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Prayer for our churches


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Holster I had a lady (slightly odd) upset with me that she didn't know we were having someone's baby shower. I said "Well its been announced for three weeks now." She said "I wasn't here! You should have called!!!" I was like "Well I'm very sorry, I usually don't call around with that sort of thing if its been announced all month." :-)

Good grief! I figure if people are too busy or sick to be at church they prOBably can't make it to a baby shower, eh?


Sadly... a lot of people would rate a baby shower as more important than church. Perhaps at showers we should announce sunday church services? Them maybe people would know when they are?

I also want to make clear my "attitude" in these posts (and I know you are the same). I am not "mocking" these people. I am SAD for these people. I WEEP for these people. Yet.. the truth is the truth.

My wife and I are currently at a "hurting" church. We have a lot of thinking and doctrine to "correct." We keep talking about timeframes (how long will it take), but then recognize that it will take three times longer than we think (15 years instead of 5) simply because the people are only here 1/3 of the time. I must preach/teach the same theme 3 times in order for it to be heard ONCE. So I have learned not to think in "weekly" chunks of time... but "three weeks" chunks of time.... That kind of makes time stand still.....
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That's a really good idea.

Yeah our church had decades and decades of a stale, bad reputation to overcome. We have been here about 7 1/2 years now and we've seen God help us overcome alot, but still even now the church isn't respected a whole lot in the community, although its getting better. And slowly we see a bit of growth here and there.

We've had quite a few rotate out...the kind that come in gung-ho and then find something that upsets them and they find a new church...that's the bad part about so many churches in this area.

The only bad thing about repeating sermon ideas is that we DO have some very faithful people who deserve more "meat" than that...its a difficult thing for a pastor, I think, to juggle feeding the more mature saints and still encouraging the fringe members to grow.

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Holster I had a lady (slightly odd) upset with me that she didn't know we were having someone's baby shower. I said "Well its been announced for three weeks now." She said "I wasn't here! You should have called!!!" I was like "Well I'm very sorry, I usually don't call around with that sort of thing if its been announced all month." :-)

Good grief! I figure if people are too busy or sick to be at church they prOBably can't make it to a baby shower, eh?


Now don't be silly, there be many who can make it to a baby shower who has much more important things in their life than going to church. th_tiphat.gif
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Sadly... a lot of people would rate a baby shower as more important than church. Perhaps at showers we should announce sunday church services? Them maybe people would know when they are?

I also want to make clear my "attitude" in these posts (and I know you are the same). I am not "mocking" these people. I am SAD for these people. I WEEP for these people. Yet.. the truth is the truth.

My wife and I are currently at a "hurting" church. We have a lot of thinking and doctrine to "correct." We keep talking about timeframes (how long will it take), but then recognize that it will take three times longer than we think (15 years instead of 5) simply because the people are only here 1/3 of the time. I must preach/teach the same theme 3 times in order for it to be heard ONCE. So I have learned not to think in "weekly" chunks of time... but "three weeks" chunks of time.... That kind of makes time stand still.....




Isn't that truth. I've had several times when something will come up and our members will say, "I never heard of that," yet in the last month it was in one of my sermons. peek.gif

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But I must say.... Praise the Lord for the opportunity to preach and teach for HIM! What a privilege and awesome responsibility to stand in a pulpit and preach the Word! They tell young preachers.. "If you can do anything else... do it!" Well, I find that I can do nothing else! I must preach the word of God as He allows. God is so good.

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At times I get discouraged, I think its a human thing, weakness. It clearly seems to me that Paul has him moments, as well as many of the other people the Bible tells us about.

But when I feel a bit discouraged, something always seems to come along to pick me back up. I think God sends it my way.

Yet, least to me, being a bit discouraged is not giving up hope in God or Christ, not at all. it comes because of seeing so many humans refusing that wonderful free gift that God will gladly give them but yet they are going about their own vices.

Some state that we Christians ought to be happy all of the time and go around with a big smile on our faces all the time. How can we, when we are seeing so many chose death & evil over life & good

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest OBey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to JacOB, to give them. Deut 30:15-20

And that is exactly what the majority of people are doing, choosing to walk the path of death & evil, rejecting the path of life & good.

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I guess discouraged could also be doubt..."Am I really doing any good here?" "Could someone else be doing a better jOB here?" "Is there something I could be doing better? Different?"

I know my husband has been a little discouraged...he doesn't usually stay that way long term but this has been a long, slow growth here with many, many setbacks. Plus the extra responsibility now that we no longer have the assistant. Most of the time he is fine but every once in awhile he will admit a few doubts or discouragement, but he usually snaps back quickly.

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I guess discouraged could also be doubt..."Am I really doing any good here?" "Could someone else be doing a better jOB here?" "Is there something I could be doing better? Different?"

I know my husband has been a little discouraged...he doesn't usually stay that way long term but this has been a long, slow growth here with many, many setbacks. Plus the extra responsibility now that we no longer have the assistant. Most of the time he is fine but every once in awhile he will admit a few doubts or discouragement, but he usually snaps back quickly.


I think every pastor that is preaching the truth, loving his people, and ministering for God get discouraged from time to time. Pastors are flesh too. We still have that "old nature." Perfection is future. But most times, we recognize our discouragement for what it is... lack of faith.. and sin. We then quickly confess this to God and thank Him for the privilege to serve him.
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I think every pastor that is preaching the truth, loving his people, and ministering for God get discouraged from time to time. Pastors are flesh too. We still have that "old nature." Perfection is future. But most times, we recognize our discouragement for what it is... lack of faith.. and sin. We then quickly confess this to God and thank Him for the privilege to serve him.


amen.gif that's so true. We have to remember, we are only human, we have not attained perfection yet, but its in our future. And its all because of Him.

Even Thomas had the doubt prOBlem, and he walked and talked with Jesus.
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i think, that the churches here in America alot of them are just the traditional way's, like, for example - ok we dont smoke, drink, do adultery, no idolatry, and we OBey our parents. and they think that on that basis they are saved Christian's. buy my opinion is that they have to still put work into their faith.

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