Now where do we go?

The question that I sit here thinking now is where do we go? Where exactly do I go from here. Since this whole situation of ... stuff started I've asked God many times "why aren't you doing anything", and "what's next." Since I first posted the entry to get the truth out, I've had people I didn't even know cared actually send me message after message about how they've seen God in me and it was the churches loss to lose someone like me. For those of you who have been sending me these message I thank you and want you to know that you've helped me a lot. It has been an honor serving you.

Something that I have been thinking about a lot lately is this. I think God brought me back here to learn from this situation, but most of all for Matt and Bailey. That friendship and counsel has greatly affected me and I thank God for all the time I had with them.

So now where do we go? Well God's calling has never changed and what God wants me to do has never changed. I must forgive those that have hurt me, and move on. This might sound rather unsympathetic, but it's not my call. I will continue to minister the people of WYBC and especially the students who have found my love. My heart for them hasn't changed just because I'm not allowed to minister to them at the church.

I have a call from God and a vision from God. I've been taught on how to be a student pastor and that plays into my vision. So now all I have to do is find the church that God wants me to be at. I'll be much more cautious about people's answers this time, but doesn't mean I don't keep up the ministry. Maybe this time I'll put my ambitions on paper so there isn't any questions on what I intend to do with God's generation of students.

Keep praying for me...I need all the help I can get
God Rocks,
Josh

Ministry...in a church?

In most churches that I've been, a ministry is kind of like an accessory. They seem to work like this. There's 2 kinds of churches: a wave church and a tree church.

I call them the wave Church and here's how a wave works. Waves start out small and builds as things get added (like ministries). The wave gets bigger and bigger, and the whole time the whole wave is working towards a goal. This goal is written and some that's not written. The written ones often apply to reaching their community or being well known in their area for something. The unwritten goals are things like, to have this number of people by the end of the year, and even things like making the people who brings in the money happy. So there are good things about this wave church. They don't usually have unnecessary ministries and are very specific on who they want to reach. The problem is the wave church is all going one direction. True they stay on direction, but they also are afraid to stretch out. They are very good at reaching one person, but miss everyone else. They also can't use anything that they haven't done before. In other words, it's not with the direction of the church.

The 2nd church is one I've called the tree Church. Here's how a tree church works. A tree grows by giving it substance, growing out branches, and constant pruning. In a tree church the tree grows. The trunk is the tree, it's the people. In a tree, the trunk doesn't change, but the branches go out from it. The branches are ministries, ways to meet peoples needs, and ways to reach people. This is one major way that a tree and a wave are different. Where a wave all works in one way, a tree works in multiple ways. The tree spreads out, covers a lot of different things, but still works for the same purpose. They all work toward the sun, and they also work to nourish whole tree. They reach many people, but it may look to some people like all the branches are not working toward the same purpose. It's up to those people in those branches to educate those on the outside. The tree church tries things new, and doesn't hold a whole lot of honor for tradition. A thing that most people don't understand about the tree is that pruning is necessary. If things don't work they get cut back. Even if an event or some program seems popular, but doesn't meet the purposes it's cut. Everything has a purpose.

There are 2 types of churches: wave vs tree. I've been in both kinds of churches. The wave works well for most older people, but ignores relevancy. They say "we do it this way because we've always done it that way." The tree church is for 30 somethings or younger. This group has the stigma of changing just for the point of change. They are very relevant, but also ignores some of the harder things from Christ in order to keep a relationship.

Neither are perfect, but both are used today...now it's up to you to decide which you should serve in. Jtw

What if...?

What if people loved God as much as they love their significant other? Recently I've been looking at lot of people's myspaces. I've been overwhelmed with the number of people's names or motto's or whatever that say something about their girlfriend or boyfriend. They're so open about how much they love these people but if you see them ask them they may have only been with that person for a very short time. I usually leave amazed with these people with how much they will talk about those people, and how important they are to their lives. Normally this would be OK, except when you talk to them about God. They'll go on about how God's first in their lives, but they're lying. They're lying because God can't be first and anything else be first.
So the original question begins again: What what if people loved God as much as they do their significant others? Would we link up myspace and see people's names talking about God? Would we go to their sites and it be a monument to the living God? Would we have churches, communities, countries, and governments that see through the lens of Christ?
The problem is that this will never happen. Most people will never be so devoted to Christ that God's will is more important than anything that happens around them. Jesus said that people will hate us because they hated Him first. Makes you wonder why they don't hate us. Maybe it's because we don't love God enough for others to know it. But...what if...? Jtw

What is a Church?

I've recently been plagued with the thought "what is a church?" I know from the Bible that God's people are in fact the church. This is awesome and I wish more people knew that. As I sit here reading through the book of Acts I see how the early church and it's people did things. I see how they showed people love, this is how people knew they were believers. I see how they worshipped God without regard for what people thought of them, an element lost in most churches I've been to. I also see people who are servants, who see each of the spiritual gifts as equal and each person having their own part in the church community. This leaves me disillusioned. The churches that I've been in recently have a whole different philosophy. It seems as if they only care for those that care for them, they never truly worship because of their neighbor, and the pastor is put up so high on a pedestal that his word is god to those around him. How did we take the wonderful, loving, caring thing that God created called church and make it into this inwardly focused deity. I pray that God sends me a church where they people work as a team to worship God regardless of where they are, a place where the pastor is just a servant using his gifts to God's glory, and a place that is so outwardly and upwardly focused that everyone will know them by their love. That's what God called us to! How have we come so far? What is a church? I pray each day to learn what that is. Jtw

Matt and Baley Hinson

Matt and Baley Hinson were two of my best friends. I've known Baley a few years and knew Matt for over 20 years. On July 27th they died along with their unborn little boy. To know them was to love them. They were truly people of God, and one of the best examples of a Christian I could ever hope to have had. This has been one of the hardest times in my life. It's hard to go from talking to someone every week to never gonna see them again on this side of glory. My mind keeps going back to one statement in my head "if it were only Thursday morning again." I realize that this statement is extremely selfish. When Paul saw a glimpse of Heaven God had to send him a demon to bring him back to earth and want to return. How could I ever want that for my friends. I want them back, but I know I'll see them again. I guess it's easier to think of them as just moved to a better place than it is to think of them as permanently gone. Knowing Matt for so long and knowing how alike we are, I think I know what he would like. He would want us to move on, tell people about Christ, and love on students with everything we can hope to have. Well it's be awesome to know these wonderful people. I can't wait until the day I see Matt and Baley again, but what will be better is on that day Jesus will run to me, hug me, and say well done. Matt and Baley have finished well and I hope I do as well. I hope to be the man of God that I saw in Matt. Thank You Jesus for this wonderful example of what you want from me. Praise Jesus. God Rocks, Jtw

Christian Lingo

Why do some people use Christian Lingo? I don't understand it, it's not like use say computer lingo with someone who's computer illiterate. So again, why do we use computer lingo with either non-Christians or just regular followers of Jesus. Recently I've been asking a lot of questions. I believe that people should not just know what they believe but why. The answer I get to a lot of these questions is the church answer with church lingo. The problem comes when I ask what that lingo means...you guessed it they don't know. So how can you possibly know what you are talking about when you use words that you don't understand? Well you can't and I think that you shouldn't. So the problem becomes how do we change this alarming trend? It also seems to me that this alarming trend also leads to heavy legalism issues. I'm not sure why except that it's easier to seem strong by being controlling than to let others see your flaws and let others do the same as you see a perfect God. Now what? I try my best to not seem like I'm smarter than others, because I'm probably not, or that I'm more holy than anyone, because I'm just a sinner trying to return to my savior. Because of this I surround myself with people that do neither of these things. So in my maybe frivolous attempt to help this I'm going to push. I'm going to stop caring what people think and more on what God thinks. When I hear Christian Lingo crap with no real backing I'm gonna call people on it. I've already made one person mad because I called them on their lies and I'm not here to just make friends but instead to lead people to Christ and help them grow.For this reason I plan to call people on what they say and use the word 'why' a whole lot. So as I sign off I begin the process of toughening my skin and getting ready for the fight that may come. I ask for your prayers as I pray for the answers that I desperately need. God help me to know what to say, when to say it, and when to push. Thank you Jesus for the chance to serve you. God Rocks, Jtw

What is a Servant?

I started thinking about this question yesterday because I was confronted with a person that says they are by title. I was at a restaurant the yesterday after picking up my wife for lunch. We spent the time there watching our waitress sit with some guy, smoke, and talk. She did come over and ask us if we needed anything a few times. Like most people, when you get something on your plate you aren't going to eat, I put some lettuce from my overflowing salad on a few napkins. Afterward, I went to pay. She sat quietly, watched as the tip was placed on the paper, and then decided she would speak up. She proceeded to scold me over putting food on the table and how rude it was to her. I thought it was funny that she didn't mention anything until after the tip was given. Obviously she hadn't seen the napkins I placed down before putting some lettuce down because she wasn't around, but proceeded to tell me how wrong it was regardless.

This brings me back to my original question: What is a servant? This lady was by title a servant. Well if this was true shouldn't she act like a servant. This is what the dictionary says:

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law
noun: a person who serves others: as a : an individual who performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer b : a person in the employ and subject to the direction or control of an individual or company

So a servant is someone who is in direct control by someone else. This means this lady is a servant to whom: The customer. She on the other hand doesn't really act like a servant because of the view she has of authority. I bring this up because being a servant applies to everyone that calls themselves a follower of Christ.

Christ calls us to be servants, so we've learned what a servant is. We are under direct control of Christ if we are to call ourselves followers of Christ and a servant. Christ gave us the example of a servant when he washed the Disciple's feet. Before this Jesus said...

John 12:26 "Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me."

Anyone who wants to be a disciple must be a servant and must be where Jesus is. So to go back to my story. i can't say whether this lady was a follower of Christ or not, but her example didn't show me this. If she is a disciple like myself, then I pray she never tells anyone. It's hard enough being a Christian without hypocrites being the first thing people think of when you try to tell them about Christ.

So where does this leave us? A servant of Jesus is a disciple and also is under direct control of Jesus. He's given us commands, directions for living, and His word to answer any other question. As far as I'm concerned Jesus gave us the example of servant hood and that example was the Love of others. When Christians were being hunted by Rome it was asked how the Christians would be found. The response was that you will know them by their love. This is the response I give now when I look for a servant. I will know them by their love.
God Rocks, Jtw

Big God....forgot that!

Do you ever forget how big God really is? I know I do! Here's the issue I have and have others recently talk to me about for themselves. We ask God for something, then we don't get what seems to be an answer. Wierd huh, it seems like if we don't get the answer we want then God's not answering us. The real problem is that no matter what the answer or when the answer comes, that doesn't change who God is. We forget that and we forget exactly how big our God really is. How is it that a God big enough to create the universe, love us enough to send His Son to die for us, and wants to personally know each and every person isn't big enough to care about our problems. Crazy huh? We forget that no matter the size of our problems, God is always bigger. Why then do we worry about things? We especially worry about things that we have no control over and that we can't hope to change. Seems to me that if we truly believed that God is so powerful that we'd just trust Him and not worry. It's much easier said than done. How do we trust God without fear? I guess it comes down to our willingness to grow close to Jesus. It's hard not to trust in God when you're so close to Him that He's all you see. How do we do this then? Well all the spiritual disciplines are a good place to start, but it comes down to our faith and willingness to be a Christ follower. That's the greatest of journeys and worth the most reward. Thank you God for being so Big and Lord give us the chance to be your servant today. Thank you God. AMEN---Jtw

Graduated

Well I'm officially a College Graduate from a University. I'm a alumni of largest distinctly Christian University in the world. It's more than awesome. Graduation was definitely about Jerry Falwell, but also about the future. The message given to us today is about finishing well and never ever quitting. For a short time now my motto has been "whatever it takes." I truly want to finish well, and that's gonna take everything I have. I will never ever quit doing whatever it takes to fulfill the purpose that God has put me here to do. Jerry finished his race very well, he did was God told him. I pray that when the time comes for me to step out begin really running the race that I can do as well as Jerry. Well I've graduated to a new place in my life and a new race to run. I'm ready to run, I always need more training, but I'll do "whatever it takes" to finish the race well. May God bless my work, give me wisdom and grace, and more importantly give me a chance to run a race worthy of Him. Thank you Lord for everything that You've given me, thank You for a chance to be taught by the best, and thank You for again showing that there's hope for me. God Rocks! Jtw

Jerry Falwell

Today I got a call and heard the news of the death of Jerry Falwell. My first reaction was...What the crap!! How can a great man such as this, a man who'd been instrumental to the progression of Christ in the world. It's true, Jerry said some stupid things in his time, but no more myself. He just said it on TV and I didn't. I'm definitely surprised at this, but remembering that I'll see him again in Heaven is awesome. I can remember him talking to people at school and him almost running over people in his SUV on a regular basis. His influence over Christians and his contribution will never be forgotten.

I think an expression that I heard when at Liberty is fitting for this great man.

"Today the devil is cheering for this man is no longer in the fight"

This is how I choose to remember Jerry Falwell and I hope everyone else does as well. God bless the ministry of Jerry Falwell, God bless the family of Jerry Falwell, and God bless everyone that has been touched by God's chosen Vessel of the servant of Jerry Falwell.

God Rocks, Jtw