What if we acted like we say we believe

There is a phenomena in the church today that is quite disconcerting, has in fact been that way for many years.  I wish I could say that I was not part of the machine that is the church proper, but lets face it having been in ministry for 16 years prior means that I was part of the problem not the solution. 

Here's the thing.  Churches in general have things in their mission statments, here are some examples:

At Riverside Community Church we're not about "having it all together" or even pretending we do. We're just a family trying to grow together toward a God who knows us and can help us put all the pieces of this sometimes bizzare world into perspective. We may not have all the answers but we know someone who does. In fact He not only knows the answers...He made up the questions.

First Church especially focuses upon those who are seeking a "new beginning," and those who want to become more "Christlike," and want to learn more about living a "holy life," and for those who are yearning to grow in "love and compassion," and the building of "family relationships."

We exist to develop fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ by reaching seekers, building believers and equipping God's people to impact the world.

• Heal the Whole Person


• Offer to Serve


• Promote Reconciliation


• Empower Others

The list goes on, there are also buzz words in the church but they mainly consist of the following.

Grace, Mercy, Acceptance, Restoration, Reconcilliation, Forgiveness.  Many churches want people to know that they are open to all people who are sick and hurting.  They open the doors to the world and invite them in, which is great.  However they seem to forget that we are all human, they seem to forget that the people in their churches, the ones already there may need those very things on occasion. 

Having been around the church all my life I notice a few things.  One of them is that those words in the above paragraph sound good they sound like the things that God wants from us, and they are, and we will offer them to people out there in a heart beat.  The other thing that I noticed is that there are sins that are okay and forgivable and there are sins that can never be forgiven. 

I guess the real issue is that if you have baggage then you can't possibly be of use.  Forget the fact that everyone has baggage even the people that are leading.  Forget the fact that Jesus told his disciples that you are to forgive 490 times.  We even forget the fact that Jesus was in the business of giving people second and third chances.  Remember the woman at the well.  He knew all about her failures and sins and mistakes and still he forgave her and used her to spread the word that Messiah had come. 

The church is great at forgiving and forgetting for the people outside the walls, but for the people inside well not so much.

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The Week in Review

This week finds me subbing at KTHS.  I enjoy doing this, it enables Zoey to get some much needed time with her school friends and lets me feel useful again.

Admittedly for me it's a struggle, all those tests, all those doctors visits and what I get out of it is that there are white lesions on my brain but not to worry about them.  I get told that I can reapply for my position at a company that seems to be on it's last legs after all the issues are squared away,  said issues include the medical stuff, oh wait the day they told me to re apply (read fired)  was the day the doctor released me back to work, and the car. Which is supposedly done but doesn't seem to be any closer to my parking space.  We ask for an invoice to show the amount of the parts and don't get it .   It's all over 500 bucks now but after paying 5000 plus I just have a hard time with that.  Still how much more will a lawyer charge?

The thing that gets me is, the head aches are not near as bad, sure I get them now and then but not nearly as often as I was.  I know that the job was a stressor, a huge one.  I know that we are not spending near as much on Gas as we were.  There are all sorts of reasons to be happy about not having to travel to PG county every day, at the same time I hate the fact that I am sitting without full time employment.  Anyway, God has shown me constantly that learning to say I don't know and help is what's important.  I don't know, and help.  It's actually quite liberating.

One of the cool things about this time off is that I am able to work on my book more.  those of you that read my blog at all may know that there is now a site up with the first chapter of Confessions of an angry youth pastor.  I put the first chapter up in stages.  I am going on ahead and putting up the second chapter in it's unedited entirety today.  Let me know what you think.  I am working on chapter three as well so don't sweat that.  I'll also be shooting a short story up in the next couple of weeks,  more of a introduction to a longer book I'm wanting to attempt.

Anyway if your into it and would like to check out chapter two go for it, also do me a favor and let me know what you think if you don't mind.  I"m shooting for at least 3000 words per chapter,  I am noticing that sometimes that's easier than others.  Ah well enjoy.