OK, so it took me over a month to make my second blog. I told you from the start that I am new to this bloging thing (so it has taken me sometime to get it on my radar). In the time since I last bloged I have began connecting with my community, accidently hit a few hot buttons, and have been trying to figure out this pastor thing in a context and with a church that is way out of the norm of Bible belt, evangelical, Americana Christendom.

The last thing has been the greatest challenge because I am trying to capture a new(or different) mode of pastoring in a different type of church. I am not recreating the wheel here but it sort of is. The easy part is changing my frame of mind and action(which was already fairly unconventional). I already fight against the cookie cutter mold of pastoring and ministry(it works for some it some places but it is totally not me- props to Dale Davis). The hard part I am finding is changing the little things like terminology. Sometimes words scare people (even if they don't mean the fear they inspire). It seems that there is a throw the baby out with the bath water mentality. If we reject a convention(style, mold, etc) or way of thinking or doing things then everything else connected to it (terminology, actual practice, etc.) is also thrown out. Which is a travisty b/c it forces us to start all over again every time, so things like history really have no practical use, b/c everytime something changes we don't retain the good that we learned. And hopefully as you get to know me more you will see that history is very important to me for a thousand different reasons. But I digress.

So, I got a few thing that I am trying to figure out. One is how do I minister the way I have come to see, irregardless of a church and community that is the norm or not the norm(how does it work)? Then, how does that fit into my context (commuinity and church)? Then how do I guide others (who have their own bagage but have chosen me to be a leader) into joining with me (a cord of three strands is not quickly broken) into bring life to a dying world?

I think this is the adventure of ministry. The easy part can be visualizing it, but the hard part is how it actually plays out. The Holy Spirit can really give you a vision for something but it is a whole other beast in spreading and working towards that vision. I have always been a guy who sees the forest and not the trees (i.e. I do well at seeing the big picture but when it comes down to the practical side of it; I really have to work). But now I need to start looking at the trees (or working around the trees) and not the forest. So, I feel a little out of my element, and so this time in my life is really pressing my faith in the work of the Holy Spirit b/c I am really need His practical guidence in my life, church, commuunity.

Well thats about all I got for right now (except for whats below if you are brave enough). I don't intend for all my blogs to be about me and my pastor journey. I hope to just through out some ideas (some mine and some not mine) and see what you all have to say, just not this time. Until next time- Peace be with you.

P.S. 

If you are wondering how I see (visualize) the ministry of the church(what the forest looks like to me), below I have put my "Philosophy of Ministry" which is just the fancy title for my frame of mind as it pertains to the ministry of the church. It doesn't cover everything but for me the essential ideas. If you have any thoughts or critiques of it, FIRE AWAY. This Philosophy of Ministry has been (and continues to be) a work in progress since I was called into ministry. Things have changed and stayed the same and they will continue to, but right now it is a window into where I am now and how I percieve the work of the church.

A Philosophy of Ministry

The church is a 2000 year old divine/human movement aimed at nothing less than changing the world. This change will not happen if the church tries to look and run like a secular company or government, nor will it happen if the church boils its ministry down to static checkpoints. This movement of God will only occur through the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the church and the hearts and lives of those who make it up. The church needs to take these two elements seriously in how it does ministry.

Scripture calls the church the body of Christ. This is not an analogy in scripture but we are Christ’s actual physical/human representatives on Earth (in all the good times and bad times). The world doesn’t need another religious group full of rules and hypocrisy, making people “twice as much a son of hell (Matt. 23:15 What they need is the Lord and Savior of the universe to divinely reach out and touch and change their lives. People need Jesus. For all the pain, suffering, and death (physical and spiritual) to stop - people need to see Jesus. So the ministry of the church must be consumed with showing the world Jesus, it must be incarnational. We are to not be anything to this world except the actual presence of Jesus Christ.

By looking at the life of Christ, there are two practical ways that the church can minister incarnationaly. One way is by meeting the needs (physical, emotional, and spiritual) of the people in the church and community around you. Christ’s public life was all about feeding the poor, healing the sick, comforting the hurting, etc. Today every community has needs and every church has the chance to miraculously meet those needs just as Christ did. The church can continue the ministry of Christ through things like a community food pantry, a subsidized day care, sponsoring 12 step programs, holding “seeker classes” for people who want to know what Christianity is all about, etc. Every community has needs and in every community there is a chance for Jesus to help people and change lives.

The second way for a Church to minister incarnationaly is by creating true disciples. True disciples are committed to becoming like their rabbi(props to Rob Bell). They strive to take on the “yoke” of their rabbi (in the church’s case, the yoke of Christ). This is done today by learning the teachings of Jesus, teaching Christ’s yoke to others, and by disciples sharing their changed lives with others. This happens through mentoring, small groups, Sunday School, friendships, neighbors; any and in every way that Christians share their lives and the yoke of Christ with others (Christians and especially non-Christians).

The second aspect of ministry is that ministry must be Holy Spirit dependant. Now this is not some sort of charismatic statement. But, if the church is the body of Christ, then the Holy Spirit’s presence in the church is the heart beat, the source of life, for that body. The church is nothing without the Spirit’s power. But unfortunately many churches today steal the Spirit’s power. This happens when churches either only cater to themselves and their wants or churches want to be so different that they cater to others at the price of Holy identity.

Therefore, for example, worship styles, preaching styles, etc. should not come out of personal preference, commercialistic consumerism, or best intentions but through the intentional attitude and action of listening and obeying the Holy Spirit where He guides. This means that the church is not focused on being a “traditional church,” a “pop church,” etc. but on being the church that interacts and communicates with people in ways that are relevant and understandable to the community and in ways that change lives by the power of the Spirit. There is a humble and obedient balance between becoming all things to all men and women and maintaining the integrity of the church’s Holy identity that is only maintained by a church prayerfully and submissively listening to the active voice of the Holy Spirit.

Another example of Holy Spirit dependence is in the growth of the church. Church growth is not measured in increased numbers on Sunday morning but in the number of lives that have been impacted by the love of Christ through the church. Christ communicated this to us through the “Parable of the Sower.” The sower casts out the seed but only God makes it grow. The church, the sower, cannot save anyone. The Holy Spirit is the one who calls and is the one who saves, who makes faith grow. So it is not the job of the church to focus on getting people saved, but it is the job of the church to cast as many “seeds” as possible and allow God to use those seeds to grow His kingdom. The church is not in the business of kingdom growth but kingdom spreading.  

The church in not an institution, it is a movement of God. So as the church we need to see ourselves as the vessels of God. Through His incarnate hand in this world, by the power of His Spirit, this world can be changed for His glory and purpose.