Blatantly stolen from the imonk...

Imonk posted this on his twitter. I've spent the last year and a half in this church. There's wisdom here.

"Churches that announce Satan hates them and God really likes everything they do = Humility Fail"

Second verse, same as the first

I guess it's time to dust off the old "Rules for Church Visitation" and put them into play...again. I've always wondered how people could "church hop." Now I know. I honestly have no desire to step a toe into a church for a good long while. However, I'm going to do as I've always advised others and go...because The Word says to (kindof.) I'm hoping being obedient will bring back my spark and my fervor for the Lord and His Word.

Things that make you go hmmmmm

I came across this quote today and it struck me. I thought I'd share it with you and see what you think:

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." - Steven Weinberg

Modern Day Prophets Part 2

Prophet Sharing, Part Two
by Charles R. Swindoll
Romans 10:13-14
Are you what we might call a modern-day prophet, a tomorrow-thinker in a world of yesterday-dwellers? Or do you know somebody like that? Though often unpopular and unthanked, these people perform a vital role in society. They look at the future and issue precious warnings.
A legend dated around AD 89 states that the apostle John lost the first transcription of his apocalyptic vision. The account was preserved only by word of mouth, since the document was lost during the persecution of Domitian. In it a fifth horseman emerged. This rider actually led the other four, says the legend. You remember the other four: War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death. As the lead rider became nauseated by the deeds of his fellows, he pressed far ahead of them. He entered every village, every city, with a great cry and terrifying predictions. To the rulers of each place he warned of those who came hard behind him, and as proof, he showed them the blood on his own horse's hooves. Then, as always, he went on, for his urgency was great.
Behind him citizens fell into profound arguments. Some called him a liar. They said the blood was that of goats, not humans. Others considered him insane . . . and a few claimed he had not passed that way at all; they merely imagined him there. Theological, philosophical, and political debate abounded. In the end, no one said, "A prophet has been among us," so his warnings did not prevail. The four horsemen ultimately arrived, and as predicted, slew their three times tens of thousands.
Meanwhile, the legendary fifth horseman came to the outermost reaches of the earth and turned about, satisfied with his work. However, as he revisited one city after another---all now destroyed and desolate---he realized nothing he had said had made one bit of difference. Unrepentant, arrogant, indifferent, and disobedient, they had refused to act upon the truth they had been told. The legend concludes with the fifth horseman rejoining his companions. Together they slew all mankind and destroyed their cities.
And the identity of him who led? The name of him who warned, according to the legend?
Reality.

Excerpted from Come Before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.

Modern Day Prophets

I got this in my mailbox today from a dear friend who knows my spiritual gifting, personality and some of my struggles. This is a good read from Swindoll. It comes from his "Insight for Today" and I assume that I have permission to reprint it becasue he emails it out to lots of folks. Modern day Prophets are forth tellers as opposed to fore-tellers...not Old testament Prophets. If you're reading this blog, you know at least one here's a good little lesson:

May 29, 2009
Prophet Sharing, Part Oneby Charles R. Swindoll
Amos 3:7-8
Have you noticed? Some people have the uncanny ability to see so far into tomorrow, you feel like you're operating in the shadows of yesterday. While you and I are evaluating where we've been, those forward-thinking people are forever exploring where we're going. Instead of reacting, they're on the offense . . . probing, innovating, analyzing, and warning---always warning. While we search for ways to settle in and find comfort on our sofa-like surroundings, they are confronting the consequences of reality, facing the music before we even realize the prelude has begun.
Prophets, I suppose we could call them . . . seers who frown while others yawn . . . restless, troubled, contemplative souls. They're not unlike the characters in a thought-jabbing cartoon published years ago. The whole message is contained in a single frame as the figures of a man and a woman are falling upside down through space.
"Gertrude," says the man, "we can't go on living like this!"
Those who slumber in the sleepy, warm twilight of sundown, finding a great deal of security in the mediocrity and predictability of sameness, cannot bring themselves to see either potential danger or possible tragedy. But those who see their world adrift, moving all too rapidly toward a bleak and disastrous dawn, shout across the chasm of complacency, "We can't go on living like this!"
Perhaps they are not upside down after all. They just seem that way. Thinking ahead keeps them topsy-turvy in their heads. While chatty, laughing tourists are taking snapshots of the lowlands with rose-colored filters, those lean, tough-minded climbers have scaled the rugged peaks. It gives them a stark view of what's ahead. Tomorrow's storm keeps them from enjoying today's lull. They're hard to live with, sometimes impossible to understand.
Robert Greenleaf, in his classic book Servant Leadership, recalls a story which grew out of Beethoven's composition, the C# Minor Quartet, Opus 131. When first played in the composer's lifetime, it appeared to be unlike anything the master had ever written before. "Ludwig," a friend asked, "what has happened? We don't understand you anymore." It is reported that Beethoven, with a sigh, replied, "I have said all that I have to say to my contemporaries; now I am speaking to the future."
If you are one of those seers, a tomorrow-thinker in a world of yesterday-dwellers, take heart. Realize that you must be true to yourself. While you may not be applauded for your warnings, you will be rewarded for your efforts. Just be patient with those who lack your zest and zeal. Say your piece, make your contribution, shout, if you must . . . but keep in mind that prophets were seldom heeded, rarely thanked, and never popular.
We'll talk more about this topic tomorrow.

Excerpted from Come Before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.

Dainty Hymnal Sniffing Live Christmas Tree Singer

If you've taken one too many spiritual gifts inventories (SGI) and you don't feel the SGI makers understand you, I assure you this will be the last inventory you ever need. My shero, Stacy from Louisville has made the definitive guide and all you need to know are your initials.

http://stacyfromlouisville.blogspot.com/2009/05/stacy-from-louisville-get-off-your-duff.html

The above was my calling before I got married. Mr. Perfect says it just about sums me up. My married calling is: Dainty Casserole Burning Hymn Yodeler. I think this is perfect and I don't even have to do much work to get there. Just got to work on the "dainty" part. What? Stop laughing! I can too be dainty!

God has reminded me today....

God has reminded me today that the same grace and forgiveness that I desire to receive from others when I fall or fail, I must offer to others when they fall or fail. None of us are perfect. We're sinners saved by grace. I never forget that I want to be given a lot of room for mistakes and I want a large learning curve. I often forget that others are plodding along also and require the same room for mistakes and need the same learning curve.
Why God chooses to use humans to accomplish His work is beyond me, but I'm grateful that he does. If I were Him, I'd be done with us and I would have gone on and let the rocks cry out.
I am thankful for forgiveness. I'm thankful for imperfect men in scripture like Peter, Paul and David. I know God loved them, forgave them and used them mightily. I hope to be used of God in some small way to make a difference here on Earth. I find that the more I learn, the less I know.

In the interest of the grace and forgiveness message of this post, I'm not going to put any person on notice. However, the world press is not a person. So, I'm putting the hysterical press of the entire world ON NOTICE for attempting to create a world panic over the Swine Flu (H1N1 virus) causing unnecessary worries. The flu is dangerous and this appears to be no more dangerous than the generic flu... but I forgive you. Now stop it.

Church discipline...Oh my!

Church discipline has always been an interesting idea for me. Churches used to be very serious about it. I remember the first time I read about the punishment stool used for members under discipline. I thought, "I'm not showing up to church to sit on the naughty stool and wear a dunce hat or whatever...who does that???"

I know several people who've been disciplined by their modern church. In every instance they've been tossed out of their church without any of the Matthew 18 protocol attempted. They've all been guilty of the same offense, disagreeing with their Pastor. In every instance I have personal knowledge of, the Pastor just punted them. There was never a chance of reconciliation. I have personally disagreed with my Pastors several times over the years. I've always tried to be very respectful to the person who is my spiritual leader. On at least one occasion I failed, and was shown love and mercy...not a punt. So while, I totally understand biblical discipline, I haven't seen it well done. I think for the most part, it is not done...especially not for biblical reasons.

This new series of posts being done by the iMonk should be interesting. I don't know where he's going with it, but I'm interested and I thought you might be too.

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/where-is-church-discipline-when-you-need-it-part-1-a-better-approach

Rants...Easter Circus...rant...regenerate membership

You know I've been concerned about the state of the church for a long time. I've written about it very vaguely and not specifically because there are a lot of places you can read about statistics and churchy stuff and if you look at what is happening to some of our denominations, you might be surprised. I don't get into theology and doctrine here because there are so many others out there doing a great job of it. Trust me, while I love this stuff, I'm not qualified to be a "theology" blogger. I'm a "question-asking-tell-it-like-it-is, strong-warrior-woman, stream-of-consciousness-blogger for Jesus." I don't think this makes me worthless to the kingdom. I am about as conservative in my understanding on women in ministry as you can get, or so I thought. More on that a little later.



***Note: I'm going to talk to the church here. If you're not a member of "the body" I'm going to politely ask you to close your eyes and hit the X . Thank you. I'm talking about the "SBC church universal" not necessarily my local church, so if you are reading this and getting huffy, ask yourself if your local body could be a bit guilty. The SBC is all I know, so I can only speak on it and not other denominations. Some of them go too far the other way. There is also much more good than bad, I believe, but this isn't a post about the good. But I defend them, ask anyone.***



Mr.Perfect is constantly telling me that just because I have something to say doesn't mean anyone wants to hear it. He's right 99.3% of the time (the other .7% is when he disagrees with me.) So I've been making a concerted effort to keep the majority of my concerns to myself. I think this is giving me an ulcer, and making me cranky and frowny. I never know who reads this so I have in the past been very careful what I say so as not to offend anyone. If you know me well, you know that offending people is one of my spiritual gifts (I'm kidding, don't get offended.) It is never my intention to offend anyone but sometimes being "plain-spoken" is offensive. I think being purposely offensive and mean is wrong. So I am truly not trying to offend you but I think the following needs to be said. I was hoping someone else would say it for me, but it looks like it's gonna be me. (Of course.)



CHURCH, FOR REALS? WAKE UP!

1) We seem to be mostly concerned with how many butts are in the seats and on the rolls. The Southern Baptist Church (my people) are very proud that they are a body of churches with a regenerate membership, yet many of those believers can't be found. We keep them on the rolls forever, whether we've seen them in 20 years or not. Some of them we see the day we dunk 'em and not again until we plant 'em. This keeps our numbers up. Does Jesus care if we are the largest denomination? We like to make mega-churches that are full of pastor worshipping people. Because some of our churches are personality driven, not Word driven, we can have a dunk 'em and ditch 'em mentality. The thought at those churches is that there is no need for discipleship other than the preaching because a) only the pastor can be trusted to know the Word well enough to teach it and b) we can't ask people to give their time to come to church and learn the Word, they are too busy these days. I call foul!



2) We call ourselves New Testament churches. The New Testament church (correct me if I'm wrong) was a church of believers. It was a tough time for believers, but the church (body not fabulous building) was their home. We've become more concerned with being sure that the unbeliever is at home and comfortable in our buildings than making a home of any kind for believers. The unbeliever should always be welcome (not in leadership...I can't believe I have to mention that) but never comfortable! If I hear one more time that the church is "a haven (or hospital) for sinners NOT a home for saints" my head just might explode!!



3) The Holy Spirit doesn't need us to throw a circus for Him to be able to do His job. Did your church have a (figurative) circus for Easter? Did you hire (figurative) clowns and(figurative) tight rope walkers to come? Did you have the Easter bunny come out and hide eggs so that the "lost" will come and bring their children... so then you can sneak up behind them with a pool of water and dunk em? OK, admittedly that's a little extreme. But how far is too far? Is paying $100 to the church member who brings the most visitors going too far? Is giving a gift to everyone who comes to your church going to far? Is paying people $10 per hour to attend your church going too far? I wonder how churches survived before they discovered the "seeker" model?



4) Women are precious to Jesus. They seem to be less precious as leaders to the SBC. I don't believe women should be pastors. I feel the Word is clear about that. I struggled with having a woman as worship leader and one of my dearest friends is one...kind of. Because she's in a SBC church, she does all the work of a worship leader. She has more musical talent than the rest of her church all combined, but she isn't allowed to be called staff or even have the title "Worship Leader." Her ministry has no input when plans are being shaped. She has a whole lot of responsibility but no authority. Men in her position are staff.



5) No one ministers to women like another woman. I believe that it is a very specific and God-called ministry. In the past 14 years this is where I spent the majority of my time. I've noticed a trend. If you feel God has called you to be a Women's Ministry Leader and your husband is not in ministry you will likely have a hard time. I suppose God only calls people to ministry in pairs. I've witnessed this several times now personally and so I did a little research. There is a feeling among some Pastors that only women who have a "quiet and gentle spirit" are fit to serve. I wonder if this is because if you're a meek and mild mouse you will just do as told and not make any waves or ask any questions? If you are a "question-asking-tell-it-like-it-is, strong-warrior woman for Jesus" you may be feeling like a heathen headed for hell because of your personality. This has been true for me, but it's also true for many others. Jesus sure seemed to have a different attitude toward women than many churches.



I have more to say, but this seems like a good stopping point. If you're offended, please leave me a comment and give me some insight. I'd love to have some understanding of the "why" or some scriptural backup for any of it. I'm that cranky old man and I'm tired of all this junk on my lawn! And, reluctantly, because of all this and the fact that being frowny makes wrinkles, I must put my beloved SBC ON NOTICE! (I'm sure other denominations are on notice too, but I don't have first hand knowledge and this was family business.)

Is America a Christian Nation?

I'm asking the question because it's in the news today. Our President (who's ON NOTICE with me, you might remember) is in Turkey, a Muslim nation, telling them that we are NOT a Christian Nation. " And I've said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is -- although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/04/obama_and_president_gul_of_tur.html


This quote is from a Newsweek article that came out Saturday
"It was a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. But as R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the largest on earth—read over the document after its release in March, he was struck by a single sentence. For a believer like Mohler—a starched, unflinchingly conservative Christian, steeped in the theology of his particular province of the faith, devoted to producing ministers who will preach the inerrancy of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal life—the central news of the survey was troubling enough: the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent. Then came the point he could not get out of his mind: while the unaffiliated have historically been concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, the report said, "this pattern has now changed, and the Northeast emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified." As Mohler saw it, the historic foundation of America's religious culture was cracking." http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583

I believe that we are a country founded on Judeo-Christian principles. I believe we have been in the past and are now a Christian Nation. I believe that we need to do all we can to hold on to that before we are just a country who used to be a Christian nation before we became "enlightened." This does not mean I believe we should be a theocracy. Evangelism, anyone? What do you think?