Following Jesus, Leading His Church
1 Samuel 15 details a tragic episode in the life of Saul, the first king of Israel. Despite a positive start, Saul’s reign as king was marked by folly and rebellion. The pattern of Saul’s folly and rebellion reached a low point in 1 Samuel 15.
What motivates a regular pastor? What drives him to stand in the pulpit, week after week, proclaiming biblical truth?
“I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary.”
If you attend church long enough, odds are you will have to “shop” for a church at some point in your life. When you find yourself looking for a new church, these are a few things you ought to look for.
My question is simple: Why in the world are we so eager to take sides, especially when the sides center around evangelical celebrities that most of us do not know and will never know on a personal level?
Recently NBC News posted an article titled “Are We Living in a Simulated Universe? Here’s what Scientists Say.” In the article, Dan Falk suggests that we may be living in a such a simulation, behind which stands an “architect” or a “programmer.”
I don’t have a one-sized-fits-all answer for what you do at church the Sunday after a mass shooting. I do know what happened at Immanuel.
I think our volunteers and staff would agree with me when I say, after five days of games, songs, crafts, and controlled chaos, I was exhausted. VBS requires a tremendous amount of work!
On a practical level, what would it look like for our churches to embrace the responsibility of sending missionaries and missionary teams to the ends of the earth? I think a church that wants to be a “sending church” must embrace these four responsibilities.
