Afternoons with John

I've read the book Tuesdays with Morrie....and have found that I have my own version of this book..."afternoons with John". John is our 70+ year old volunteer janitor at the corps. He's a former military man and union president. But most importantly he's a man of God. We get into some really good discussions about life, society, and our need to turn back to God. He's a funny guy but one who has learned many lessons from his journey on this path we call life. Today we talked about the biblical intelligence and lack of foundational faith in our churches. He was so passionate about the epidemic spreading across generations...a reason we decided why the DiVinci Code was so appealing. If we are only getting what we like to hear in church...or getting fast food theology, how can we not exect these results? Why is a book causing such grief in the church? Are we really that unstable or have we presented the Gospel as that unstable (God help us if we have)? I do not put my faith in humanity, in things, or in theory... they will surely fail me at some point. My faith is in the One, Unchanging, Unfailing, True God. He cannot be anything that contradicts Himself.
Why are we banning books and movies that may cause us to actually need to testify to others our faith? Why are we not banning practices that cause people to be enslaved in systems and self destruction? Are we really who we say we are? Have we played church too long and are now being tested? Is this an instrument being used to expose the church's true testiment of faith? What do you think?

WHERE DID I PUT THAT "EASY" BUTTON?

Staples has a commercial where an office is facing a difficult situation...someone pulls out the easy button and the problem is solved immediately. Sometimes I need to find that "easy" button for my ministry. Visitation, sermon prep, programming, fundraising, evangelism, music, volunteers, camps...the list goes on and on. No, this is not a continuation of the last post...I just wonder, how do we make ministry a team effort? When did the Church lose its calling to ministry? I'm talking about everyone in the body of believers having a sense of personal ministry. When was the line drawn between the minister and the congregation when it comes to encouraging and building up the entire body? Have we become so me-centered in our worship that we can't see beyond our own needs? Have we become so me-centered in our ministry that we can only do the things that benefit us? Have we lost the sense of personal sacrifice when it comes to ministry? If Jesus felt the need to initially include 12 men in His earthly ministry (the number increased throughout His ministry--although not mentioned by name) why are we any different? In a church of 20...we should find 20 active ministers; in a church of 50...we should find 50 active ministers. Why is this not being practiced, taught, or understood by the Church? Comments please...

PART 7: WHAT IS MINISTRY? (only 3 more questions to go)

I find myself struggling with this when my schedule, my life, and my resources are so consumed with "stuff". Is it a coping mechanism that helps me deal with the daily stresses? Is it a way for God to help me prioritize the ministry to which He has called me? When I list the daily (even hourly) ministry opportunities--in addition to the day to day family responsibilities--I get exhausted just looking at the thing. Praise God He equips us with strength, power, and the courage to face such a gigantic list...but when do we push the Philippians 4:13 faith to a "I should be able to do all things...so I'm going to do all things" approach to ministry? Is it pressure from the calling to ministry or pressure of other's expectations of the calling? I know that being prayed up and filled up with the Spirit helps--I'd be in a dark room hiding if not. I guess my biggest question is: "How do we minister effectively (I'm not talking about the church at large--I mean individually)? How do we distinguish between the calling and the checklist?"