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Showing posts from March, 2012

Stuck!!!

Today I'm stuck!  It seems that my creative juices have dried up.  I've prayed, read, walked, sat, viewed a video and just about everything else I can think of and I'm still stuck.  This is not a good time to be stuck because tonight is Prayer Meeting.  I need to have something fresh for the people tonight to get them on track to pray.  This will be one of those times when unless God shows up, we will have a drab 45 minutes where we sing a song, make announcements, read a scripture, and offer the obligatory prayers for healing for those who are sick and then go home. I feel almost as if I need a spiritual Roto Rooter to clean out my pipes and get the flow from God moving in my direction.  I've confessed, repented, praised, prayer walked around the building and now am purging my soul at the keyboard.  Maybe that is part of the problem.  If something works, I'll be hard put to determine which of these was the magic bullet. If this were a sit-com, all would be resolv

Are You Ready?

After all the hullabaloo (which is still going on and likely will escalate) surrounding the presidential race, are you any closer to making a decision?  Of course we won't know our final choices for some months, but every day we're bombarded with ads, blurbs, news items, etc surrounding each of the Republican wanna-be's as well as O'bama's slant on things.  I'm still waiting for someone to take the high road and emphasize what they plan to do if elected rather than blasting their opponents and slinging mud. All of this has made me look back at the Old Testament records of the kings.  In the first place, Israel's insistence that they have a king was a rejection of the leadership of God.  Jehovah finally acquiesced to their whining and gave them what they asked for, and there has been trouble ever since.  It seems to me that the best of the kings (David, Solomon, Joel, etc.) did not seek the position, but it was conferred on them either by the anointing of Go

The All Day 5 o'clock Shadow

Does anyone else find it strange that more and more we are seeing men in the media, especially comercials, exhibiting the shabby look of the 5 o'clock shadow?  It seems that after years of feminizing men and promoting "E.D" drugs which indicate that testosterone levels have dropped, those in the media are suddenly wanting to show that men still can grow facial hair.  Not full beards mind you, but just that "my beard is so heavy that even though I shave I still have this shadow".  I'm waiting for the day one of our politicians running for office shows up in a commercial, or for a debate with the manly "shadow". Don't get me wrong.  If I have a few days off, I'm likely not to shave.  It is not one of my favorite things to do.  However, I still think that when I'm at work, or in public, I need to be clean shaven.  I can even go a couple of days without anyone noticiing (guess I really do have "low T")   I'm noticing that m

On Pastoring a Sr. Adult Church

Some days it is tough to determine just what I should be doing.  Most of my parishioners are 60+ in age.  In the 6 months I've been pastor here I've had 4 funerals and no weddings.  There are days that I feel like a hospice chaplain as I visit the terminally ill in various hospitals and nursing facilities.  Most of my praying is for health or God's mercy upon those who are suffering.   Our fellowship is wonderful.  The people are loving, kind and gracious.  Those who visit here are welcomed and most seem to enjoy their time with us.  However, we've had one baptism and one addition by letter in six months.  How can we even start to fulfill the Great Commission that way?   I suppose I could just relax and enjoy being the resident teacher, entertainer, activities and choir director for this land locked cruise ship called a church, but somehow that just isn't enough.  It seems that the Lord left us no alternative...we are to be disciple-makers which includes sharing t