Hold on! Don't go calling the pastor and getting me fired. You need to understand my thought process on this one.
We've all been members of something. In high school I was a member of the National Honors Society and the choir. In college, I was a member of the track team. I've even been a member of the YMCA. Throughout my life I've been a member of a church.
You see, when you enter into a membership type of relationship, you are typically saying you are willingly putting yourself under subjection of the rules, regulations and leadership of that organization. That's not a bad thing; however, this type of relationship can breed within the organization a perception of unempowered members. When a member realizes this situation, they often shut down and freeze up. That's bad for a ministry.
Instead, we should have ministry partners replace our church members. Yes, they are the same people and we are NOT removing any person from the church. Think about it! When you partner with someone or something, you usually have a feeling of empowerment. You know you are valuable to the organization. When people realize they are valuable, they respond appropriately.
Take Luke 5 for example. Jesus gets done speaking and tells Simon to go to the deep water and cast his nets. You know Simon is thinking, "Jesus, I'm tired. I've been out here all night and there's nothing there. But, whatever!" But, when Simon began retrieving the net it broke under the strain of the haul. It was then that he called for his "partners" in the other boat. When they got together, both boats were filled with fish to the point of nearly sinking.
Creating a paradigm shift from members to partners won't be easy, but when people understand they are important and valuable to the work and ministry of the church they will respond appropriately. So, are you a member or a partner?
Five years ago, my wife and I were at the head of the trail of this thing called youth ministry. We started out strong. The trail was nice with few obstructions. We moved forward with ease, even enjoying a few open meadows along the way. Today, we are still moving along the mountain trail, but the scenery has changed a bit. No longer is the trail wide and smooth. The trail has changed from flat to vertical. Instead of easy strides, we are climbing hand-over-fist, fighting for every inch of ground we can gain. We've been through the mud, been stuck by limbs and thorns, lost our footing and fallen hard.
There's a lake in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado called Lake St. Louis. It's a three-mile hike over terrain similar to what I described above. But there's one thing at the end of the hike that makes it worth it all...the view and refreshing chill of a mountain lake. At the summit is a beautiful lake surrounded by a meadow with a snow-capped peak rising above it all.
I really don't like the hard climb that you must make in order to get to this lake, but I like the end result. In similar fashion, I don't like the hard times of youth ministry, but I like the end results. Often there are times where we don't even get to see the end results. The hard climb sure does get discouraging, especially when you can't see the summit. In the short term, you want to quite, return to the trailhead or find another mountain. In the long term, you realize you still have to fight through the hard climb to get to the top.
]]>Last night, I posted a bunch of new sermons on the audio sermons page. Go take a listen. I'm trying to get them posted to an RSS feed so that they can be picked up by iTunes. That will allow people to subscribe to our iTunes feed and get automatic updates whenever a new sermon is posted. I hope to get that done in the next couple of weeks.
I'm really looking forward to Aug. 5 at our church. It's the preacher's 5th anniversary and PK3 will do a 30 minute concert during the worship hour. It's alway a challenge mixing for them, but I enjoy it. I also get to drum to one of the songs. That's always fun, too.
That's all I have time for today. Send me a comment and let me know what's happening in your life.
-Micah
]]>The rally begins at 11 am and will begin on time, so get there early. You'll be sad to miss this unique event.
Have a great day!
Micah
]]>
Isn't it strange how things happen sometimes. For those of you that know me and my wife, we have a desire to sell our house and move to town. We had it on the market for about 6 months or so and nobody even offered. Now that it's been off the market for three weeks, someone leaves a note in the mailbox asking to look at the house on Sunday. To top that off, we are in the middle of painting and decorating our master bath, the second room we've done this to in a week. UGH! BUT, I'm open to God's timing. History tells me He has a good idea of what He's doing.
Tomorrow evening our youth group travels to Owasso, Okla., for "Fun on the Run." It's an all-night youth rally. It will be fun, but I'm not looking forward to the drive home. I'm thankful that I have enough adult help that I can crash somewhere for a few hours. We should be home around 9 am on Saturday. After a few hours of catch-up sleep, it's back to painting and getting ready for our home showing.
I'm trying to think of sermon topics that would allow for some really great video opportunities. I'd like to make some videos for Bro. Steve's messages. If you have any ideas, let me know.
Have a great day! I'll see you tomorrow.
]]>Me: "Hi Pastor. What's going on?"
Him: "I'm just (huff) on the roof (puff) of the church (huff and puff) pushing off ice."
Me: "Has Jim had a chance to clear the parking lot?"
Him: "He's working on it right now."
Me: "Great. Have a good day and enjoy your pastorly duties!"
I think it's funny how a pastor, who's called be a shepherd, ends up being a carpenter, plumber, electrician, maid, and parking lot attendant. Don't forget that he still has to make visits to hospitals, the shut-ins, the elderly, the angry, the absent and the prospect. Oh! He's also expected to bring riveting messages 1-3 times per week. You know, the ones that are memorable and life-changing.
Most pastors don't mind doing these things because they love the church and their flock. Sometimes I wonder if it just wouldn't be easier to cut a hole in their roof and lower the sick into their house with a helicopter.
WHAT? That's already been done?
Have a great weekend! I'll see you Monday!
]]>Well, I was looking for a name for this blog when I began to think about our spiritual lives [insert contemplative stare into the sky here].
The truth is that I just thought it was a cool name. But, then I did wonder what those two words mean in this context and I found something interesting.
Redundant, as defined by dictionary.com, can mean repetition; however, I found another meaning for it that intrigued me. Redundant: 2.being in excess; exceeding what is usual or natural: a redundant part.
How much of our lives are made up of excessive repetition? Now, if you are talking about brushing your teeth or taking a shower...those are good things.
But, is redundant repetition a good thing in our spiritual lives? When you sit down for a meal do you pray the same thing every time? If you do, does it have meaning in your heart or is it just a tradition. Often our walk with Christ becomes redundant repetition. We do it because it fits nicely into our schedule and we can't deviate from our schedule. There are many traditions in nearly every church and those are fine as long as you are not driven by the tradition but by the very reason for the tradition.
Communion is a tradition often cited during a debate of this kind. Jesus told His disciples that as often as they shall partake of the cup and the bread that they should remember Him. He didn't tell them to do it for traditions sake. He said REMEMBER ME! The Bible tells us that we need to inspect and correct our lives before we participate in Communion. Taking Communion as a tradition doesn't allow that introspective reflection.
Communion isn't the only tradition that we hold in the church. This arguement can be applied to prayer, singing, activities and so forth.
So, as you go about your day think on this. What part of your walk with Christ is needless redundant repetition? What part of your walk with Christ can you make redundant (excessive) worship?
This new device now means you don't have to carry a phone, a PDA, and an iPod or MP3 player. It's just simplified your life. But, has it? Nearly two years ago, I had a business meeting in my office with the general manager of a sports advertising firm. The company just bought him a new leash...actually it was the Blackberry. Within five minutes of leaving my office he had emailed me the information I needed. Knowing that it took 20 minutes to return to his office, I realize that he sat in my parking lot and wrote out my email.
LIFE IS BUSY! But I've had a question in my head for a long time that isn't getting answered. Is our obsession with doing more and producing more having a negative impact on our relationship with Christ? Don't misunderstand me...technology is great and I love to implement it in a church setting. But isn't our speeding here and there causing our faith to falter?
Case in point: How many times do you get gas and not speak to the person filling the car next to you? I do it all the time because I'm in too big of a hurry. It's as if the gas pump will not operate unless I sit there and watch the gallons add up! Guess what! Gas pump technology usually allows us to set the lever on the handle and walk away. Why not invite that person across the pump to your church? Why not tell them what God has done for you? Because LIFE IS BUSY!
On numerous occasions this week from numerous sources, I've heard the same message. Demonstrating and growing in faith is reliant upon risk. Abraham didn't demonstrate his faith by keeping Isaac at home while he went to Moriah. He had to take his son and the wood for the burnt offering...an offering that required the life of his son. Once Abraham's faith was revealed, God's messenger halted Abraham and God provided the ram as an offering instead. Abraham named that place Jehovah-jirah, meaning God will provide.
So is life as busy as it seems or are our lives lacking the faith we need to see growth in our church?
]]>