Testing Through Fire

This past Sunday, I had an interesting thought as a member of my congregation was leading us in prayer.  He said something that I’m sure was said in a number of churches yesterday or on any given Sunday and it really got me thinking.  He said something to the extent of “Father, thank you for this country we live in where we don’t have to worry about being persecuted for our faith and we have the freedom to worship you.”

Now this thought possibly popped into my head because I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how Christians need to take risks for God.  God doesn’t call us to live a comfortable and secure life that is free from harm.  Yes God brings peace and security, but is that peace and security in this physical world or could he be talking about a spiritual peace and security?

So, anyway, back to my primary thought.  We need to be taking more risks for God and this verse also kept coming up in my mind: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1^st Peter 1:6-7)

If we need to be taking risks for God and if when we face trials and if after the trial remaining faithful gives glory to God, should we really be thanking God for our freedom to worship without persecution?  And so this was all going through my mind when this thought then entered: What if we started praying for our freedom of religion to be taken away? 

I know this is a very dangerous idea, especially if you really believe in the power of prayer.  But I kept thinking, if we didn’t have freedom of religion or freedom to worship the true God, what would our churches look like?  What would our attendance numbers look like?  What would our own faith look like?  God doesn’t want lukewarm Christians, and so if we got rid of freedom to worship, I would assume that many lukewarm Christians would back out. 

I want to know what my faith would be like.  Would I still be on fire for Christ or would I be lukewarm.  At least if we didn’t have these freedoms, I would know right away and I wouldn’t have to wait around until Judgment Day and be embarrassed before God when he says, “I never knew you!”

Your Spirit Moves Within Me

            Last month I finished the book “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan.  I need to first say that I am a little bias towards Francis Chan in the sense that he is one of my favorite authors and I probably agree/follow him so much as if he was a modern-day prophet.  (Are there really modern-day prophets?  That’s another entry for another time I guess.)  But back to the book.  In a nutshell, the book examines the Holy Spirit and it’s involvement in Christians.  His title comes out of the notion that Christians today have rejected the Holy Spirit and no longer want to rely on him, let alone mention him.

            The reading of the book prompted me to do my own study of the Holy Spirit, which recently involved the youth ministry at the church I work for.  And it was through the study that I came to two realizations.  The first is that myself and Christians as a whole (this is my own opinion of Christians) do not rely on the Spirit like we should.  And it is my belief that when we rely on the Spirit, we are actually inviting the Spirit into our lives and letting the Spirit lead us.  The past few weeks I’ve been trying to recognize when the Spirit is leading me and letting it lead me.

            The second realization is that if we let the Spirit lead our lives without any restraint then our lives would be completely different.  Galatians 5:22-23 discusses the fruits of the Spirit, if we are led by the Spirit then I believe these characteristics and ONLY these characteristics will be present in our life.  If we were truly let the Spirit lead our lives, I believe it is possible for a Christian to be free of sin.

It is time for the church to return to relying on the Spirit.  We need to stop viewing the Holy Spirit like awkward relative that no one talks about and only shows up once a year.  Imagine what it would look like if churches let the Holy Spirit lead them in everything they did.  Imagine churches that no longer meet inside buildings but instead meet at corners with homeless and sick.  Imagine Christians that fed the poor from their own table.  Imagine you and me telling everyone about the good news that Christ has set us free from sin.  Imagine Christians that no longer do church but instead they are the church, they live out being the church and being Christ to the world.

I encourage you to pick-up the book for yourself.  Read it with an open mind and let it change you.  Let us allow the Spirit to enter our lives and guide us in all that we do.  “How much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  Luke 11:13b

           

Made to Lead the Way

            A couple weeks back my wife and I went and saw the new movie “Courageous.”  I must say it has been a long time since I’ve seen a movie that resulted in so many tears (especially tears from men) and that was also so empowering.  The movie is certainly a call for men everywhere to step up and be the spiritual leaders they were meant to be. 

            Before I go on, I want to point out that this is also an excellent for women as well, in fact women can get two messages out of this movie: 1) Girls that are not married should be looking for a man like this that is willing to be the spiritual leader of the family.  I encourage young women everywhere, if you are dating a guy and he is not the spiritual leader of your relationship right now, get out because he will certainly not be the leader he needs to be in your marriage.  2) The second message is that this movie could also be used to encourage women to step-up and be bold and courageous about their faith, especially if they are in a home where the male is not a spiritual leader.

            While the movie is good for women, for the sake of this post I want to focus on the importance of a male’s leadership.  At our church we are looking to add some new ministry leaders and we’ve got a number of men that would be great for stepping into these leadership roles.  But so many of them are hesitant to do so.

            It certainly frustrates me to my core when I see men that are so hesitant to lead.  God wants men to be leaders and we, as men, need to be leaders.  If you know any men that are hesitant to be leaders I encourage you to work with them and build them up.  The transformation process into a leader is not a quick process, it takes time and diligence, but pursue the goal of turning Christian men into men of God that lead with a passion.

            My prayer is that God will work in the hearts of men everywhere and will guide them through a transformation process so that they can be the leaders they need to be.  My prayer is also that God will guide me to be the leader I need to be in my own house, but also to other men.  I pray that God will give me wisdom in encouraging and leading other men to become leaders.

Maiden Voyage

For my first post, I wanted to do an introduction.  I am a pastor/minister at a church.  Use whatever title or name you like, it doesn’t really matter.  The only name that truly matters is Jesus Christ and the only title that matters is Christian.  The important thing to know about me is that I work for a church where I am involved with various ministries and ministry duties.  I choose to remain anonymous for a number of different reasons: to protect my family, myself, members at the church I work for, and members of other churches.  Knowing who I am is not what matters.  For my anonymity only helps you in looking at my posts with an open-mind and you will also be able to apply these situations to your own life.

Now to the purpose of this blog.  This blog is not meant to be a complaint of anything specific; I do not even want it be a critique.  I simply find that my views about church and faith are always changing and I wanted to create a place where I could write down (type-out) my thoughts to help flesh them out.  This is meant to be a growth process.  You might think, “Why not write a journal then.”  That is a valid point, but my hope is that in sharing these thoughts they in turn will help those who read them. 

I’m sure the concept of this blog makes more sense in my head than what I just said.  But I hope you will check back and read my later posts and then maybe you will gain a better understanding of my purpose.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.  1^st Timothy 1:15