God? What do you think of when you hear that name? Jesus? Holy Spirit? I am not even going to insult you by suggesting that you would ever think of using God’s name in a dirty joke or an expletive phrase. If you are a follower of Christ, you surely have more respect for Him than that. But, what importance do you give to His name?
This is a word for me as a church planter. This passage is not talking about a lack of growth, it’s talking about the failure to produce a good harvest. The goal at our church is the same as any other Bible-believing, Christ-honoring church. We want to produce growing disciples of Jesus Christ. We want people to look, act, and sound more like Jesus. We want to be lovers of God and lovers of people. We want to be holy, because He is holy. If we keep that as our aim, and allow God’s Spirit to work His way in our midst, we will never have to sing the Song of the Vineyard.
God is more than we give Him credit for being! The second commandment is to remind us and command us to give God the credit He deserves. He has no equal. There is no image to which you can compare Him adequately. There is nothing wrong with having something around your neck to remind you of your love and devotion to Jesus, but it is not a replacement for that personal relationship.
Cheryl went to a baby shower recently. I dropped her off and asked how long she would be. She said, “No more than two hours.” At first I thought she was joking, but then I realized she was serious. It turns out it took two hours. So my question is: Why does a baby shower take two hours?
Yesterday I spoke to our church about the law, but I did not have time to talk about each of the Ten Commandments. Over the next ten days I will share some devotionals about the Ten Commandments I have previously written for my devotional ministry.
Church planting is in my blood. It didn’t occur to me until recently, but shortly after my mother came to Clarksville she was a charter member of a local church. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary today. Shortly after this my mother married my father and became a Baptist, but she has always loved her Lutheran heritage.
Last Sunday I preached a message on the difference in having circumstantial faith and in trusting God completely even when everything around us screams otherwise. (You can watch that HERE.) Cindy Winters, the widow of Reverend Winters, is a perfect example of this kind of steady faith. She takes a tragedy and uses it as an opportunity to share her faith in Jesus Christ! Wow! Listen to her story. She gives the recipe of going through the worst times of life.
Recently I wrote this post about the increase in stress as our church continues to grow. Several responded via Twitter and Facebook that said things like “You don’t seem to get stressed about anything” or “I wish you would give us details”.
Did you know Detroit is printing its own money? Karen in our office sent me an article today that made me think about our economy. Apparently Detroit, a city which has been devastated more than most by the current economy, has taken things into its own hands. They are printing their own currency.
I often hear church planters say to expect to lose half the original core members within the first year of a new church plant. While I agree that is the trend, I don’t think it has to be that way. I am now in my second plant. With this second church we went about the core selection in a very methodical way, fully intending to keep all original core members if possible.
