God has been reminding us again this week that we still need to wait for Him. First, I received a letter this week from Transformation Ministries regarding my application with them. (I had a phone interview with them a few weeks ago.) The letter let me know that God had closed that door. After much disappointment, we realized that those churches would not have been a good match for me--and that God knows best!
Second, on Friday Greg Laurie's devotional e-mail arrived, again reminding us to wait. Greg Laurie concludes his devotional about Jacob with these words, "Jacob got what he wanted and paid dearly for it. I believe that if he had waited on God, he would have received what he needed and what God had promised. God wants to do His will in our lives in His way and in His time. If you need something from God, be patient and wait on Him. God will meet you wherever you are to lift you to where He wants you to be."
And then, also on Friday, the goodpassage.com daily e-mail had this to say,
"Hello Friends,
Deut 33:25b as your days, so shall your strength be. (NKJ) Isa 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (NKJ) We can trust God to renew our strength spiritually, emotionally and physically as we ‘wait upon the Lord’!"
And today at church we heard our theme song again, "We will wait upon the Lord" (EVERLASTING GOD)
So we are still waiting--We are thinking that since we would like to move near family (California, Georgia, or Arizona) we will start sending out teaching applications and church applications for those areas and see what God opens up for us. Is God leading me to teach school, pay off some bills, and serve Him that way?? Or will He still open up a church ministry for us?
Maybe some of you have some wisdom to impart to us at this time. If we are going to find teaching jobs, now is the time to apply.
"We will wait upon the Lord."
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Back in Colorado
We had a good trip to California with the visit to Karen's family. We spent a couple of days with Karen's parents getting her dad back on his feet after a terrible bout with the flu. And we spent a couple of nights with Karen's brother Jack and his family.
Of course, we also visited with the church in Rail Road Flat. (I asked someone about the name of the town, but they didn't know the origin because it certainly wasn't "flat" and it never had a "railroad".) Anyway, Karen and I both agreed that we would not be a good fit for their church. It seems that they are very "in-grown"--they want a pastor who will preach inspirational and devotional sermons and who will visit all the members of the church. (They got rid of their last pastor because he didn't spend his time visiting them--instead he spent his time on outreach to the community. And he wasn't a preacher--he was a teaching pastor.) They had no vision for reaching the community. They liked the church the way it is and want it to stay that way. When we asked about a possibility of starting a 'contemporary' service on Saturday night, they really didn't want that because "it might grow to be big and then take over our church." I also asked if the deacons would be willing to have regular prayer with me for the church--Their response was, "Prayer? How often and how long would it have to be?" Not too encouraging from the leaders of the church!
After we had this conversation with the 3 deacons, they wanted me to lead Bible study. I asked them how long they wanted it, "About 10 or 15 minutes would be fine." Kind of weird for a church with "Bible" in their name. I gave a 'brief' overview of our Purpose as Christians--Karen said it seemed that I was talking to a brick wall.
I just read an article that I think this church needs to consider. It is a review of the book "Shopping for God" by James Twitchell. Here are a couple of excerpts from the article:
...based on research he says, "Chances are that if you go to your church and see a hymnal or a pew Bible in the rack in front of you, you are seeing the end of your church in the distance."
Of course Rail Road Flat Bible Church only wants to use hymnals. And most of the members are widows over 60.
...Commenting on mainline churches where over half the members are women over 60, Twitchell writes, "As any advertiser will tell you, when you see this demographic, you are not looking down the barrel, you have already swallowed the bullet."
We are praying that God will lead us to a church where the people are excited about reaching their community, no matter what it takes!
By the way, I also left a few reference letters with them, but after they read them they should realize that I wouldn't be right for them. Here are a couple of excerpts from the reference letters: Shawna says, Pastor Paul is what I like to call a teaching pastor. If you want to be preached at from various scriptures each week, he is not the pastor for you. If you want to learn from the scriptures as he teaches his way through books of the Bible, you have found the right pastor for you. Chris writes, Paul brought some modernizing ideas to our worship service...
Of course, we also visited with the church in Rail Road Flat. (I asked someone about the name of the town, but they didn't know the origin because it certainly wasn't "flat" and it never had a "railroad".) Anyway, Karen and I both agreed that we would not be a good fit for their church. It seems that they are very "in-grown"--they want a pastor who will preach inspirational and devotional sermons and who will visit all the members of the church. (They got rid of their last pastor because he didn't spend his time visiting them--instead he spent his time on outreach to the community. And he wasn't a preacher--he was a teaching pastor.) They had no vision for reaching the community. They liked the church the way it is and want it to stay that way. When we asked about a possibility of starting a 'contemporary' service on Saturday night, they really didn't want that because "it might grow to be big and then take over our church." I also asked if the deacons would be willing to have regular prayer with me for the church--Their response was, "Prayer? How often and how long would it have to be?" Not too encouraging from the leaders of the church!
After we had this conversation with the 3 deacons, they wanted me to lead Bible study. I asked them how long they wanted it, "About 10 or 15 minutes would be fine." Kind of weird for a church with "Bible" in their name. I gave a 'brief' overview of our Purpose as Christians--Karen said it seemed that I was talking to a brick wall.
I just read an article that I think this church needs to consider. It is a review of the book "Shopping for God" by James Twitchell. Here are a couple of excerpts from the article:
...based on research he says, "Chances are that if you go to your church and see a hymnal or a pew Bible in the rack in front of you, you are seeing the end of your church in the distance."
Of course Rail Road Flat Bible Church only wants to use hymnals. And most of the members are widows over 60.
...Commenting on mainline churches where over half the members are women over 60, Twitchell writes, "As any advertiser will tell you, when you see this demographic, you are not looking down the barrel, you have already swallowed the bullet."
We are praying that God will lead us to a church where the people are excited about reaching their community, no matter what it takes!
By the way, I also left a few reference letters with them, but after they read them they should realize that I wouldn't be right for them. Here are a couple of excerpts from the reference letters: Shawna says, Pastor Paul is what I like to call a teaching pastor. If you want to be preached at from various scriptures each week, he is not the pastor for you. If you want to learn from the scriptures as he teaches his way through books of the Bible, you have found the right pastor for you. Chris writes, Paul brought some modernizing ideas to our worship service...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
California, Here We Come
I remember as a child that whenever our family would go out of state on vacation and then headed back home, my dad would sing that chorus, "California Here we come" as we got closer to home. Well, we are heading to California--for a few days anyway. We leave on Saturday and hope to arrive at Karen's parents' place on Sunday night. On Monday we will get together with her brothers and their families. It will be good to see them.
And then on Wednesday, we are going to visit a church in Rail Road Flat that is interested in meeting us as I shared before. They have asked me to lead their Wed. night Bible study as well. We are not sure that this is where God would want us--but we are interested in finding out more about the church and the community. Please pray for us as we travel and meet with the church. We are planning on being back in Colorado on Friday the 21st.
The realtor is showing our house on Friday afternoon--for the first time since last fall! We are praying that our house will sell at just the right time for us to move to a new ministry.
Thanks for all your prayers and concerns! God is Great!
And then on Wednesday, we are going to visit a church in Rail Road Flat that is interested in meeting us as I shared before. They have asked me to lead their Wed. night Bible study as well. We are not sure that this is where God would want us--but we are interested in finding out more about the church and the community. Please pray for us as we travel and meet with the church. We are planning on being back in Colorado on Friday the 21st.
The realtor is showing our house on Friday afternoon--for the first time since last fall! We are praying that our house will sell at just the right time for us to move to a new ministry.
Thanks for all your prayers and concerns! God is Great!
Monday, March 3, 2008
If you don't like the weather...
They have a saying here in Colorado that if you don't like the weather just wait a while (I know they say that in a lot of other places too!). On Saturday, we had record-breaking 80 degree weather--and on Sunday, 32 degrees and snowy! This is the month for roller-coaster weather :)
We are planning on driving out to California to visit Karen's family over spring break, March 16-23. We really hadn't thought seriously about doing that until I got a call from a church in the Sierra foothills--Rail Road Flat--that is interested in meeting me. They thought that we might be coming out to CA to visit during the break from school and were wondering if we could meet with them then. It is a very small church (30) with a small salary and a small parsonage. But if Karen was able to get a job too then it might be a possibility for us. Please pray that we would have wisdom concerning this opportunity!
My interview with Transformation Ministries went well on Saturday--thanks for your prayers about that, too.
We were reading today a devotional by Greg Laurie and were reminded of the story of Lazarus--Mary and Martha were expecting an answer to their request right away--and they were expecting a healing, not a resurrection. But then they had to wait four days after Lazarus died to get the answer to their request of Jesus. Karen said to me, Well, it's been a long four days for us!!!
God answers in the time that gives Him the most glory, and in ways we would never expect.
We are planning on driving out to California to visit Karen's family over spring break, March 16-23. We really hadn't thought seriously about doing that until I got a call from a church in the Sierra foothills--Rail Road Flat--that is interested in meeting me. They thought that we might be coming out to CA to visit during the break from school and were wondering if we could meet with them then. It is a very small church (30) with a small salary and a small parsonage. But if Karen was able to get a job too then it might be a possibility for us. Please pray that we would have wisdom concerning this opportunity!
My interview with Transformation Ministries went well on Saturday--thanks for your prayers about that, too.
We were reading today a devotional by Greg Laurie and were reminded of the story of Lazarus--Mary and Martha were expecting an answer to their request right away--and they were expecting a healing, not a resurrection. But then they had to wait four days after Lazarus died to get the answer to their request of Jesus. Karen said to me, Well, it's been a long four days for us!!!
God answers in the time that gives Him the most glory, and in ways we would never expect.
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