"Go Missional"

Wow!  We have been planning the "Go Missional Conference" for quite some time now, and the weekend is finally upon us.  Rev. Dr. John Juneman from Life ministries International will be arriving Thursday, and on Friday morning he will meet with a group of pastors from small churches for breakfast and fellowship together.  Friday and Saturday evenings he will be teaching in two churches - New Life Community Church of the Nazarene and New Life Baptist Church.  Saturday morning he will be conducting an interactive Bible Study at new Life Baptist Church in Hatchet Lake.  On Sunday morning he will be guest speaker at New Life Baptist Church for the morning service.  May God bless this special conference.

Pastors always have a secret wish list when planning such events.  My personal wish is that everyone in my church will make time to be in attendance and to seek renewal.  We (the Elders and myself) believe that God has been leading us in a certain direction as far as our ministry purpose goes, and John Juneman will not only help to confirm that, but to bless it and inspire us to fulfill it.

This is our time to shine!  It is our time for renewal in our personal lives, and in the purpose of our church.  Of course our ultimate purpose is to glorify God, but it is how we do that which concerns me.  Sometimes the things that we do over and over again have no sense of purpose anymore.  When we come to such times it is time to bring out the "chopping block".  Everything is on the chopping block from the way we worship to the way we teach Sunday School. If it no longer serves any sense of purpose, it should be chopped up and thrown into the fire (figuratively speaking; see Matthew 3:10), and then we should look for a new way of doing it.  This is often the outer results of an inward renewal taking place.

Renewal starts in the hearts of Christians, in the heart of the church.  It involves confession for our sinful ways; but also for our complacency, and robotic efforts in ministry.  I once had a well-intentioned Sunday School leader tell me that he had been the superintendent of his church for over forty years and he no longer had to prepare a thing.  After forty years he had done the same thing so many times that he could actually do it without thinking.  Unfortunately, he couldn't see that his robotic approach to leadership had lost all semblance of life (probably some twenty-five years earlier).  He needed to discover a new way to bring life into his efforts of serving.

My wish is that we gain a clear vision of change for the right reasons and purpose.  Change for the sake of change, hoping that change alone will make the difference, can be a fatal sin.  It seems that many local congregations make this mistake.  But when change is made out of a renewed sense of purpose and mission, then it is important that changes are made according to the dictates of renewal. 

Let us heed the voice of the Almighty One!

Blessings,

-Leo