I had the privilege of preaching on Sunday morning in the Sunrise Service here at Central Community. You can hear this message - and see/hear many others by Pastor John and other pastors here.
Actually, this quote was from a few weeks ago: "I didn't know you were a pastor. I just thought you were someone being nice." The woman who said it is genuinely kind - and I know she meant it in the very best way. The situation to which she referred concerned a pastor who helped her on her first Sunday get her kids to their Sunday School Classes. However, it got me thinking. Expectations of a pastor can be low. We're too busy to care. Or, in a more fair fashion, we have a lot on our plates and can't be bothered with something that the volunteers should be doing. Especially, on Sunday morning. Being nice - even in church - is an anomaly to some. Lord, help us (all of us) to never be too busy to act in mercy and grace. Fill us with a desire - indeed, a passion - to help. What do you think?
I did not coin that phrase. I got it from Kathy Guy, Director of Community at Granger Community Church . Nearly all who attend church are Steppers - that is, they are taking steps toward Christ. However, there can be, regrettably, those who stalk the Steppers. Church security has become a big deal. Look no further than the recent headlines in Tennessee and Colorado Springs for tragedies among the trusting. Difficult decisions need to be made as we seek to balance Christ's mandate to be innocent and shrewd with regard to the ungodly. I am meeting with a very experienced volunteer who continues to help the staff, me, and the rest of the church understand what we need to do to encourage as much "stepping" toward Christ while repelling those with ill intent toward the Steppers. There will be more postings on this as we learn more. Until then, we pray for God's continuous protection and guidance so that we enable the steppers as we protect them too.
I have received a few "anonymous" comments to this blog since starting it over 6 months ago. Usually, they are read and ignored because I feel that if someone isn't willing to own up to what they have to say, then it must not be very important. However, I received one today and decided to answer one of his/her questions. When I worked at Hewlett Packard, we would have occasional "coffee talks". These were large meetings of an organization where some planned topics would be discussed before the leader of the meeting would often ask, "what rumors have you heard that I can refute or validate?" So, in that spirit of openness, I will attempt to answer one of these questions. "Is the Church in Trouble? " This depends. I capitalized the word, Church, as the question was written. So, I will give two answers: one for the global Church and the other for the local church (Central Community). The global Church. If being "in trouble" means that ...
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