saved!

if you haven't seen the movie "saved!" you need to. before you do watch it though i want for you to keep an open mind. from my point of view it is how christians can be viewed by the world. it shows how some christians can have alot of zeal for God but unfortunately can look like idiots to those outside the church.

i wonder how christians are viewed. alot of people i know have been hurt by the church and/or individual christians and because of that their perception of God is different. they might call us hypocrites because we do not live by the teachings of Christ even though we do talk about those same teachings as being "the way." i wonder if christians portray themselves as righteous and holy or better than the unchurched, then the unchurched see that we (christians) are not to much different then they. they ask themselves what makes being a christian different, and therefore decide not to let themselves get mixed up in that.

that's why authenticy has taken a jump into the lead for christians. if we are upfront about the imperfections in our own life people will not see that infact we are just like them in many avenues of our life. people today want reality, that is why reality tv is bigger now than the drama or the sitcom. people see the imperfection on dr. phil, nanny 911, survivor, amazing race, etc. these shows never edit out the fighting couple or how their kids are out of control. people like seeing that because they can relate to it. these people are real.

if you are wondering what this post has to do with the movie "saved!" rent it, buy it, borrow it,dont steal it. just watch it you'll find out

different

my life has changed today. i am not sure yet if it is for better or for worse. however the change today resulted in something that ended yesterday. yesterday was the last day of the pastoral leadership of dan barton at greenville first. i still am questioning why. but i do know that it is for the best that dan did leave. i hope and pray for the barton family.

so today i started under jimmy wiggins. i mentioned him in my post a few weeks ago.
good guy. i like him. however i dont forsee working under him too long. i need to get out of here. i need to do something new. why do i feel like this? why do i desire to leave if everyone else wants me to stay?

i like sc, i like the district, i like jim, i like the youth pastors, i like the ds, i like the teens (wish i had more of them), i like the people in the church, i like most of the things equated with being here. however i want to leave. is there something wrong with this? am i the only person that feels this way? i want to be excited to go to work. i want to see lives change.

what about you? are you excited? are you seeing lives change? are you happy where you are and still want to leave? does it seem that you want to be somewhere else, when you are fine where you are?

another question to end the post? who, what, how, where and why are these desires in me? why do i want to go somewhere else? okay i know that is two question but hey it is my blog

vacation

hey this past week we had vacation in myrtle beach with the richardson side. it was fun. here is a list of what we did to make it so enjoyable.

eat
sleep
hit the beach
frisbee
football
go-karts
mini golf
ate some more food
took it easy

what good is a vacation if you arrive back home more tired then when you left?

this sunday

this sunday i am giving the congregation a pop quiz. have you ever tested your congregation before? most the time if the congregation is being tested by you they really do not know it. but sunday i will give them a test. it shouldnt be too hard. it is a four question multiple choice test, with no clear cut answers. (i wish when i was in school i had more tests like this.) here is the test.

1. What does your prayer sound like?
a. Lord, please help those sinners; they are so lost in the ways of the world.
b. Lord, help me to show love to this person that is hurting so much.
c. Lord, bring someone into my life to rescue me from all this hurt.
d. What is prayer?
2. What is your passion?
a. I desire to know everything that is written in the scriptures.
b. I desire to reach out to the adulterers, the homosexuals, the gluttons and legalists alike.
c. I desire to find out what love is.
d. That’s a fruit isn’t it?
3. How is your participation in church activities?
a. I go to church every time the doors are open.
b. I am never in the same church twice.
c. I have gone a couple times but never felt I fit in.
d. Our church has more than this Sunday service?
4. What are your priorities?
a. To show others their faults.
b. To show people love.
c. To feel acceptance.
d. None of the above

when first reading it, it is not that hard but the answers will reveal a little bit about your true self. now that you have taken the short test. here is what the result mean. the text is taken straight from john 8:1-11 and what you answered in the test will line you up from which group you fall in.

if your had more answers that are
a. Pharisees- A- You are a person who follows the law, or at least the law that you want.
b. Jesus- B- You are a person who looks out for others
c. Adulterous woman- do anything you can to find love
d. You might need some help
e. Scattered answers- where one is weak, there is always room for improvement.

i am a guy who was scattered. in most personality profiles i usually dont lean one way or the other. i am one with all kinds of issues.

hopefully this test will make you think.

a new pastor

the pastor i currently work with will officially be done with his pastoral duties at greenville first wesleyan on april 24th. i am sure it will be a sad day to see him go as he has taught me much about compassion, suffering and prayer. but everything on earth and earth for that matter are a season. a season comes and goes, changes and redirects things in our life. and as for the season of dan being the senior pastor will come to an end quickly.

the next season will prove to be a trying one for the church but definately a needed one. this church needs strong leadership to take us to the "next level," whatever that level may be. this church needs strong unity to bring its members together. this church needs counseling to convince themselves not to lose hope, not to leave when it becomes tough and to perservere. we are a church that is looking to find our identity. what sets us apart from the other 511 churches in the greenville area. ( yeah we are definately in the bible belt.) we need a pastor that is willing to love but also take a 2x4 and smack us around.

i believe the man coming into this position can do this. his name is jimmy wiggins, he will be our interim pastor for a period of 1-2 years to help us with all the things listed above. his credentials are missionary, pastor and ds of the south coastal district. in the short 3 times i have talked to him i already respect him and what he brings to our church. i think it has been a while since some people have been able to trust their pastor. jimmy will be the first in a while.

so as i look back over the past year of frustration, confusion and judgment i wonder what the futre will hold.

experiments

i like trying new things. i like taking chances, especially in ministry. let me tell you about an idea i had. how about a church service with no music? rather than music, the time would be filled with scripture readings and testimony.

what do you think? would it work?

well yesterday i was in charge of the service and it was a great time filled with community, encouragement, building one another up. it was kind of like the original christian church. (minus the whole being in a traditional sactuary rather the house church.) i felt people really connected and we grew together. rather than the routine of singing the songs. we were able to hear Christians talk about there struggles and the recent healing of cancer.

i talked to many people before hand and mentioned the idea to them. some responded, "that is what our church needs." others, "i like experiments and the change of pace." my mom gave the response to which i thought more would respond, "yuck."

like my mom the universal church today enjoys the music part of worship. music today is a huge part of our culture. any town you go to you can be sure there will be coffee shops and bars that if they dont have live music on the weekends they at least have music in the background. we have radios in our house, cars, work place. we even pay for radio without the advertisements. countless people make their living off of making music. you can be a dj, a vj, a producer, advertiser, own a recording studio, direct music videos. you could work for magazine as a journalist, editor. you could put together shows like behind the music or you could just play the cowbell.

music in our society has taken over. if you say you are a music lover then they ask you what type. the typical answer i hear is that i like everything except country, or maybe i will hear hip hop or rap. now when you give the answer rock, people want to know what type of rock is it new rock, classic rock, alternative rock, emo or punk rock.

anyways back to the service. it was great people enjoyed it and it was a great time to love and worship God without praise and worhip.

judging and legalism go hand in hand

we all do it. whats the problem? what is so wrong with looking at someone and thinking they are fat or pretty, dirty or nice figured, smelly or well dressed? well, it puts a label on them. and instead of looking at them in love like we should we think of them as fat or pretty, dirty or nice fugured, smelly or well dressed.

i have always struggled with judging. if not on one side then on the other. remember jr high, when our peers would judge based on the clothes you were wearing or what your hair looked like. well sometimes now as an adult i almost feel the same way. only now as an adult it has varied in the type of judging. we now judge based on whether or not this Christian decides it is okay to drink or dance. others judge on what occupation someone has chosen. jenny works at a behavioral health hospital (formerly known as an asylum or mental institution.) you should see the looks she receives from people when she tells someone where she works. some of the comments; "you work there, better you than me, well you are a better person than i." and that is just the comments that i give her.

adults judge a lot and as much as judging has changed has we grow older we sometimes stay where we have always been. some of the comments heard regularly in the church that i work are "hey he is not wearing his sunday best," "our youth pastor sure could use a hair cut," "we really need to pray for _________, they are experiencing a hard time with 'this issue'."

but now as i sit here and write to you about some things on how adults judge, i have just now judged these people in my church for judging others. judging is a trap that we can all be trapped in from time to time.

we need to look at each other as a child of Christ. that i believe is the bottom line.