Weakness

"Therefore, a life in prayer is a life with open hands where you are not ashamed of your weakness but realize that it is more perfect for a man to be led by the other than to seek to hold everything in his own hands." Henri Nouwen - Open Hands

Sometimes pastors have a hard time with this. Honesty about our weaknesses is the first step in recovery but one that is often difficult to take. If we make an admission we feel that we are not as valuable. You would think that pastors, more than anyone, would realize our value comes from being a child of God.

A Sucker For An Upgrade

I have always shook my head at those folks who wait anxiously for a software upgrade. I could never imagine myself rushing out to a store at midnight to be one of the first to receive a new upgrade. Until now!

I have been a faithful Media Shout user for over a year now and I just love it. At the same time I am well aware of its shortcomings and I have been pining for the upgrade that adresses most of these issues. Unfortunately the people at Media Shout were unable to meet the upgrade deadline due some problems with the origninal programmers they were using and have been in the embarassing situation of having to constantly tell customers the upgrade isn't ready yet.

I bought version 2.5 with the free upgrade to v3 and have been faithfully checking the website ever since to see the announcement. Well, they finally did it. Now I just have to wait until they get around to filling my order. The wait is killing me but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Evangelism and Discipleship

First for the disclaimer: The following is simply me trying to get a handle on a topic that my brother Dave and I had a conversation about. Dave was telling me about some speakers he had heard and I in no way mean to describe Dave's own beliefs. Let me say again that this does not necessarily represent my belief one way or the other either but is simply a reflection of my trying to think it through.

Evangelism and Discipleship

Orthodox Methodology


Discipleship Only Methodology


Questions:
1. Which process did Jesus use on the disciples?
2. At what point were the disciples “saved”?
3. Can someone be a follower of Jesus before repenting and believing that He is the Messiah? (Still outside the circle.)
4. What is the difference between being a seeker and a follower of Christ?What difference does any of this make?

The Guarantee

"... any program or paradigm or model or system that purports to be timeless - or, for that matter, 'guaranteed to work' - is to be avoided at all costs!" Mark Oestreicher

I think that so many times we overestimate ourselves and underestimate (or maybe misunderstand) God. I am really happy when people find a program or paradigm or model or system that works for them and their church. I get tired of them insisting that it is something we should all do though. The implied "it comes from God" is presumptuous at best and not to far from heresey. Half the time I feel like I need to just follow a "get out of God's way" strategy. I'm sure there are many would agree that "I" need to do that.

This is why I don't want more than the essentials at the denominational level. For example, there is a lot of talk about a healthy church initiative. I totally disagree that the denomination should be involved in such a thing. Haven't we learned anything from the past? Instead we should allow a Healthy Church Association to develop within our denomination (or even outside) that churches are free to join. They can then support it and hire whatever staff is needed and pay for any resources they desire.