Ministry to People

Many times when I teach or serve or talk, I picture in my mind an 'average person.' I've never met an average person. Everyone I've ever talked to has had their own story, their own history, & their unique place in God's working.

Ministry to People means Ministry to Specific People. Our effectiveness increases as we know about the object of our service and tailor our interactions. Children grow and change and the way we interact with a 5 year old (in general) will be different from the way we interact with a 10 year old.

Lord, help me to choose to love individuals as specifically as I'm able and make up what I lack in content or connection or clarity. May You have the glory!

Too many Helpers

I used to say this all the time in the context of finances, but my recent contemplation of God's role in our lives has broadened it to "No one is going to DO your life."

God and many people want to help you make decisions, but you are the one who will have to decide. God and many people will provide resources and gifts, but you are the one who has to accept them. YOU have to live YOUR life (otherwise we wouldn't call it YOUR life, eh?).

I sing b/c...

It's always interesting how the leaders at weekend service will try to prompt those gathered for worship. While there may be lots of good/better/best ideas out there, my thinking on singing on Sunday morning is reduced to an old song, "I sing because I'm happy; I sing because I'm free."

You're full of...

How can God fill me when I'm full of myself?

The life you choose

We all have choices to make. One that has confronted me recently has been whether to choose an Easy Life or a Great Life. Which will you choose?

God is like coffee

While at the Alpha weekend away, our discussion of the Holy Spirit led to this analogy: His empowerment is like coffee and I'm like a cup. Sometimes the coffee slops out if I'm not careful, sometimes, I drink it, sometimes I share it, sometimes I choose to toss it out. Just like my coffee cup needs refilling, I need refilling of the Holy Spirit's power. I'm glad He's got more in  reserve than even Starbuck's.

Pumpkins

Is the point of this picture that 'pumpkins are orange'?

How about this one?

Now this one?

The Bible makes statements along the lines of  'pumpkins are orange,' and yet we miss the point if that's the main thing we get rather than something along the lines of  'Emily went to the pumpkin patch and had a great time as she celebrated the fall harvest with some orange pumpkins.' Did Paul write Galatians because "we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and not by our works, or the works of the Law," (link) or because "some people are disagreeing with me about salvation and here is why they are wrong. Don't listen to them." Every part of the Bible was written in a specific historical context. The truths in them, both revealed and implied, are being brought to bear in a very specific way. It's easy to forget - especially when the pumpkins are so orange.