Pastor George

I Love My Church....Really?

2011-06-10T23:01:00.005-04:00

As I sit down to write this blog I am reminded of some of the things that people say without ever realizing that what they are saying may not have any meaning at all. (I know, run on sentence..its okay its my blog) I draw this conclusion from a post I read recently on a popular social media site. This poster was commenting on all of the name calling and backbiting that goes on in the church. She then follows this up with the statement "I love my church" and then gives the name of a local congregation. Now as catchy as that phrase may seem it is not only wrong its divisive. How so you may ask...good question. If the Bible is true, and we believe that it is, then there is only one church, the church of Jesus Christ, and all believers are members of that one church. So I guess technically Jesus could say I love my church and He does say that all the time. We on the other hand would have to say I love THE church. This however would not be as good of a marketing tool because now we are referring to the Body of Christ and not our favorite local expression of that body.( are you with me so far?) To continue in this vein if we are criticising one part of the body and then saying how much we love our little corner of the body we are therefore thinking that the congregation that we regularly attend is somehow superior to the congregation that others might attend. To go one step further if for any reason one was to think that "those things" aren't going on in my local expression of the body then that person is either a very new Christian or among the believers that zip in on Saturday night or Sunday morning for their weekly fill up of righteousness and then goes right back out to the world as they know it and chooses not to get involved with the life of the church and all those who make up the body. The body of Christ is made up of people, good people, good people doing their level best to follow Jesus. People are flawed, I know I am one, you are one! Will there be dissension in the church? Yes, Paul wrote about it in his letter to the Corinthians. Are there problems in the church? Yes, and they manifest themselves in every congregation no matter how large or how small. (yes even yours). Will being critical of other members of His body ever be profitable, you tell me. But I do believe that we all should be striving to be the body of believers Paul was calling us to in Ephesians chapter 4:13-15. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that writing this is going to get any body to stop saying "I love my church" but my purpose is to try to get you to think about what you are saying. And even if you are not saying it yet maybe we can begin thinking "I love THE Church".

PG

Time to start writing again

2011-04-30T23:01:00.007-04:00

So, its been about two years since I wrote a blog. Life is funny like that. You get started on something and everything else in the world gets in the way. So much has happened in my world since the last post that I don"t even have time to go into it right now. Most of you that will get the automatic update of this post already know the magnitude of the life changing event and loss that I am now dealing with. I am hoping to journal some of the thoughts and feelings that I am experiencing as I go through the process of mourning the death of my beautiful bride of 30 years. I am not attempting to journal in any order of time line or of importance, but will be relating things as I see them and as I deem it appropriate to write about them. Some of the things I have been observing are not directly related to Barbara's passing but I think my current frame of mind is bringing out some aspects of life that I really wasn't seeing before. I also have a lot more time on my hands to think and ponder some of these things.

Family and friends are never to be taken for granted. Nor should we ever take tomorrow for granted. I have learned in the most devastating way that we are not promised a tomorrow here on Earth no matter what your theology is.

Never miss the opportunity to tell someone you love that you love them. Never assume that they know it and it doesn't have to be said. Say it!!!

I was told by my mentor in the Lord, a man much wiser than I that "our theology stinks, we don't really know God". As a student of the Bible, and a teacher of the same I have to say I couldn't agree more.

If given the choice to go to work or take the day off to join your grandchildren at the zoo.... make the right choice!

If you are a Mom with pre-school age children at home.... learn to do with less if you have to so that you can spend your time at home raising your own children. having money to buy more things is not an acceptable motivation to having someone else raise your children.

As you can see lots of thoughts in my head.. more to come, too late now. please let anyone that might be interested in these writings know where to find them..

His love through me,

PG

What are you doing with what you have?

2009-05-17T22:33:00.002-04:00

You have been given so much from The Lord. Even if you don't know Jesus it stills remains true that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights (James 1:17) Why does He give all these gifts to us? First of all because He loves us with an unconditional love and like any good loving parent He desires for His children to have good things and to be blessed. Another reason is for us to take the things, gifts and talents that He gives us and use them to be a blessing to others. If we are to only be receivers and not givers we become a stagnant pool where nothing flows, nothing grows and everything stinks. So freshen up and begin to let the blessings flow through you to those you know who are in need of the very things that God has given you in abundance...... Let the river flow!!!!

Noah; preacher without a hearer

2009-03-08T21:42:00.003-04:00

God told Noah to build an ark. You see there was a storm coming and no one else in the world had any idea. Only Noah, why? because Noah was the only one with an intimate relationship with God. Noah spoke to God and heard from God. So what about every body else? The Bible tells us that every thought and intent of the people on the Earth was of evil continually. These folks weren't listening to the voice of God. So Noah began to build the boat, he worked on it with his sons for 100 years but he also did something else during that time. The Bible in II Peter 2:5 says that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Who was he preaching to? Certainly not the animals!! Noah was preaching to all those that were watching him build the ark, all those who kept going on with there lives not wanting to here about a good God that wanted to bless and save them, all those who didn't want to here about the coming storm. II Peter 3:9 says that God is willing that none should perish, but that all should come to that place of repentance when we turn from the things of this world and from wanting to do everything our way and we turn to God and His plan.
If there is a storm coming (and there may be) we want to be the ones that are close enough to God that we here when He begins to tell of the way to go through the storm and the preparations that may have to be made. Hear God and preach what He tells you. Noah preached at least 100 years without a single convert but he stayed true and faithful to his calling we, like Noah, are among those doing the same. Keep up the good works.

Perfection?

2009-03-03T06:06:00.003-05:00

After spending some time thinking about Sunday's message which spoke of stewardship of the "times" but a message in which I shared a dream that I had three or four times on Saturday night. A dream concerning myself working on a tile floor and as I prepared to set the tile I realised that no one had told me what size or shape the tiles were so I could not lay the grid pattern out ahead of time as all tile layers like to do. Then when the tile did finally arrive it was a pallet of broken shattered pieces. My first reaction was "what am I supposed to do with these?" then, just as quick, I knew exactly what to do and I began to take all the broken tiles and build them into a beautiful mosaic. The interpretation seemed clear enough; first; when we come to God it is our brokenness that He can work with best. That brokenness is the place where we know we need Him and without Him we can do nothing (nothing of lasting value anyway) it is in this state that He the master potter and planner can begin to fit us in to the beautiful mosaic of the Kingdom where we then begin to find our wholeness. Second; as a pastor we can sometimes think that if the Lord would just send us a whole pallet of nice square or rectangle tiles than we could really plan ahead because after all then we would know just what the finished product would look like. This however is not the case nor is it God's plan He has purposed that we should be in the position with tolls in hand ready to set the tiles (of course all tile work is done on your knees) and as he sends in the ones that He desires to be a part we imitate the Father and place them into His mosaic and plan. If you are one that is waiting to become a nice neat square tile before you turn yourself over to God or if you think He is waiting for you to become that then your wait is over!!!! I have good news for you... You will never make it on your own!!! How is that good news?? If you were trying to push a truck up a hill because it had to get there how relieved would you be if a team of twenty others showed up and said"we have been sent to help you get this truck up the hill" wouldn't you be relieved? wouldn't that be good news?? Well you don't have to worry about being perfect to come to God, the place He has for you in the plan is an opening shaped like you the way you really are, the more you try to make yourself something your not the longer it will be till you get placed in you spot in the mosaic. So come on put yourself in the hand of the master planner let Him place you in that spot so that you can be part of making the Kingdom beautiful, besides there is a vacant spot where you belong and the rest of us miss you.

Try to remember this thought: Perfection is an attitude of the heart, not a product of performance.

PG

Where are we going?

2009-02-20T21:36:00.002-05:00

Proverbs 20:24 says "A man's steps are directed by the Lord, how then can anyone understand his own way?" This is a great question for us to be asking ourselves. How can I know my own way? God has a set plan for your life and He would love to see you following that plan on a daily basis and many are doing that and the results are outstanding. But for the rest of us the opportunity to follow after God's will at every turn seems to be more of a challenge than at first expected. Too often we insist that we know our own way. This of course isn't true or the Bible would be wrong (when it comes to either you or the Bible being wrong always take the low road and change your position or opinion). Every day and maybe several times a day we have the choice to either do it God's way or just assume that we know what to do. If you are talking with the Father on a regular ongoing basis and you are in the Word then you will know what to do, not because of what you know but because of who you know. The answer to the question in the proverb is why would we want to know our own way when we can have full knowledge and understanding of the way that He has planned for us. Follow Him.

Count the hours

2009-02-16T06:24:00.002-05:00

We discussed yesterday morning that there are only 168 hours in the week. If you sleep an average of 7 hours a night that leaves 119. Allowing 2 hours a day to eat(something that most of us find important) you are now down to 105. And supposing you work a 40 hour week (not including commute) this puts your total of discretionary hours at about 65. This is all said just in case you think that you have plenty of time to do all the things your thinking of, not to mention all the things that God has planned for you. Lets look further into the shrinking hours; how about daily prayer time, time to read the Word, time to spend with family, time to spend with your church family(don't have a church family? this would be a great time to find one, the support that you get from a group of believers that are following the Lord is a great blessing and encouragement as you go through this life), and then there are daily chores and activities that have to be done and don't forget exercise(skipping the elevator and taking the stairs does not count as a step class). As we continue our discussions on stewardship we can see that the number of hours that we have been given is limited but the availability of guidance from the Lord as to how to spend each hour is unlimited. Spend some of that precious time today seeking God and asking Him just how He would like you to spend your time, ask how what you are doing fits into His plan for your life. God has a plan for every day of your life and His plan involves you being successful, prosperous and full of hope(Jeremiah 29:11). When you begin to seek His help in planning out your time you will find that not only will you achieve all that you set out to do but that when the next 168 hours stars you won't be wondering where the time went but will be rested, refreshed and ready to meet the coming week head on with joy and expectation.
PG

First Post

2009-02-15T07:40:00.003-05:00

This is a new communication format for me and it is one that I hope will be an encouragement to all who read it. I will be discussing things related to the Word of God and to living the abundant life that Jesus promised us. As we bring the Word at our services each week I will give a recap and some futher insights as The Lord leads.