Not building Museums, but being part of a Movement

One of the people coming to our church passed along a link to this site recently. On the site was this video where Darrin Patrick spoke of a church that was planted and then within two generations, died. Watch the video. It is alarming, yet it is filled with hope. Young and old alike need to heed the warning and may it truly challenge our churches to mature and build for a future that is anticipating the coming of Christ, but willing to work faithfully until He does so.

This thing called "Ministry" (Part 7)

This particular portion in this series comes out of 1 Corinthians 10. It is not as positive as many of the other things we have looked at up to now. Paul is now full swing into his deliberation of thought into such matters that are concerning him regarding this early church. In truth, they are still affecting the church today.

In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul deals with the testimony left to them and us of the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness. The pressure cooker of heat, sand, repetition in diet, new laws, conflicts with enemies, death, and consequences of poor decisions was revealing character flaws in the people.

Note how Paul starts:

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
(1 Corinthians 10:1-6)

Here they had all these great opportunities to behold the wonder of God's presence and protection in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They had seen God provide manna from the sky, and water from a rock.

The next verses (7-10) identify specific things that these people did to test God.

Verse 7 - Idolatry
Verse 8 - Immorality
Verse 9 - Insolence/Insubordination against God
Verse 10 - Murmuring/Grumbling

Verses 6 and 11 are almost like refrains in a horrible song of conflict and God's resolution to purify and refine His people. All of this is recorded for our benefit. It is placed here so that we would not forget how easy it is for us to fall prey to the tempter's snare.

Then.....

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:12-13)

Where is this going? From the angle Paul is taking this he is making it clear to these believers that there are still viable temptations and struggles that we all face. These are things common, not extreme. The desire to place something in sight that illustrates God, or becomes our god is natural. Idolatry has many potential shapes and sizes.

Immorality? Are we not an immoral country and society? Pornography is accessible everywhere and running rampant in homes and school lockers. It's not just "out there in the world" but also in the lives of those sitting in our pews and in our church offices. Immorality is portrayed as convenient, conducive, expected and actually the new "morality." Turn on your TV to the most "innocent" of shows and it is there or implied. Read the magazines, listen to secular radio. From homosexual agendas to heterosexual indecency, it is there and being shoved in our faces and thoughts. The temptation is there.

I feel that verse 9 is a bit large to address here, but the temptation to forget the Scriptures and live our lives as independent is like taking fire into our bosom and expecting we won't be burned or bitten like the snakes bit them in dessert.

Murmuring! Uh oh! Grumbling, complaining, having an unquiet spirit that is filled with unrest and contention. How could that ever come into our lives right?

This thing called ministry. Ministry is understanding "temptability." We must address this negative reality attached to ministry. As verse 12 stated - Take Heed! You are just as close to failure as the rest of us. Ministry is realizing I am one wrong step away from an avalanche of devastating proportions.

We have read the newspapers, seen the TV reports, and conversed with those who are astounded at the failures of visible figures who were in this thing called Ministry. The blight it leaves and the marks of disgrace it pours out on the testimony of Christ and His purpose and design for the church is hard to recover from.

I was watching a brief segment that Oprah had with Ted Haggard. She and Ted were discussing how the church does not want to own up to its failures and be willing to address the conflicts between the supposed need to be "perfect" and still living with sincere struggles in the Christian life.

Some Oprah Show viewers said they thought Ted was lying; others said he was in denial. One viewer wrote: "I think Ted was open, honest and delightful. This is one of the problems I see with the Christian faith. They insist on being perfect. Perfection is not possible, and the problem is not that Mr. Haggard lied, but he lived in an environment that insisted on his lying."

Later Ted Haggard responded to this comment.

While there were religious pressures to keep quiet, Ted says only he is to blame for his problems. "Sometimes in religious environments there's pressure to perform, and I, particularly, had pressure as the pastor of the church … but I think the fault is my own," he says. "I submitted to that and participated in it. But now, of course, I'm thrilled to be able to speak openly and really be me."

I obviously do not know Ted Haggard and am in no position to judge his true heart, but on the surface he has brought to light some important aspects. The "real me" is that I am temptable. Ministry is realizing that I face the same fears and desires that every person out there faces. I am not perfect. I am not always right. I am not going to be perfect until He that is perfect comes and changes this corruption into incorruption.

I need to realize the burden of ministry is not perfection, but progress. I understand that temptation and sin are not the same, but I also understand that temptation leads to sin. Knowing that I also know that I will fail to do it right 100% of the time, but we also need to understand that some failures lead to things that are never recoverable. I am human, but my humanity is not an excuse to live in denial of that temptation or in abandonment to the sin that comes from it. If I have an interest that could lead to a besetting sin, an area of struggle or conflict, I need to listen to my own preaching and put people and obstacles in place to help keep me from letting temptation turn into sin.

Remember Ministers, we are temptable. We are not perfect. We are not inhuman. We are not uncommon. We are faced with the common things, the normal things, that could lead us to indescribable horror if we let it.

Ministry is a wonderful opportunity for God to use common people like you and me for His indescribable glory and for the advancement of the Gospel. But it is also a wonderful opportunity for the devil to give the gospel a black eye and defraud God of His deserved glory if we allow our unwillingness to get help and open up to trusted advisers and partners in ministry.

May we live supernatural lives for the one who has supernaturally saved us and by His supernatural power which strengthens us in the inner man. (Ephesians 3:16)

Danger of Temptability.....Now that is Ministry!

Fathers of Integrity

This Sunday is Father's Day and as I am one it sure makes me feel very inadequate. The importance of faithfulness and integrity come to mind as I think of Father' Day this year. My father is and has always been a true man. He taught me to be tough and to stand for myself. He showed me integrity of speech and that honesty is a precious commodity not to be squandered. Ken Love is a man of compassion and a big heart. He is not perfect and would readily admit that, but he always wanted me to know that I was loved, and he had no problem showing it and telling me as much.

My dad has served God for over 50 years now and is still very active in a ministry now outside the U.S. My mother and father are examples of faithfulness in marriage and in service to our great God. I pray that I will be able to say that and that my children will be able to express that about me when they are well gone and on their own. Integrity! A word that expresses my determination to do what I said I would. To keep my word and fulfill my promises.

I like how Tommy Nelson put it, "Reputation is who people think you are, but integrity is who you really are." As I preach, as I father our children, as I minister to my wife and those who come into my life, I pray it is accomplished through integrity. I pray that my heart will be able to stand in honesty before God and those around me and say, "I have done it to the best of my ability, done it according to God's Word, and done it to please and honor HIM and not necessarily you."

I want to live a life of integrity so that my life's legacy is God's glory. I hope my sons will grow up to become better fathers than I have ever been. I hope they will walk lives of honesty and deal with life as God would guide them. But where will they learn that if not through me? Who will teach them if I don't? Praise God for a dad who taught me to trust in our great God. Thank God for a father who demonstrated the ability I could have to trust in my Heavenly FATHER.

As a minister of the Gospel, I was challenged by a quote attributed to Clarence McCartney, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is quoted as saying, "The better the man, the better the preacher. When he kneels by the bed of the dying or when he mounts the pulpit stairs, every self denial he has made, every Christian forbearance he has shown, every resistance to sin and temptation will come back to strengthen his arm and give conviction to his voice. Likewise, every evasion of duty, indulgence of self, every compromise with evil, and every unworthy thought, work, or deed will be there at the head of the pulpit stairs to meet the minister on Sunday morning to take the light from his eyes and the power from his blow and the ring from his voice and the joy from his heart."


If sin has you in a stranglehold, you need to confess it and repent from it and then put your heart's attention back onto the mighty arm of God. Be in God's Word, spend time in prayer, and learn of Him. May we be fathers of integrity. May we be men of honesty and faithfulness to our sons and our daughters. May God fill our hearts with a hunger and a thirst that only His Spirit can fill and satisfy. May we then pass that on to the next generations!

As a Good Soldier

This next week our church will begin its annual crusade to win the children of our community. What a great challenge in these days to not just capture a child's attention, but to actually know where to begin in explaining the Gospel message. Vacation Bible School has been a highlight for us as long as I can remember. It is a tremendous amount of work, but usually very rewarding at week's end.

The challenge however is growing. Usually there is a large assortment of kids present. Most have a sordid assortment of religious backgrounds from mainstream denominations to various other groups. But have you noticed the changes over the past few years? I talk with some of these kids and first they have never been to church. This week may be for a few of these kids the first time they have ever stepped into a church building, let alone into an organized event that centers around the Bible and discussion about Christ. Just two weeks ago a family in our church was working with a foster child they have currently. She had no clue what church or the Gospel meant.

Now, VBS comes. Where do you start? Making sure these kids leave with a clear and powerful presentation of the Gospel is now a thought provoking performance. No longer can we count on a framework or a reference point, we need to be certain we are getting it across to this next generation.

Our theme this year is a military theme. We will be having Boot Camp - "Biblical Outlook and Opposition Training." The theme verses are found in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." (NASB)

Pray that we will be able to first enlist new recruits this week. Then pray that these new recruits will be equipped to go out and become the next generation to take the posts and perform the duties suitable to soldiers in the Lord's Army!

I pray that each of us will be living "as a good soldier" for Christ. May we be keeping a Biblical Outlook and being alert that we face constant Opposition.

"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8 NASB)