Where did all the joy go?

 Where did all the joy go?

 

A good friend of mine shared with me a tragic story of a church family that lost their joy. A divisive spirit in the church caused a lot of hurt feelings and left many with a feeling of betrayal. He shared that the church had declined by two-thirds of its attendance. It was difficult for him to understand how the family of God could ever get into that position.

 

I asked him if there was anything specific he could point to that would clarify the divisive attitude that brought about the unrest in the family of that congregation. He stated that the problem was, the church had stopped being a family and started working on becoming an organization with self-motivational interests being at the forefront of the leadership. “The leaders were making major decisions and had no real connection with most of the members in the church, just a select few were considered.”

 

This is an issue I have seen many times in my spiritual walk of life. It isn’t that people are looking for things to do to help the congregation grow, they were just looking for things to be done the way they felt comfortable doing them. They wanted them to be done the way they had always been done. They had their agenda and no matter what or who had to be sacrificed, it was going to happen one way or another.

 

Manipulation is sometimes the culprit when it comes to situations like this. Some opportunities can take on the form of “good works to do”, depending on who benefits and who it “motivates.” Moving others out of the way so the “uncomfortable” can feel “more comfortable” with themselves and not be challenged to study or grow anymore. They want things to go back to the way they were in the past. Hoping to find happiness in trying to recreate what once was, looking for happiness in overseeing where, or in what direction the church is moving. Hearing things said in the old comfortable way of being said and shutting the door on anything different or new because they were not “comfortable” with new things.

 

It is like the ship that sank with 100 people on board who all wanted to be the captain. No one was willing to work to help the ship operate the way it should. They all wanted others to do what they were ordering them to do.

 

It is inevitable that we find ourselves at a loss when it comes to divisiveness and our dislike of change. However, striving to go back to what once was is change, but seen as worthy because of whose idea it was to go back to the past. I believe that Paul addressed the Jewish Christians who wanted to go back under the law! They didn’t really want to go back to the law, it didn’t change but was fulfilled. They wanted to go back to the traditions they were used to and comfortable with.

 

I asked my friend, “Was truth ever overlooked or abandoned?” His answer was “No! Not that I am aware of! If there was, I would have approached the problem as a scriptural problem! The way I see it was that those who left just didn’t feel needed or a part of the family any longer. It was like God was left out of any decision that was made.”

 

I want to encourage those of God’s people to be sure to understand that without true compassion, without true concern for the word, without vision, we will parish.

 

Where did all the joy go? Satan took advantage of hiding behind someone’s truth instead of someone standing in God’s truth. Don’t hide behind the past glories of the church. Look to glorify God daily as you walk. Accept the joy of the Spirit of God and your salvation. Allow God to give the increase. You can’t do it. That is God’s job. We need to be seed spreaders.

 

I love you all,

Britt

That Guy

Here is a thought for you.

There is a guy who has everything he needs. He has a good job, wife, and family, He doesn't get wrapped up in societal issues, nor does he watch the news to keep up with the current issues that befall our country. He enjoys going to work, coming home, eating for nourishment, laughing when he thinks something is funny, crying when he thinks something is sad and caring for people who are hurting. He doesn't feel empowered, nor does he think he is or has been discriminated against. 

For the most part, there aren't a lot of people who know much about him. He is not an "A Typical" egotistical person, nor is he a "Wall Flower." He is just a regular Joe.

How many of us would want to be his friend? How many of us are envious of his calmness and his lack of excitement about what is going on in our world? How does a "Regular Joe" make it in the world we live in? That, my friends, is a great question.

The answer is that he is trying to follow the path that leads him to heaven. He is concerned about a lot of things. He is concerned about his family and them being in worship and with God's people as often as possible. He wants his family to be around others who need to know Christ, but he strives to make sure that his family knows not to follow "other" paths that might lead them away from Christ. He doesn't worry about the future of our world, but the future of those who need to know Jesus. He isn't concerned about the political drama of our world, he is concerned about people not knowing the story of Jesus and why they need to know Him. 

See, I believe that guy is the guy we all need to be. We all need to be so into following Jesus that the things of this world aren't as appealing to us as some would make us feel they are. It isn't wrong to have things, but sometimes we overload on things and leave the spiritual aspect of being good stewards of our time and money out of our lives.

I think that guy is probably happier because of his covenant relationship with God instead of his constant worry about a covenant with the world. The world view will not get us a heavenly outcome. We need to be in the world, being good stewards, and caring about our covenant with God and with His family, but also concerned about bringing others into that covenant relationship with God.

That guy is who I want to be.

How about you?

I'll see you later!

You Can't Change the Past

     I'm over it! I can't do it any longer. I cannot dwell in the past. I have done it for all of my life in my mind and I am just not going to do it any longer. I have said my peace and I am satisfied I have faced the giant weight that I have been carrying around for nearly 50 years. Yes, I said it right, nearly 50 years.
     Satan has a way of getting to me through my past and has not let me forget what it was that brought me to this terrible wasteland called bad memories. These unproductive, at least for me, opportunities to sulk in the past and wonder what and why I am dwelling in the past in the first place.
      If you haven't been there, good! If you have, read on and I will tell you what I did to get passed my past.
     Take time to sit down with someone, maybe someone who was from that past, and talk it out. Let your guard down and allow yourself to remember the hurt and pain from that past you have been reminded of throughout your life if you are like me. Do it maturely, not as the child you possibly were at the time of your past pain. Let yourself know that God is in control and pray for guidance and mature patience. Share without the anger, without the pain, without the desire to "get back at" whoever. Speak the truth, don't let the past dictate your desire to move on into the future.
    After you do that, and it may take several opportunities, pray some more. Let the healing that God offers to bring you peace do its work. Pray some more. Cry if you need to or desire to, either in private or public, but let yourself know you are going to be alright. Let the Spirit of God begin the healing process in your mental life so that your emotional life may be brought into alignment as God would have us do.
     I did this.
     It is working now and I hope it will work for me as I continue to walk my walk in this wonderful life I have. God has blessed me with a great and wonderful family. My wife and children, my dad and siblings, my church family, my camp family, my friends throughout the last 50 years. They all have helped me get to where I am today.
     If you need to, don't hesitate to contact me and I will share with you more of what you can do to overcome whatever it is that beats you down on a regular basis.
     God is good all the time and all the time, God is good!
I love you all and I'll see you later!

Britt

What I Learned September 11, 2001

I remember exactly where I was when I received word that there was an "accident" in New York City! The Blanco Bowling Club Cafe. I was playing dominoes with the morning crew for the last two hours when Lisa called and said, "A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center."

I drove home and watched the events unfurl in front of all Americans. It was devastating. I sat in my office with the doors open to the church building, ready to visit with whoever may drop in to pray or talk about the events of the day.

I remember thinking, "This is horrible."

The results are still being felt today as another victim, a fireman, was honored in a memorial service in New York City just last Tuesday as his remains were identified. His family was 18 years without knowing, but knowing, the final outcome of where his body was. My prayers are with all those affected personally with that tragic event. I pray that comfort and peace will rule in their hearts.

I wonder how many of those folks knew God the way I do? Not because I'm a minister of God's word, but because I am a Christian and I am truly concerned about those who do not know God and have not obeyed the gospel.

Will God's grace fall upon those who do not know Him? Will they be found in heaven? Will they be saved from their sins? Could God just leave them outside of His family forever?

Questions we all could and some have asked through the years. So let me ask a question that shakes me to my core: "Who is the judge of such matters?" Well, the answer is obvious, God is! It is ultimately His decision. We, however, should hold ourselves responsible for following His word as closely as we can.

I believe that those who do will find God's answer in His word that will fall upon our hearts. It is my, and every Christian's, responsibility to share God's truth concerning His Son. The death, burial, and resurrection are to be at the forefront of our spiritual walk.

Over 3,000 lives were taken at once. No warning. They just died as the result of someone's failure to know the truth. God's truth will always be to "love your neighbor as yourself."

I want to go to heaven, and I want my neighbors to go to heaven. In fact, if I decided to make...wait, why would I want to make that decision. That decision is left up to each individual who walks, and talks lives and breathes on this earth. The situation we find ourselves in is that none of us knows when our time is going to end. in 2001 on September 11, 3,000 plus people went to work just like they did every day of their adult working lives. None of them knew what was about to happen just 45 minutes into their workday. A day the world changed as fast as at any other time in the history of our nation.

Time is not on our side. Our day is coming. It may end in tragedy or it may end in peaceful slumber. The ultimate goal is to know that physically we may be surprised at the moment but that we are never spiritually surprised at all with the outcome.

I pray for those who have lost loved ones in such tragedy but we can know for sure, without a doubt, that we are going home to be with God in heaven. 1 John 5:13 13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." Christians, we have nothing to fear spiritually, yet the physical pain of suffering looms to some extent in our lives. I pray you never have to live through the tragedy but that you march triumphantly into the future with spiritual victory overcoming this world and its sin.

I love you all,

Britt

How Much Does It Mean To You?

Do you, like many others, find yourself taking your Christianity for granted?

I have found myself asking, "Why would you want to go to heaven to be with God and His children if you can't, or won't be with them here on earth?" I ask you, is that a legitimate question? What is the legitimate answer to that question then?

There are so many who put themselves up as Christian, yet when you really get down to "where the rubber meets the road" and ask the question and answering it honestly, you find out that what you think doesn't really matter.  We should never want to "give up" striving for honesty and commitment to God because it doesn't fit our personal nature and walk in life.

Too many times people have told me that their relationship with God is personal and none of my business. Really? Our Father in heaven refers to those who follow Him as His children, a part of His family. If you and I are a part of the Family of God, am I not also responsible as His child to care enough to be concerned about you? Are we just to not be involved in each other's lives? Are we not to be a part of the church, the body of Christ? And if we are, then when the "ekklesia" meets shouldn't that include all of God's children? (Ecclesia (or Ekklesia) in Christian theology means both: a particular body of faithful people, and the whole body of the faithful.) 

When you choose not to be a part with the family of God or choose to put others above your Father and His family, you are rejecting the very nature of God. Can that ever be a good move?

Know this, if you aren't with God's people in your life you aren't with God. 

So, when God's people come together it should be the Christian person, the children of God, the ecclesia, who are there. 

I hope to see you Sunday, or at least I hope to hear that you have changed your thinking and have decided to come back to the family of God, where He is while we await the final coming of His Son, Jesus Christ to take us to be a part of the forever family.

God bless you as you contemplate your life and your future. Christianity demands a response. You will respond, but in what way? 

How much does it mean to you?

Sitting in the Pew!

I love sitting and listening to other preachers speak the word of God. It is a blessing for me. I'll be honest, I watch four to five lessons each week from some of my friends as they proclaim the word of God. I do that by watching online. Neat idea. Getting to be a part of the service when I'm not anywhere near where they are. 

However great that it is to listen to these great men deliver great lessons, let me tell you about sitting in the pew and listening to "your preacher."

First, he has spent or should have spent, a lot of time getting a lesson that he believes, or should believe, is pertinent to the needs of you and the other members of your forever family at your local church.

Second, he has prayed about the purpose of the lesson.

Third, he has taken care to be precise and thoughtful in his use of God's word as he uses it in his lesson.

Fourth, he has prayed for you to be attentive to and touched by the lesson he has prepared.

Fifth, he is unsure how you will react but puts his faith in God's Spirit to move and motivate you in your spiritual walk with God.

Sixth, he is sure that God will bless his words no matter how unsure he is as long as he stands for truth.

What about you as you sit in the pew? What is it that you should be doing as you come to your church family reunion each and every week? What is it that is important?

First, preaching is not the purpose of being together with your spiritual family.

Second, your heart should have considered preparing for Sunday's time together on Monday before the next Sunday.

Third, you should be praying for your attitude concerning worship beforehand as well as preparing your mind to share in the Supper (communion) before arriving at the appointed time. 

Fourth, you should be ready to sing praises to God. I know that some of us don't have "great singing voices," but isn't it nice to know that God said to sing and make melody in your heart without saying that the singing should be or must be done "well." He just wants honesty to permeate from our hearts and mean what we sing.

Fifth, you should listen and contemplate the meaning of the message that the preacher shares each week. Bible classes are a source of great information as well. Those who teach are spending time preparing as well.

Sixth, ask God to bless your heart and your mind as you worship Him. 

Remember, these are not a complete list of things we can do. Many of you will and are already thinking about other attitudes when it comes to being together to worship on Sundays. Don't let the world tell you what you should think, how you should act, how you should worship, or how you should live during the week. Spend this week, and every week, preparing to worship God each Sunday that is coming up. 

Remember, sitting in the pew is just as important as the preaching, the singing, the learning, the contribution or any other part of our time together. It is imperative that we sit (wherever that is) ready to worship our God who loves us so much. Attendance is a necessary part of our time on this earth as Christians.

Your forever family needs you to be with them as a part of the body of Christ. Your attendance is more than just sitting in the pew, it is you being an active part of the worship.

I love technology, but it is not the answer to a too-busy schedule or the answer to an "I don't like crowds" mentality, or I can worship at home just as well as I can when I am sitting in the pew.

Sitting in the pew is a blessing from God to help us through the difficult days of each week. Looking forward to the fellowship with the forever family where you worship God is essential to your spiritual growth.

I hope to see you sitting in the pew each Sunday. To my forever family, I miss you when you aren't here. 

I love you all,

Britt

Living on the Street

Yes, you read the title right!
No, it isn't talking about me!
Yes, I do know a little bit about it and I want your feedback about what you are about to read if you continue.

Walking down the street I get the sense of the magnitude from where I came from and where I find myself. I'm on the street, living in my car, using the QT, Walmart, or whatever place I can find to keep myself somewhat clean.

No, I didn't grow up this way. I knew better. I wanted to be an adult. I want to make my own decisions! I wanted to be my own person and I have come to regret the drive that pushed me to be who I am today.

My parents didn't teach me to be my own man/woman. That was my decision. I walked into the world with all of my parent's warnings thinking that the world looked inviting, not scary and as evil as they had described.

I had a car until one day, while high on Meth, I drove it into a ditch and just left it there. I didn't have the money to get it out of the ditch with a tow truck and it was raining. I just called a friend to give me a ride to anywhere but where I was. I didn't really care. After all, my friends would take me where I wanted to go whenever I wanted to go. I don't need a car.

As I was walking home in the cold and rain trying to remember how I got where I was, I thought "So this is life? Nothing special! Nothing noteworthy! I get high with the help of my friends. They really look after me. I don't need God or my family."

I've called home for help for the last time. I believe that they love me but they said that they just can't help anymore.

Wish I could go home.

I wish I could look my dad in the eye and say "I'm sorry! I was wrong! Please forgive me."

He won't listen. He doesn't really care. I'm out of his life and he is better for it.

So this is adulthood?

I'll have to "borrow" some soap when I go to Walmart later this afternoon. I'll go to the soap aisle and "borrow" some of their body soap and slip into the family bathroom so no one will see me wash up. I won't use much. I'll leave it in the bathroom and they can put it back up. It's not really stealing.

I have a friend who has a tent that I can sleep in tonight.

So this is adulthood.

I don't remember this as I was growing up at home.

Did I miss something?

I wish I could go home and start over.

God, I wish I could start over.

Father, please be with those who need to come home both physically and spiritually. Give them wisdom to walk towards you. Give them the ability to be strengthened and keep them safe. In Jesus name.