Pastor's Thoughts

You have to do, what you have to do…

Net Pastor — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:17:05 +0000

I had no choice than to tell the congregation about the deacon that stepped down. You always have to be careful about how you bring things to the church. One has to tell the truth (that’s the way I always worked) but there are good ways and better ways to give information. I sat down with the deacon and asked him ‘how I should present this’. In doing so, the person participated in my telling the church and it safeguards me as a messenger. God works wonderfully because we were suppose to have a missionary that we support that Sunday morning. I felt bad having to tell the congregation after a missions report and even wondered if I should not delay for a week. I received a call from the missionary, he explained that he had overbooked and that he could not come that Sunday! God provided for a ‘normal’ Sunday so that Icould tell the people right away. After the last song I asked the people to stay for five minutes because I had a short info cession. All stayed and I had written a text (you always read a text because that stops you from diverting and saying things you should not) and simply explained what happened. There was no big commotion and nothing happened in the following week either. God gracious hand was upon us (again)

Its all over

Net Pastor — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:51:46 +0000

At our last church board meeting I talked about reviewing this past years work of the deacons – so that they will be accountable. It passed well except for one deacon. The same one that we had trouble with about a month ago. He really did not want to be accountable for his work. Saying that he does his ministry for Jesus…… I would not step down from my view of being accountable. I told the deacons that this would also be a good time for them to speak to me about my ministry. There was a deadlock, so I said that we have a problem. We all tried to get him to acknowledge that it wasen’t such a bad thing, that we find accountability all over in the Bible – but to no avail. I told him not to take a decision before a week, not to rush but to take time to think. The following Sunday I asked him to tell me after the meeting when we would meet, that I would like to talk to him. He left Church without giving me a date. He did not come in that evening (he usually does). He did not call me to give me a date when we could meet but he came to the church two days later. I was busy I could not receive him – so we made a rendez-vous for the next day. When we finally met we spoke for about an hour. He was very calm but had not changed his mind. So he resigned of all his functions. He was not mad or anything like that. He was very open and honest about not wanting to be evaluated. We prayed and shook hands – there was nothing I could do – his ears were not open. Later in prayer I thanked the Lord for the way things had worked out – God sometimes does things in surprising ways and this is one of them.

Sometimes you never know why.

Net Pastor — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 21:40:35 +0000

Sometimes you never know why things happen, but you understand better AFTER the fact. I received a call from a person I did not know, they were looking for a Minister for a funeral service. Although I did not know the people and that they lived about 50 miles away, I said “yes”. Two days before the funeral I had a flat tire on my way home and I noticed that all my tires were really in bad shape, they had a lot of milage on them. I thought that I would get some new ones down the road. When time came for the service, the weather was terrible and the traffic – bumper to bumper. It took almost two hours to get there and another two to come back. I was wondering why did these people chose me out of all the ministers around especially since I lived so far away. The funeral went well and I really took time to spread the Gospel. I was given an envelope with a warm “thank you so much”. Later when I opened it there was $500 in cash!!!! I just couldn’t believe it – that’s a lot of money. When I told my wife, she praised the Lord and reminded me that I had to buy four new tires and the Lord had provided….. She was absolutely right – Amen! Sometime you never know why somethings happen. Often its the Lord providing your needs through other people. There is also a lesson to learn: Never refuse to help people if you really can.

My ways are not your ways…

Net Pastor — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 02:46:29 +0000

AS it happens once in a while an important member of our life dies. A few days ago my car died out after many years of service. Its when you don’t have one that you realize how important a car really is. So I started to go “car hunting” on the net. Of course I prayed about it and asked Gods guidance. After spending many hours (there are thousands to chose from) and thinking of a budget for this expense I was ready. One one side was my flesh and on the other was my logic. I saw this beautiful old BMW (1988) and the price was inside my budget. The owned was also a “seller” without a fight his price went down and down… he needed the money to go back to school. I thought “why not” its not worth more than another second hand car anyways and I never ever had a BMW! On the other side there was my logic. Don’t buy it, what you need is a good diesel engin with all the milage you do. You’ll save a ton of money per year. At the wednesday night prayer meeting I showed the BMW to a friend, who really was God sent and he told me how he had owned one and explained to me the expenses, etc… He also pointed out that he wondered WHY I would want to buy it. What were my motives, my real ones! Well that struck a chord and I realized that it was more coveting than anything else. So I told him he was right and opted for the diesel. I went to check it out with my wife and it was a beauty but after trying it I didn’t really feel good about it. There was something wrong…. so I just said to myself: “That’s not for me.” So we went back home and once again I started looking on the net. What I didn’t know was that God was also in the picture and was working for me. My eyes fell upon this other car that had just been posted the same day. Great make, low millage and low price. So I called and made a rendez-vous for the next morning. Off we went and this time the car was just great. What was even better was that we had the opportunity to speak to the person selling it and he was very interested in the good news of the Gospel. He promised to come to hear what I had to say at church in a few weeks. You see although my flesh was disapointed with not having the BMW and my logic about not having the diesel, my spirit was very happy to see God work in my life and give me what I really needed and also bring the message of salvation to this man. My ways are not your ways says the Lord… Isaiah 55:8,9

Good old Saints…

Net Pastor — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:27:02 +0000

I replaced a friend (pastor) who was on vacation this week. I had the opportunity to preach at the church where he serves. Its not a big church, quite the opposite. A church in the country, which has been established for over 100 years. They still have the same building and when you walk in it is as though you pass through a “time warp”. There were not a lot of people present 20-25 people with a few kids. Almost all were over 60. When I was preaching it was like a sea of white “heads” looking at me. One thing that struck me was their smiles – most of them had great big grins on their faces. Their eyes were wide open as I preached from the “Good Book”. There was a person there that had been a member of the church for over 80 years! In front of me was a bunch of “Good old Saints”! They had seen a lot and lived a lot and were faithful through out the years. I hope that when I will be really old and wrinkled up, I also will be faithfull to the Lord as they seem to be.

How things change so rapidly

Net Pastor — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:56:58 +0000

I was very happy to see our deacon have a change of heart so rapidly. At prayer meeting he was all smiles and joking around – happy as could be. So thank you Lord for this change. But I know that I will have to be closer & encourage this person. Pastors are not only given to the congregation as a ‘whole’ but also to individuals.

We had our meeting

Net Pastor — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 03:50:14 +0000

We had our deacons board meeting. On the agenda was an item about what had happened at our last meeting. I was glad that I did not have to bring this up, it was someone else. This whole issue was well handled by the “chairperson”. All the time that was needed was taken and we went through what had happened. At the end the deacon came to the conclusion that the rotation system was allright and he took the office of secretary as he was supposed to. By the grace of God, things went back to normal. But I will have to work and help all the deacons become better servants of the Lord.

I’m not ready -yet!

Net Pastor — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 18:37:45 +0000

I let time pass and since did not receive any news from the person that made an outburst at the deacons board meeting – I called. I asked to see if we could meet because I did not want this situation to last. Our Lord says that we must be in harmony with each other before we can bring our ‘offering to the temple’. I asked in a gentle and non authoritive fashion explaining my thoughts. But the answer simply was “I’m not ready yet!” I would of wanted for us to speak together before the next meeting. Since it will not be, the only thing left is to bring this to the Board as an item on the agenda. We can not hope to work together for the Lord when there is a spirit of “grumpiness” around. – Any thoughts?

You sometimes wonder…

Net Pastor — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:14:09 +0000

Last night was not a ‘great night’! We had a Deacon’s Board meeting and at the beginning of every year we change chairperson (this way no one can think of ‘taking control’ of the board). Anyway when time came to change the chairperson (and all the other offices also) the chairperson did not want to step down!

He gave a million reasons why he should stay there and really made a big scene out of it. We kindly tried to get him to reason and accept that his time was up but nothing worked. It was the first time that something like that ever happened. He demanded a vote between himself and the other person that was suppose to become the next chairperson. Deep in my heart I did not want a vote simply because it would break the unity of the board.

His demand was firm and so we voted. Each person on the Board voted secretly between the two men. I knew it was going to be a disaster and it was. Everyone voted for the up-comming chairperson except the chairperson who had voted for himself. His face changed, he came into a daze as if he was ‘not there’. It was like a train had hit him – he had made a total fool of himself. He then shut down and did not co-operate openly with the rest of the meeting.

It’s very sad but this person had forgotten what being a deacon (diakonos) was all about – serving. I hope this will be settled for I know that there will be an uneasiness about this until there is repentence. What are your thoughts about this situation?

Netpastor

Net Pastor — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:54:35 +0000

I thought it would be a good idea to let people know what goes on in the heart and head of a pastor as he is shepherding. I believe that there are too little people who really understand the life and demands of church life that a pastor has. In a way this will be a spiritual diary and thoughts of my life. This Blog is open for your input and by the grace of God we can grow together and become better images of His son Jesus Christ.

Netpastor