September 29, 2008 by Matt.

One thing that we often hear from un-churched people is, “Well, I’m a good person.” I used to see some truth in that, even though I knew that it wasn’t a replacement for salvation through faith. As I have studied more, I have come to believe that perhaps this thought was flawed. Later we will look at why I have come to believe that none of us is good and why that is important.

In the mean time, what are your thoughts on being a “good person” and how it relates to salvation?

Posted in Good People, Thoughts on Things | Print | 1 Comment »

September 24, 2008 by Matt.

Wow, I can’t believe it has been 12 days since I last blogged. So much for my promise to be more intentional about my blogging.

Anyways, enough of me beating myself up for my failings. I don’t really have much to say this morning. I would love to be able to post something really deep and meaningful, but I got nothing this morning. However, I wanted to put something out here and ask for your prayers. God is revealing to me a vision for outreach and evangelism. I am in the process right now of refining the vision, praying, studying, and getting the vision down on paper. All this to get the vision to a point where I can begin to communicate it to the congregation. So, that is what i am up to right now in my ministry.

Ok, now for a little praise. I praise God for the work he is doing in me. Had anyone mentioned to me a year ago that God was going to light a fire in me for outreach and evangelism, or that God was going to give me a vision for outreach and evangelism, or that I was going to be instrumental in forming an outreach/evangelism strategy/vision for my church; I would have said they were crazy. So, I praise God, and thank him, for what he is doing in me and I praise him, and thank him, for what he will do in me and through me in the future.

 So, what do you praise God for today?

Posted in Misc Ramblings | Print | 2 Comments »

September 12, 2008 by Matt.

A pastor friend of mine recently posted a post on his blog (I was going to put a link here, but I am not at home and can’t get to his blog from my work computer) that really made me think. He said that most of the blogs that he read were really good about posting what they did that worked. They very often posted their successes. However, they rarely posted their failures. As I read this, I realized that I wasn’t one to post my failures. So, I started to think about what I did that hadn’t worked. As I thought about this I realized that in my ministry there were not any things that I could come up with that had failed. I immediately realized that this was not because I was that good, or that God had gifted me more then others. Rather I realized that I was not doing things that didn’t work, because I was not doing enough things. If you are always successful, then you are probably not doing enough. You are probably not trying hard enough.

Even as pastors guided by God, there will be some things that we do that fail. Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”  

So, do have stories of failure to tell. If not, maybe you need to examine yourself to see if you are trying hard enough. 

The other thing I got from this friends post was the need for transparency. I agree that pastors need to be more open about what they have tried that did not work. This can keep others from making the same mistake. Not only that, but what doesn’t work in your church might work in mine. So, if the idea failed and the reason for the failure can be identified, then it may be that this idea could work in the unique environment of my church even though it did not work in your, and visa-versa. 

So, I challenge myself to try harder so that I might fail. And I promise to strive for more transparency so that you can learn from my mistakes, of which I am sure there will be many.

Posted in Thoughts on Things | Print | No Comments »