To Be A Fool…

What do you all think about the use of “titles” in the church? Good? Bad? Indifferent? I have always struggled with the concept of titles, but accepted them because… well… we were supposed to respect our leaders, and submit, right?

I heard a teaching by Graham Cooke a few weeks ago talking about how many “titles” are really ‘job descriptions’ rather than something we should actually call people.

I was reading a post on Battered Sheep about this topic. Go read it for yourself if you’d like, and let me know your thoughts!

Here is just one small quote from the article:

It is important to emphasize that such terms as “elder,” “overseer,” and “pastor” are functional terms, and were never intended to serve as formal titles. In other words, the terminology is descriptive of one’s task; they help to picture a church leader’s function or may even denote one’s spiritual maturity as in the term “elder.” Thus, it is just as foolish and unnecessary to speak of “Pastor Bob” as it is to speak of one who possesses the gift or function of hospitality as “Hospitality Harry”; or one who has the gift of mercy as “Mercy Mary”; or one who has the gift of giving as “Giving George.”

What do you think?

Wondering exactly how big God is?

Watch this incredible video here!

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p.s. in response to inquiries, here is some information about purchasing this. This is just from my own web-search, and I know nothing of the quality of the product, the websites, or the content of the advertised products.

• This DVD is for sale at Our Church Bookstore (no, not my church, that is the name of the website I found it for sale at).
• A new 2 DVD set of Indescribable (Passion Talk Series) by Louis Giglio is available for pre-purchase from Amazon, due out April 29th, 2008.

(this post has been so wildly popular, I’m bumping it up to make it easier to find.)

We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered. -Tom Stoppard

A friend of mine posted this on her blog, and I was intrigued by it. How many things in our past are just memories of painful times where we burned a bridge. Are all bridges to be burned? I guess not, but sometimes it is far easier to burn them rather than mend them.

I remember a dream of sorts I had some years ago after leaving a situation in which I had been very hurt. I staggered and crawled across a swinging bridge… desperate for safety and peace. Desperate to find a place to lay down and heal… or to die. When I reached the other side, and with a grim determination, I turned to light the bridge on fire. The Lord stopped me, with the reminder that one day I may want to cross it again… or even help other people needing to find the way across it.

There are things we want to leave behind permanently. And even scripture tells us to keep the past behind us. I understand that. I prefer that! But scripture also tells us about reconciliation… times when we do revisit the past with a brother or sister in order to be healed from it, and for our relationships to be made whole and strong once again. (I’ll post some scriptures at the end.)

When we burn a bridge (usually out of self-preservation) we also have the potiential of never finding the road to reconciliation. I’m not saying never to burn bridges… there are the wolves, after all… But it is important to have the discernment on when to burn, and when to leave the bridge intact… or even to improve upon it.

There are many times when I want to reject another person because I fear being hurt, or I dislike the “stuff” I see in their lives. Or, in my life, the very fear of being rejected causes me to run and hide… to push someone away. Perhaps this is the very time I must press into the relationship and see bridges strengthened, rather than destroyed. Maybe they will burn the bridge themselves… but as far as it is left up to me, unless the relationship is extremely damaging and needs cut off, I want to see relationships mended and built up rather than destroyed.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23 (NIV)

15“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Matthew 18:15-17 (NIV)

21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)

One of my favorite scriptures about relationships is Ecclesiastes 4: 8-12

8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Let us use discernment in our relationships… asking the Lord to show us which bridges need to be mended, and which need to be burned, before we rashly burn something that was never intended to be destroyed.

Blessings,

Heidi

Let’s consider the words that come out of our mouth. We can build up… or we can destroy… with just our words.

Some of the most serious hurts in my life come from words. Little words that cut, tore down, and cursed me. What about you?

Let us consider our words carefully. There are a lot of scriptures about the tongue. Here are just a few.

Reckless words pierce like a sword,but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)

A sword sounds about right. Sometimes I think I’d rather be stabbed by a sword than live with the words spoken. Amazing how an emotional pain can hurt.

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)

Ever been crushed by someone’s words? I have.  I’ll bet that everyone has felt the sting of words at least once.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Life and death. We can give or take life. Sure… they may not be physically dead, but we can kill them on the inside where nobody ever sees the pain… some take their own lives to escape the pain inflicted by others. Let’s show them the healing that can come, also from words… speaking words of life over the damaged and broken, showing the love of Christ to them.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. James 3:9-10 (NIV)

It reminds me of an old horror movie, where some horrible monster comes through and destroys the town before the army can figure out what to do to stop it. Someone with a tongue that is out of control can cause that kind of damage to a church or group.

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. James 3:2 (NIV)

Oh to be perfect. Oh to be able to go back in time and take away the words spoken over me, and the words I have spoken over others… only through Christ can these words be made null and void… to be made to fall to the ground lifeless and without power.

Let’s be conscious of our tongues today, and use our speech to give life to another. Let our words bring healing, and our love show the way to Christ.

That person who sits next to you on Sunday might seem to have it all together, but underneath there may be a person who has been torn apart and in tremendous pain. Trust me…. you never know who is covering the fact that they are crippled emotionally.

Ask the Lord to show you who you can build up and how.

Blessings,

Heidi

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission. I guess it started because I was on a church website where they mentioned these two major scriptures, and how they feel led to live them out. This church said that they believed that the Great Commandment is first, and then the Great Commission is to be followed also. Therefore, they spend time loving the Lord, and loving one another. Then they go forth and share that with the world.

I was thinking that sounds really cool.

The Greatest Commandment: Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV)

The Great Commission: Matthew 28: 16-20 (NIV)

Well, that got me started to thinking about how we all have been given different personalities and gifts. Why is it that we always feel the need to “fix” one another even if we have to beat our point of view into others? I’ve had people say to me that I’m too sensitive, and I care too much about other people. Or that I should just let people go ahead and make mistakes, rather than trying to help them, because they will never grow up that way. I’ve told other people that they don’t care enough, or that they should be doing this, or that….

My point being, we go back and forth judging the way the God has made each one of us. I’m not talking about the “junk” we all have that needs to be cleared up as we conform to Christ…. I’m talking about the different, unique and special ways God made each of us. Even in the conforming we are to do to become more like Christ, will that all look the same? We will evidence the fruit of the Spirit, yes.. but we still won’t share the same personality and gifts, just as we won’t all suddenly start to look exactly like one another.

God is multifaceted. Do a study sometime on the Names Of God, and you’ll discover a bit of how vast and wonderful God really is. And just as He is many things to make a whole… he created us in a way that ALL the parts of the body need to work together to be effective and healthy. How can a head get around without feet? How can a hand scratch an itch without the arm? If we all were noses, who would get the kleenex when things got messy? ewwww…. (that’snot a pretty picture, ha)

Some get out of bed each morning for the joy of going out to preach the Salvation message and see people saved. Some of us are more Pastoral, and really care about the well-being of others, and want to see people made whole and happy. And others spend hours studying scripture, then there are the servants that take the word to a new level and serve wholeheartedly. Some build up and encourage others, and another may be more likely to be found among the poorest, loving the unlovable. We musicians could sit and worship and never notice that the city is burning down, while those who put out the fires are running around yelling for us to help them.

What is my point? If we were all the same, life would be BORING! We don’t need to keep trying to get everyone to conform to us… we need to get out there and do what we feel convicted to do, and allow others to do the same. We need to stop expecting others to do what we want them to, and allow them to use their own gifts and callings… maybe even help them and encourage them to do so!

If he had meant us to all be the same… little clones running around doing the same thing, wouldn’t he have made us that way? Perhaps we are ALL needed to see the body of Christ built up until we reach the things listed above.

Just some food for thought, and a fresh reminder for myself as well, to bear with one another in love. And aren’t the Great Commandment and the Great Commission part of the point after all? It takes us all to fulfill both.

Heidi

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(I just ordered a pound of Ethiopian coffee… I’ll let you know how it turns out!)

There is a scripture that God has given us time and time again.

We are not ashamed to be fools for Jesus!

In the eyes of the world, we look foolish. Believing in a God nobody can see? Believing in an afterlife that isn’t evident to our natural lives? Even trusting in the greater plan of a higher being that supposedly created us from dirt?

Even more ridiculous is the belief that Jesus is not only God’s son, but also God, and that he wasn’t just a good man but rather a Savior who gave his life that we might be able to spend eternity with God.

Of course, I would say that to believe Jesus was just a good man is impossible for those to would actually read what he claimed to be! He claimed to be divine. To be the messiah. He claimed to be the son of God. He also advocated belief in God, and taught about his Father in Heaven, claiming that to see him was to see his Father.

Jesus was either a mad-man, so insane that he would certainly spend his life institutionalized here today, OR he was who he claimed to be. That doesn’t leave the choice of being just a “good man.” That doesn’t leave the choice of being just a “prophet.” We are only left with the decision to believe he is telling the truth… or to believe he was the biggest liar ever.

So those of us who DO believe… who are “foolish” enough to stand against everyone telling us we are crazy… must believe it all. All… or nothing.

If you want to find out more about this Jesus guy, you can pick up a Bible. Try the book of John. It is in the New Testament. Don’t have a Bible? You can read the Bible online for FREE at www.biblegateway.com. Or you can visit the website of some friends of mine. www.considereternity.com for more information.

Happy to be a fool,

HW