Over the last few weeks I have asked everyone to pray for my family regarding what I and some others term "creamed corn" translation - personal things that affect personal and family life and are not always open to be shared immediately. But tonight, I opened the can, finally.
Tonight we had our typical Wednesday night gathering at PC, although tonight was less than typical. We spent some time reflecting on what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:1 - 3
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time build."
I don't believe that this statement could be any more absolute in my life than it is right now, based on the way we have seen God work recently.
So, I went on to explain to our group that my families last official Sunday at Port City will be June 18th in order to give us time to get ready for our transition as I have accepted the role of Senior Minister at
Calvary Christian Church.
I think many of our teens were surprised by this move, so over the next few days I will meet with as many of them individually as possible.
It is a sad time, yet a happy time.
A time of concern and a time of exuberance.
Ultimately, our family is just seeking to follow God on this journey to be a part of something larger than ourselves. It's exciting and new.
We're ready though. God has blessed during our time in Mobile, and we pray that He will bless Port City with even greater blessings than He has before.
I will post more on this later, as I need time to talk to God and sort of deal in my own way with of all of this. It is a lot of emotion for us, but God will be our strength and our beacon of light.
If you would stop right now and say a prayer for Port City, for Calvary and for my family. This is going to be an exciting new journey for all of us and we desperately need the cover of the Lord.
Thanks again to all of you for your prayers!
There is a lot going on with Susan and I right now, more of which I will talk about next week. I guess you could say the "creamed corn" I asked you to pray about has almost been resolved. Thankfully God knows all about it and has opened some amazing doors for our family, I'll say more later.
I talked to one of my friends today who will "remain" silent to protect the guilty and he said that I should put just a paragraph up each day and then more people would read my blog. Isn't that what you said John? Ooops! Cats out of the bag. Well I enjoy posting on my blog and I am excited about some of my newer readers (Hey Larry!) and friends. So I will leave you today with an exciting thought that I recently read in "The Monday Morning Church." by Jerry Cook!
"Christ's own incarnation teaches us that "incarnational Christianity" can only be accomplished by persons, not institutions. This is not to devalue institutions or organizations. It is to say, however, that the person of Jesus can only be clearly communicated through the people in whom he dwells."
It's an interestng thought, you may have even heard it before. But what does it mean to you, and does it mean enough to each us to live our lives that way? If so, what does that look like?
Ponder, have a great week!
Susan and I are out of town right now. We are in Atlanta. I woke up this morning to get a shower and realized.....
I forgot my shorts...
Ah, such is life when you're me...
I use this thing called tracksy to tell me where everyone is from who checks my blog, it tells me how many visits individuals make and what times etc, etc.
So I just want to give a shout out to my visitor from Montgomery, he/she has visitied like 48 times in one day! Thanks for stopping by. You're my visitor of the month, even though I don;t know your name - leave a comment, it's fun!
Have a great week everyone!
So, I have had some conversations with some folks about what I was talking about on my last blog post. Well I recently read an article that I found
here. Basically, it pretty much sums it up...
Feel free to talk amongst yourselves...
"Bible Bielieving Churches" by Joseph E. BoggsWe've all heard someone say it...maybe we've even said it ourselves - "I attend a Bible believing church." Usually it's spoken with a sense of pride, as if the person speaking attends the only Bible believing church in the world. Many times it's spoken while looking down our nose at the person to whom we are speaking. And sometimes it is even said with sincerity and honesty and the best of intentions. However it is said, we've all heard someone (or many people) utter this sentence. Whenever I hear someone say it, I want to ask one question: As opposed to what? Are there really a bunch of non-Bible believing churches out there? Is my church one of them? Am I in danger of the fires of hell because I don't attend your church, the one that believes the Bible? If I were to guess, many people would answer by laying out for me their church's interpretations of the hot button social issues (i.e. abortion, homosexuality, immigration, etc.) and how those interpretations and those interpretations alone are biblical. For example, I could ask an attender of a Bible believing church, "Why is your church 'Bible-believing?" The response could well look like this, "Well, we believe that being gay is the most damnable of all sins and that abortion is murder and that God is an American and blah blah blah." So-called Bible believing churches are more defined by their social stance and rhetoric than any true allegiance to the Bible. What if there was an alternative? What if there was something more than simply being a "Bible believing church?" What if, instead of focusing on verbal arguments about what the Bible says or doesn't say, we focused on vocational actions - putting into practice the things Jesus calls us to do? What if instead of being Bible believers, we became Bible behavers. A Bible behaving church would look a whole lot different from a Bible believing church. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it would look like or even if we would be able to recognize it. But wouldn't it be amazing to attend a church and be a part of a community that was more concerned with actions than arguments - with grace than judgment? Think about it...
Joseph E. Boggs is an associate pastor at a somewhat conservative church in NW Indiana. He grew up in the "modern" church, but says he is slowly beginning to identify with and develop dialogue within the emerging context. To contact Joe you can find him here
Pastor Joe ...always used by permission.."
What for?
That's a good question.
Well, me. That's the answer.
The other answer - not you...
Other answers include:
My thoughts - though never perfect or even right many times - still mine, and just because their mine and not yours doesn't make them wrong or right.
My heart - I am sharing it. In this world of hiding things because you are afraid of what others might think or say. I am not afraid to share my heart, that's what I'm doing.
As a release - sharing part of what is happening in and with my life is pretty cathartic to me. It's real and honest, some people are afraid of real honest vulnerability. I am too, but I'm trying.
The point - This is what my blog is for, read at your own risk, feel free to comment what you'd like, I'm a big boy. If you don't like what I say, you are not required to stop by.
Have a great week!
