My Ramblings

In the early 1500's the Catholic Church was wrought with problems, fighting and arguments within, and attacks from the Protestants and the Turks without. Reginald Pole was a brave cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church during these tumultuous times. In the midst of this turmoil, he stood up and gave an amazing address to the Council of Trent Jan. 7, 1546. Instead of blaming society, the heretics or anyone else, Pole insisted, 'The shepherds should make ourselves responsible for all the evils, not in generosity but in justice; because the truth is that of these evils we are in great part the cause…Herein no good is served by a long inquiry as to who are the causes of these evils, seeing that we cannot even name any other causes but ourselves! …It will be found that our ambition, our greed, our cupidity have wrought all these evils on the people of God.' The Christian church in America is in trouble. Instead of pointing fingers and placing blame, I choose to take responsibili...

    In preparing this paper, I have ridden a roller coaster of conviction and excitement. I sense God drawing me closer to him as I cry out for more of him in my life. The statistics concerning the church and especially pastors are heartbreaking. I want to do something about the colleagues that the statistics represent. What I realize, however, is before I can lead others, I first have to lead myself.     Another frustration I encountered when doing research was the shortage of materials. There is much written about the Holy Spirit, and there is much written about organizational principles and models; I was unable to find books that combined the two. I wanted a modern picture of what a pastor and church full of the Holy Spirit looks like. My biggest disappointment came from a couple of books printed by the Assemblies of God, books specifically written for ministry students regarding pastoral ministry. I assumed that since the Assemblies of God is a Pentecostal denomination, I c...

The Intersection of the Holy Spirit and the Life of the Pastor In the lives of many pastors, there is a lack of connection with the Holy Spirit. This lack of spiritual power is reflected in the degenerating condition of the church in America. This paper will combine biblical research from the life of King Saul with research on business and church growth. The research reveals that this problem of spiritual impotence is easily remedied through an intimate relationship with Christ. Another major finding is the lack of available materials on the working of the Holy Spirit through the organization and structures used in pastoral ministry. This is the abstract for my Masters Thesis. I turned it in today. As I was making final edits, it dawned on me that I am almost finished with both the thesis and the masters program. I almost started to cry. Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that I was up until 2 am the night before last and pulled an all-nighter...

Hey, dude. It is great hearing from you. We miss you guys around here, but are glad that things are looking up. The Scripture quoted in your email signature seems very appropriate for you at this moment in your life: 'Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.' (Hebrews. 11:1). I know that God has big plans for you and your wife, but until the "big" comes, keep making the most of every opportunity. We are still praying for you guys and for your wife's family; especially for her dad. We serve a good God who knows what is best. Sometimes we disagree with him about that. The things that are (or are not) happening are not for nothing. God uses all of it to accomplish his work both in us and through us. This is one of the most encouraging things I have learned from my masters program. In referring to all the past troubled times and bad job and ministry experiences, the older guys in class all agreed that God d...

At school, we are discussing Conflict Management and Change Management; how to lead through both conflict and change. Both pieces of that puzzle were a part of a meeting I lead recently. Last night was our monthly Leadership Meeting with the church Board and Ministry Leaders. Now, almost 15 hours since it ended and I am still processing my amazement with last night's meeting. To see our Leadership Team working through the process of change with each other was wondrous. God was definitely an influential part of what transpired. Team members were able to share their disagreements in an atmosphere of trust and encouragement. The meeting was not comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but it was GOOD. We were exposed to leaders' passions for ministry and for the Lord. As a team we readjusted our ministry focus back to discipleship and more specifically to discipleship for children. I lead the meeting, but what took place could only come from the Lord....

I know that the Lord has been working on me. Often he uses circumstances and people to help form me. Lately, he has been doing the work himself and changing me from the inside out. I can't yet put into words my experiences. It has been almost overwhelming and at times disconcerting. Looking back over the last few weeks, I realize I can't go more than a couple of hours without being aware of God's strong presence around me or in me. I have now decided that I will choose not to be surprised or disturbed, but take the time to enjoy God's presence. Today I was reminded about the story from John 21 where Jesus is having breakfast with his disciples. With all the things that needed to be done and taught, Jesus chose to sit back and enjoy some time with his boys. If that is what God wants from me, I'm all for it.

Today started out tough. I was planning to spend all day in the library, so I got pretty early. From the moment I got up, I was pressed with issues that I am dealing with, most of which have to do with stuff at church. For about an hour I felt frustrated and fed up. I needed to get to the library, so do you know what I did? I finished my shower, sat on my bed, and spent some time with God. I spent over an hour with my God. It was not a 'good' hour. It was tough. I read my Bible, prayed, sang, complained, and listened, all without feeling better. Well, I did feel better, but only after about an hour. The Lord has been teaching me to spend time with him. He has been drawing me close and teaching me to listen. He has been teaching me patience. In the words of an acquaintance of mine, "Stop doing devotions and live devoted." All this is to say that I could have left for the library at any time without the much needed peace. For a change, I stayed and wor...