to set the bar or the lid very high so that those under his leadership can go higher. As a new pastor, filled with excitement, joy and uncertainty I want to set the set the lid high for those in my flock. I want my congregation to know and experience the joy and fulfillment that comes when we reach places that are higher than we ever imagined.

Old Like New

It is a new year and people all over the place are making resolutions that they probably will not keep. God has recently challenged me as a pastor to not look for something brand new to do or accomplish this year. The challenge from my Heavenly Father is to do the old like new.

You see many churches are looking for the new and exciting this year. However, what we fail to see sometimes is the lack of excitement and life in our churches and ministries is due the fact that we fail to accomplish God's calling on our lives with excellence. We don't do evangelism, missions, fellowship, worship and prayer like we are overly concerned on the contrary we do most of those things in a half-hearted manner.

Therefore, the burden of my heart for my personal life and my ministry is to do things with excellence. A popular proverb says, "there is no need to reinvent the wheel" and I agree. I just think if the church did the old things like new we would be much better off.