I was browsing through various web pages looking at the news when I came across this opinion piece on the NY Times homepage. The title of the op-ed was "Congregations Gone Wild" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/opinion/08macdonald.html?_r=1&hp). The NY Times does not give a whole lot of attention to matters of the church so my curiosity was piqued. I chose to ignore the provocative inference in the title and see what the writer was talking about.
The first sentence is "THE American clergy is suffering from burnout, several new studies show." Now I was really interested!
The article goes on to talk about the challenges of reaching an America that is more and more skeptical toward faith. That sounds about right. What's more, Pastor's are apparently burning out trying to keep up with the latest fads in communications and technology in order to entertain their congregations. That also sounds about right.
We need to get back to the basics. Our churches need to be focused on glorifying God and discipling believers. The key is God honoring and Bible focused. There's nothing wrong with doing things with excellence, but the packaging is far less important than the content.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Free to Serve
Late last week my Blackberry failed for the 4th time. Since I had several hours of "free" time while waiting for my phone to get fixed I decided to walk into the used bookstore. I was thrilled to find a $5.00 copy of the 700 page autobiography of Billy Graham's life and ministry called "Just as I am".
I'll confess that I haven't finished the book yet, but have thoroughly enjoyed everything so far. One of the things that I've noticed in reading the book is the relative freedom that Graham feels to serve the Lord as he is given opportunity. At the same time there doesn't seem to be any question that Graham is following God's call for his life.
There is an interconnected relationship between doing what you love and doing what God has made you to do.
Sometimes I see people become so anxious about making the right choice that opportunities for ministry pass them by. If you move outside the will of God He will work to move you back, otherwise enjoy the freedom to serve God by doing what you love to do.
- Aaron
I'll confess that I haven't finished the book yet, but have thoroughly enjoyed everything so far. One of the things that I've noticed in reading the book is the relative freedom that Graham feels to serve the Lord as he is given opportunity. At the same time there doesn't seem to be any question that Graham is following God's call for his life.
There is an interconnected relationship between doing what you love and doing what God has made you to do.
Sometimes I see people become so anxious about making the right choice that opportunities for ministry pass them by. If you move outside the will of God He will work to move you back, otherwise enjoy the freedom to serve God by doing what you love to do.
- Aaron
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