Saturday, June 30, 2007

Evan All...Well maybe not so.

I did not see the movie, even though I am a HUGE fan of Steve Carrol in The Office. I just hate the fact that Hollywood thought that this would be something that Christians would like. Unfortunately, the mighty flop may scare movie makers from making movies that appeal to believers. I hope not. I hope that the lesson will be learned that Christians do not wear their beliefs lightly and a movie that trivializes faith and makes light of God or the severity of the flood is not something we will flock to see. Please understand me, I do wish for more Christian movies. I think that the formula has to gel, but there is a strong market just waiting to be tapped. FOX has a great review here.

Bloggers Choice

So, July is a funky time around the corners. So many of you are on vacation that I refuse to teach a sermon series that will be disjointed and only half will hear. So here is the plan. In July we will have individual messages. That's right folks! You heard it here first! Now to top things off I will give you, the reader, the first dibs on suggesting topics for us to cover on July 15th & 22nd. No rules, just send me your thoughts and ideas for messages and we will post the winners here. We will open this up to the whole church on Sunday, so you Saturday readers will get first crack. Just email me at pastor@cbclife.net Then be sure to attend on those Sundays or if you are vacating then tune into the podcast to hear your topic. Have fun, but only serious sermon topics will be preached!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

thoughts on pastoral transition

I've not blogged much this week, and for that I am sorry. But I am working on a message for a pastor's meeting coming up and thought I would take one of the rabbit trails that I hope to avoid on July 9th here.

I am a big advocate for church planting. New churches have the opportunity to identify with the culture right from the start. A planter will come into a community, identify a subculture and begin a church designed specifically for the people of that community. This is why I believe that new churches usually grow faster and win more lost than long established. They are not weighed down by years of "history" and "tradition." They are free to meet people where they are without much resistance. However, I have come to understand that the same thing tends to take place when a church is seeking a new pastor. Yes, there will always be the crowd that wishes to remain in the "glory" years, but to find a new pastor with the same stance as before is nigh to impossible and as a natural result that church is forced to adapt. Therefore with each new pastorate, the church changes, and each time it realigns, it moves closer to its community. This is probably most notable in an area where the neighborhood around the church has changed. The DNA of that church changes ever so slightly and the church also changes, it adapts to better suit the present membership. Please do not take his the wrong way, I am in no way endorsing church hopping by pastor or pew, but just wanted to point out a positive benefit of pastoral transition.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Sunday Reflections

What a great day! I won't go into too much detail, but it has been our best June yet. All of the numbers were good, but that is such a poor judge of what God is doing. The first service was comfortably full, and the second service was full. The worship was great as always, and I actually was so caught up in the singing that I was late to come on stage to preach! Most important we had two men accept Christ as Savior yesterday. I am always amazed that God entrusts our church with people who need Him. I pray that we will always remain focused and keep the MAIN thing the main thing. I also received this in an encouraging email from a new family that has been visiting. I will make it anonymous, as I don't have permission to say who wrote it:





Last Easter when [my husband] wanted to go to Church, I told him I would go to any church he wanted to go to. When he said he wanted to go to the one that met at our children's school, I agreed. The idea that I was to be visiting a REAL church for the first time was a little scary. I was hoping that this church was going to be sending the message that I was needing to here from a church. The message being so clear today when you said "it is not the building that makes a church but the people and their love for GOD."
Today when you spoke of these pastors asking you if you still meet in a school it reconfirmed why I wanted to stay clear of a church. It is sad that they have forgot what message they are supposed to be delivering. Next time they ask you if your stilling meeting in the school say YES (with a great big smile) and it is the most beautiful church you will ever see.