November 10, 2016

Posted on November 13, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

We have very little grasp of how imperfect the various characters of history, and even the Bible, were. We idolize and idealize them, when they were just as human as we are. The only human being ever to be without sin was Jesus, so we need to adjust our perspective. We think of the believers in the Early Church as superhuman, since they accomplished so much and endured so much, but I’m sure it didn’t feel that way to them. Life “on the ground” is always messy, but God uses even our weaknesses for His glory. (2 Corinthians 12:9) We have trouble grasping how prejudiced the leadership in particular of the Jerusalem Church really was. Even Peter required the dramatic events of Acts 10 before he could understand that God loves every­one and invites all to be saved, and these people in Jerusalem were no different. We tend to be horrified when we learn of Martin Luther’s antisemitism, but that is only the flip side of these people. God is always bigger than we are, but that is why He can use us in spite of our weaknesses. We tend to disbelieve that God could use us, or others, because of the imperfections that seem so big to us, but that is seeing human imperfections as bigger or stronger than God. God can and does use very imperfect vessels to accomplish His will for His glory, because that’s what He’s got to work with! Paul rightly called us clay pots, filled with the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:7) If the early believers, and early churches, had been perfect, then most of the New Testament would never have been written, because the letters were both to encourage and correct.

This is something I deal with constantly as a pastor. I deal with my own faults and failures, and I deal with those of others. I find that one of my most frequent admonitions is for people to take their eyes off of themselves and fix them on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2) Anyone who will do that will discover that they are doing things impossible for themselves, because God will be manifesting His power through their weakness. We are not limited by our past if we will abide in Christ. That is one of the most magnificent truths of the Gospel. (2 Corinthians 5:17) I’ve got to remember that about myself and about those I deal with. Their past or even current failures don’t dictate their future! God’s plans are indeed to give us hope and a future, (Jeremiah 29:11) and I must never forget that.

Father, thank You for this Word. Thank You for what You have done in the past 24 hours or so in America, blocking those who would exclude You from public life. Donald Trump is manifestly someone with flaws and a less-than-admirable track record in a number of ways, but he is learning humility. That is very hopeful! I pray Your grace and blessings on him and on the nation. I pray the same for this church. Our difficulties seem trivial compared to those of America, but You care about them nonetheless. Help me trust You for the answers even before I see those answers, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You, so that Your purposes may be accomplished in and through me, in and through this church, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

November 9, 2016

Posted on November 11, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

This was the moment when Peter really understood the vision he had on the rooftop a few days earlier. (Acts 10:9-16) He had understood it enough to accompany the Gentiles who had come to get him, but it wasn’t until he arrived and heard Cornelius’ invitation to tell them the things of God that it really got all the way through to him. We can be amazingly dense at times, but God loves and uses us anyway! I am reminded of Benjamin Berger, who had a direct visitation from the Lord (though it was audible but not visual) to let him know personally that Jesus is the Messiah, but it still took him a year before he had the courage, as a Jew, to receive baptism. Even so, he has been mightily used by God in the years since. Reading the Bible today we might think, “Well, duh,” about some of the things people were slow to accept at the time, but we have the advantage of many centuries of perspective. We aren’t really any more perceptive than they were. That’s why God often teaches us the same lessons again and again, to deepen our understanding. We might think we’ve got it down, but God knows better! The thing is, God will do whatever is necessary to teach us what He wants us to know, so the more sensitive and yielded to Him we are, the sooner and more easily we can get on to the next lesson.

I am reminded of this truth from time to time as I recognize review lessons for what they are. Spoken lessons of that sort are fine, but sometimes object lessons can be painful! I would like to grasp each lesson fully the first time, but looking at the Biblical record I have to be satisfied with things as they are, not accusing myself too much for being dense. I also need to remember this as a pastor and teacher, exercising the patience toward others that God shows to me. I have failed to do that more times than I like to think about. I’m giving a special examination to some nursing students tomorrow who failed to show sufficient mastery of the material before. I am not to give them results they haven’t learned, but I am also not to put them down because they took longer to learn it. I need to respond to the people in this church the same way, speaking the truth in love as many times as necessary, growing along with them as we all draw closer to Christ.

Father, this time this morning is an illustration of what I have just written! This is not new truth to me, but I don’t walk in it with sufficient consistency. Help me be a “doer of your Word” (James 1:22) more and more and better and better, so that I may participate fully in Your plans for me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

November 8, 2016

Posted on November 9, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 10:33 “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

What preacher wouldn’t love to hear this! This would really “pull the preach” out of anyone! And sure enough, reading to the end of the chapter shows us that Peter couldn’t even finish his remarks before the people hearing started responding fully to the work of the Holy Spirit. Hearing ears and hearts are so important! I’ve done pre-wedding marriage counseling for the past four days in a row, and this is something I always talk about in terms of husband/wife communication. One partner can be expressing their heart and the other not really hearing at all. That’s the sort of thing that can lead to divorce. The thing is, God is always ready to listen to us, but too often we aren’t ready to listen to Him. In the first place, many people can’t seem to grasp that God would really talk to them. We tend to make that all mystical, stuff for saints and gurus and the like. We forget that as parents, we don’t limit talking to our children to when they are being good. If anything, we might talk to them a bit more when they aren’t (or at least more strongly). God speaks to us in many ways. Because of our differences in personality and the like, some people are more likely to hear Him one way and some another way. The two Josephs who feature prominently in the Bible, one in Genesis and the other the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus, both heard from the Lord frequently through dreams. I have a pastor friend like that, and my wife has had quite a few dreams from the Lord. However, I can hardly remember any dreams that I knew were from the Lord. On the other hand, I feel like the Lord talks to me daily as I read and meditate on the Bible. I have been involved in prophecy, both giving and receiving it, when the Lord speaks clearly through a human vessel. (Actually, true preaching should be this way, just as it was when Peter spoke to Cornelius’ household.) That can be the easiest to understand, but those hearing must accept it as the Word of the Lord or it isn’t very effective. The risk here is that not all who claim to speak for the Lord really do, and even those who do sometimes aren’t necessarily consistent. God can speak through donkeys, even, but that doesn’t mean we should hold church in the barn! The lesson is, we are to have our hearts turned and tuned to the Lord so that we can recognize and receive whatever He says to us, however He chooses to do it.

As a pastor/teacher this is a major issue in my life. Not only do I seek to hear from the Lord myself, I am often used to speak His Word to others in various ways. Their receptivity is all over the map! Sometimes I am aware that I am speaking for God and sometimes I’m not, but He’s using me anyway. It’s always fun when I discover that’s happened! It is joyous when people receive gladly what the Lord says through me, just as it was for Peter in today’s story, but it can be heartbreaking when people steadfastly refuse to listen. Jeremiah and other Old Testament prophets experienced this, and just about everyone in the New testament did, from Jesus on down. I am not to take it personally when it happens to me, but rather pray God’s grace and mercy for my hearers. I am not to decline to speak because I have prejudged my hearers, but rather be faithful to speak whenever and whatever the Lord says to, without interjecting my thoughts on my schedule. I’ve made some real blunders doing that! It all comes down to being open and available to the flow of the Holy Spirit through me, because only then is God’s will accomplished.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed speak what You are saying, as well as hear and obey what You are saying, so that Your will may be done in and through me consistently, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

November 7, 2016

Posted on November 8, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This particular incident was God telling Peter that the door of salvation was open to the Gentiles, which was a huge stretch for any Jew of the day. As I read it just now, however, the image that came to mind was Donald Trump. To be quite honest and blunt, he is a person I have disliked, even despised, for as long as I’ve known about him. I don’t care for “reality TV” to begin with, and his personality and lifestyle to this point have had nothing attractive to me about them. That said, I have become a reluctant Trump supporter, and not just because his opposition fills me with dread about the future of the nation. I have read several reports from different sources recently about his desire to do what is right from this point, and his platform and stated goals are certainly admirable. He is a deeply flawed individual, but the thing is, so is every human being alive. He has surrounded himself with admirable people, and for someone in public leadership, that counts for a lot. As several people have said, the presidency is not just a single individual but a whole team. We have seen the effects of that for the past eight years, certainly, with a whole cadre of people who seem intent on destroying the nation from within. The choice could hardly be more stark at this point.

There is no question that I have never been as emotionally involved in an election as I am at this point. On our recent trip to the US I was able to vote in person for the first time in many, many years, and it was an interesting experience. The past year and a half have been quite a lesson in trust, in letting God be God. Trump was far from my first choice of candidates, but I have come around to the place of believing He is indeed God’s choice for this time. He is a clear metaphor for the nation as a whole, faults and all. God is in the business of cleansing and redeeming. He can do it for Donald Trump, and He can do it for America. I am to pray for the believers of America to wake up to the choices before them and their opportunity and responsibility to participate in the process. It is clear that at this point America does not have a majority of people who place God first in their lives, but it is not devoid of believers. I am to pray that the believers would exercise the authority given them in Christ, to pray, to act, and to proclaim the kingdom of God, so that America would experience a revival to eclipse all past revivals and cause God’s name alone to be honored as holy.

Father, this has been a very educational time for me. I pray that many more would have learned what You have been trying to teach us. I do pray that every one of Your children with the right to vote in America would exercise that right, giving America the chance for the course correction that is so desperately needed. Economics are on the mind of many, but material things are trivial compared to many of the other issues. I pray that Donald Trump, and all of America, would turn to You in genuine repentance on all levels, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

November 6, 2016

Posted on November 8, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 9:34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and tidy up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

Peter’s focus was on Jesus, first and last and in the middle. We get all caught up in the situation and in ourselves, but Peter had gotten over that. He knew that he could do nothing good on his own, but that Jesus could do anything at all through him. We would do well to learn from his example! From Pentecost on, Peter acquired quite a reputation as someone who did things he shouldn’t have been able to do, from speaking boldly and skillfully before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:8-14) to performing assorted miracles. The thing is, he had been self-confident up through the Garden of Gethsemane, even taking a wild swing with a sword to try to defend Jesus, but his failure in denying Jesus three times right after that knocked all of that out of him. Our failures can be marvelous blessings from God, if they teach us to rely totally on Him instead of on ourselves. It doesn’t matter how talented, gifted, or whatever else we are, we can’t do God’s work in our own strength, period. Thinking we can do it, at least a little, is a major hindrance to being used by God. Jesus was actually very clear on that point. (John 15:5) The other side of that is having faith that God can use us. Too often, if we get it through our heads that we can’t do it ourselves, we think that we are hopeless even for God to use. That’s still focusing on ourselves! It is almost an over-used example, but if God could use a donkey to speak to Balaam, He can use us however He likes! (Numbers 22:21-33) Peter knew this, which is why God was able to use him so effectively.

This has been an issue for me all my life. The Lord has blessed me with a wide variety of abilities, and I don’t recall my parents ever saying to me, “That’s beyond you. Give it up.” As a result, I have tended to be cocky and conceited, even while nursing inferiority complexes about such things as sports. That can be amusing to watch in someone else, if a bit on the insufferable side, but it is a serious liability when it comes to being a servant of God. I am not to ignore or denigrate the things God has placed in me, but at the same time I must never think that those things are sufficient to do anything right apart from Him. The fact that I have labored for 35 years here in Omura with so little to show for it should be ample evidence of that! The thing is, God is not limited by my past performance, and I’ve got to remember that. He’s given me a message for this morning on operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I can no more impart that to anyone on my own than I can turn myself into a turnip. However, God is more than able to use even me to open people’s hearts to His Spirit so that He may cleanse, heal, and empower them. My job this morning is to listen obediently to Him and try to stay out of His way.

Father, help me expect great things of You without trying to dictate how You are going to work. I tend to build scenarios in my mind and then try to make them happen. Protect me from that. Help me be a fully willing, available instrument in Your hands, so that You may do exactly what You desire in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

November 5, 2016

Posted on November 7, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 9:4-5 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

This famous story of Saul’s “Damascus Road Experience” has a great deal to think about and learn from. What strikes me most at the moment is the way Jesus identified Himself so strongly with the Church. We forget that calling the Church the Body of Christ is more than just a figure of speech. Being told this by Jesus is probably why Paul used the figure of a body so much, in 1 Corinthians 12 and elsewhere. There are many, many implications to this. We need to realize that Jesus lives and acts through the Church, and by extension, through local churches and individual believers. The Roman Catholics have codified this, but there are many dangers to that. In the first place, setting up a human organization instantly sets up a barrier to responsiveness to the Holy Spirit. Then, that organization establishes a hierarchy of who is important and who isn’t, and that generally ignores God’s opinion completely. When Jesus said that Saul was persecuting Him, He wasn’t talking about an organization, but about an organism. As Paul later stressed, we are related to one another the same way the different organs in our bodies are related, and are just as important to one another. (Sometimes I wonder if I’m analogous to an appendix!) With this established, we understand that not only are those who persecute the Church persecuting Christ, those who honor the Church are honoring Christ. We aren’t to worship human institutions, certainly, but we disrespect the Church, and even local churches, to our peril.

I use this terminology fairly frequently, especially in interdenominational settings, but that doesn’t mean I necessarily grasp it fully. I need to remember it more consistently and let it shape how I relate to this local church. I’m the pastor, but I’m not the church! I am to ask and to expect Jesus to build His Church, just as He said. (Matthew 16:18) I am to remember that I am never the final authority, He is. That’s not to say that I’m to run from responsibility, but rather that I am to seek His will, His plan at every turn. I’m not to be paranoid about that either, but trust Him to make Himself as clear as necessary to me, and to the church as a whole. I am to trust and expect Him to provide for His body, while holding nothing back myself. I am to expect, with joyful anticipation, that He will manifest Himself through us, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this very encouraging Word. Help me communicate it to others as You give opportunity. Thank You for the opportunity I’ve just been given to speak at the interdenominational prayer breakfast on the 16th. May I indeed be Your agent in building up the Body of Christ, not just then but all the time, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

November 4, 2016

Posted on November 7, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 8:20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!”

I think Peter was floored at Simon’s request, because it had never crossed his mind. However, in the centuries since, many have indeed treated the gifts of God as merchandise, things with which to gain money or power or what have you. That was how Simon was seeing them, which is why he wanted to invest in the process. It is ironic that both people in this exchange had the same name, though Simon Peter most often used the nickname Jesus had given him. I think that shows how each of us has the potential to be on either side of such situations. In our flesh we can be like Simon Magus, but by the Spirit we can be like Simon Peter. Peter encouraged Simon to repent and get right with God, but one tradition says that he never did so, but traveled to Cyprus and used the name Elymas, where he had a dramatic encounter with Paul (Acts 13:4-12) That seems unlikely to me, because there are plenty of people who seek supernatural power without wanting to be submitted to God. That, incidentally, is the danger in such things as the Harry Potter series. On one level they are harmless fantasy, allegories of the conflict between good and evil, but the devil can use them to provoke a lust for supernatural power much as Simon Magus had. For some, they might promote a receptivity to the things of God, but for others they might have the opposite effect. The whole point of this encounter being recorded in the Bible is that the things of God cannot be bought and sold, and must not be thought of that way.

This is an important thing for me to keep in focus right now, because I feel I am to start teaching again on spiritual gifts. I’ve got to keep in clear focus, for myself and for those whom I teach, the reality that these are grace gifts, not something earned, much less bought. They are not merit badges! I desire that everyone in the church be fully open to the flow of the Holy Spirit through them, however He chooses to move. I pray that for myself! There is so much I want to impart, and I feel such constraints. My time with them is limited, but even more than that, their receptivity is limited. I need to pray first for open ears and hearts, and then for me not to get in the way of what the Lord wants to do through me. I need to stand firm on behalf of my hearers against the devil who would try to block or confuse the message, so that receiving God’s truth they may be set free to walk in all that He intends for them.

Father, I feel like I have a mountain of material I want to impart, and I can’t do it all at once. I ask first of all that You renew it in me, so that none of it will be simply academic, but all would be living, present reality. I pray that I would have Your wisdom especially as to what to teach when and how, so that human considerations won’t get in the way of the impartation of the Spirit. May we all be filled more and more, continuously, with Your Holy Spirit, so that all of Your plans for us may be fulfilled, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

November 3, 2016

Posted on November 4, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 8:15-17 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This passage was widely and vigorously used in the early years of the Charismatic Movement as people in non-charismatic denominations learned about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I can’t say that I’ve heard it used much recently. Whether that is because spiritual gifts are seen as more normative or because people have given up on the idea is a good question. I’ve read that “manifestation” spiritual gifts are in considerable decline even in traditionally Pentecostal denominations, at least in “developed” countries. When speaking in tongues is so central to such denominations as the Assemblies of God that seems very ironic, and sad, actually. It’s not at all that such gifts are essential to salvation, but there still seems to be a loss of energy. That should hardly be surprising, when Jesus expressly connected the baptism in the Holy Spirit with power. (Acts 1:8) The devil loves to have us take anything and everything about God/faith/salvation for granted, because that makes it much easier for him to distract us and trip us up, stealing our joy and our victory. There are certainly pockets of exception to this trend, and churches where the presence of the Holy Spirit is clear and strong. Such churches teach us that there is no deficiency on the part of God, but just in our perception/reception of Him. Many are realizing that America is in drastic need of revival at this point, and that awareness is a very good thing. Individual believers, and by extension churches and denominations, need to repent and seek God, abandoning their compromise with the world that they have dressed up as “political correctness.” They need to give all of themselves afresh to Him so that they may receive more of Him in return. Anything we might have certainly pales in comparison to the glory of Almighty God!

I am talking to myself here. I have experienced all of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, but at this point I would have to say they are at low ebb. I do pray in tongues daily, but it has been quite a while since I have prophesied actively, or even laid hands on someone for healing prayer. What a loss, to me and to those to whom I minister. Just last night at prayer meeting I was talking with someone about how I see this church, and though I used the term, Charismatic, an outside observer might never know it. Some of the members have received the gift of tongues, at least, but I don’t know that anyone is operating in those gifts with any regularity at all. It shows! I don’t want to come across as making any gift a litmus test of salvation or dedication, but I don’t want to deprive the believers of the incredible riches God has prepared for us. I desire to repent, but I’m not even sure how. I talk all the time about focusing on God instead of on ourselves, and I need to do better about practicing what I preach! I need to be so assured of God’s ability that my ability is irrelevant. I know that God desires and intends far more for us than we are experiencing now, and I need to rest in, and operate in, that assurance.

Father, thank You for this wake-up call. Help me not just let it pass, but appropriate and operate in it fully. May we become the people, the church, that You desire and intend us to be, so that Your name may be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, right here, in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

November 2, 2016

Posted on November 4, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 7:59-60 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

By some measures, Stephen had a very short ministry. However, in his death he made an indelible impact on a young man named Saul, who went on to become Paul the Apostle and write half the New Testament. We naturally make a great deal of Saul’s conversion experience itself, but in many ways the stoning of Stephen was a direct analog of Peter denying Jesus at His trial. Once he had met Jesus as Lord, Saul/Paul probably often remembered his participation in this stoning, and it kept him humble. For his part, Stephen could hardly have been a better example of how to glorify Jesus in martyr­dom. As is recorded here, he kept the focus on Jesus and chose to forgive those who were killing him, just as Jesus did from the cross. (Luke 23:34) Because we know so little about him, encountering him first in Acts 6 when he is chosen as one of the first deacons, Stephen seems almost too perfect. We have no record of his faults, the way we do of Peter, Paul, David, and others. We need to remember that he was just as human as we are, but that he chose to submit himself fully to the Holy Spirit, and that is something we can do as well. We are enjoined to be perfect, (Matthew 5:48) like Jesus, but the way to do that is by consistently choosing to be open and submitted to His Spirit. Our only real description of Stephen is that he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 6:5) Those are choices we can make, choosing to receive the faith that God gives (Ephesians 2:8-9) and to be fully open and welcoming to the Holy Spirit. That may or may not be an invitation to physical martyrdom, but it will certainly put to death the flesh so that we may live by the Spirit. (Romans 8:13)

This is directly applicable to me. I live in a city that had hundreds of martyrs and our church vision is that the city would again be the foremost Christian city in the nation, but if I do not live as Stephen did, I will not participate in what God desires to do here. I am not to be physically or spiritually lazy, but actively press in to receive more of God so that He may have more of me. I tell others that putting off things they don’t want to do doesn’t make them any easier, but I am guilty of that myself at least daily. I am not to worry about my entertainment, but rather focus on what my Lord would have me do each moment. That will include times of rest and relaxation, but that is not to be my focus. My schedule is pretty unstructured for the next several months. I am not to waste this time but make the full use of it that God intends, so that as His agent I may do His will consistently, for His glory.

Father, thank You for waking me up this morning and calling me to Yourself. Help me stay focused on You and Your purposes for me, not allowing myself to be drawn away by all the distractions. You are doing good things here, and some of them need to be in me. May I not resist, but cooperate fully, allowing You to do in and through me all that You desire, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

November 1, 2016

Posted on November 2, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 6:2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.”

This is a famous incident, and at first glance it might seem to violate something Jesus said: “But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:26-27) The thing is, the apostles weren’t declining to serve, they were simply recognizing priorities and differing ministries. As Moses had to learn, it is very poor practice for leadership to try to do everything. (Exodus 18:13-26) Not only is the leader worn out, others are deprived of the opportunity to grow through service. At least two of the seven chosen at this point went on to stellar service, and not just waiting tables! Stephen was the first martyr, and Philip served mightily as an evangelist. The thing is, the apostles were not demanding that others serve them, they were simply saying that there was more to be done than they alone could do, and others needed to get in on the act.

This is a touchy point for me. I am gifted very broadly, so there are a lot of different things I can do, and in a church this small it is often hard to find anyone else to do them. However, it has been a problem that too often I have felt others couldn’t do things as well as I could, so I never gave them the opportunity to grow into that ministry. The same thing applies to my wife. There are lots of things that if we didn’t do them, they wouldn’t get done. There is always the question of whether they really need to be done, and the jury is still out on a number of things. We’ve recently ordained an assistant pastor, but like me he has to hold down a secular job, and there are a number of things that are relatively simple for me that seem very difficult for him, particularly involving computers. The most attractive answer would be for the church to grow quickly in numbers, with people of all sorts of abilities, and to be able to delegate all sorts of things. However, that’s in God’s hands. The assistant pastor is active in social media, which I’m not, so that is an area I feel we are to pursue. That could well be the key to growth in numbers! In any case, my first priority must be seeking God and listening obediently to Him, and after that, to doing each thing He tells me and letting others do what He has for them.

Father, I feel this has been a weak point of my ministry all along. I ask for Your wisdom and guidance, that I would not let pride get in the way of what You want to do, so that the Body of Christ may be built up as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments