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-->One Pastors View
From where I speak each week I have a different perspective of church, saints and sinners. Sure I’ve heard some critics of church but most are similar to sports fans questioning each call of the coach and critical of those actually playing the game. Its easy to fall into that unproductive routine. From my perspective its different. Here’s my view from just last weekend. A little girl whose father passed away was brought to me by her mother. She wanted me to show her a verse for comfort since daddy can’t do that anymore. Behind her stood a young couple, married only a few months and the wife’s facing a life-threatening disease. They are scared beyond words. Our prayer time began and I asked the church to pray for a mother, whose son serving our country, was killed in Afghanistan last week. She wanted to sit in the church he enjoyed and had attended while he was here at Ft. Benning. As I stood to speak, to my left was a dear couple whose young son had been murdered and the trial is about to begin. I saw a man whose wife was smiling widely because her husband who’d vowed never to go to church, was back today after his first visit last week. And there’s a precious gentlemen of Jewish origin who always sits up front because of his hearing problems and physical limitations. He had been a child who’d survived the German Holocaust. I saw families visiting for the first time to see a loved one baptized, couples looking for guidance to a better marriage, and the list goes on and on. What I am saying is that behind every life is a story. I’ve read a few of the books of critics trying to correct the church with their opinion of how they’d do it if they were on the field. Problem is that they’re in the stands and it’s easy to be an expert in that seat. Every person in a seat represented someone that needs God in their particular situation. That’s one Pastors view. I don’t think I’ll ever get lose that perspective and I pray that I won’t.
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September 27, 2009
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What an amazing view you must have. From my seat on Sunday I can’t see all that you see but when eyes are closed and everyone is deep in thought and prayer, I open mine and watch…and my faith grows. This week I watched my two children walk down to the man at the end of the aisle and ask Jesus into their hearts! What an awesome choice they have both made. You never know what the person around you may be going through and I have found that at the beginning of the service the bigger I smile…and the firmer I shake hands…the service seems to have more meaning and the smiles are recipricated. What a blessing to have such a strong church in our community…one that is based on faith…never shuns you if you miss a couple weeks or a year…forgives you when you sin…and lifts you up when you need it the most. God Bless.
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September 29, 2009
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Amen Pastor Bill! This pastor remembers when God taught him the same truth. I stepped out of the Auditorium one Sunday morning to find a lady crying in the foyer. She hadn’t been in the service but asked would I immediately follow her home to speak to her brother who had recently attempted suicide…and was contemplating a failproof second attempt. After a long afternoon of hearing things that I wished weren’t even possible, I remember standing on the front porch of a house I’d never seen, looking out at a neighborhood I’d never been in. On one side I could hear a war between a husband & wife while the children were playing in the front yard staring at me. To the other side was an elderly, wheelchair bound man who- I was told- never leaves home. Across the street was a couple wearing Sunday finest leaving for evening service. And passing by was the mother of a young man whose funeral I had recently preached -she wanted to drive by the house in which he was living only two weeks earlier. On that porch I had only one thought: THERE’S A DIFFERENT REALITY UNDER EVERY ROOF I SEE. It’s a broken world full of broken people and we all need Jesus! I tried to read some of those books too. But when they go to dismantling the Church b/c of their petty preferences - their book becomes a dust collector on my shelf. When their feet walks the street, maybe then I’ll listen. Just another pastor’s view…
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September 29, 2009
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Pastor, I also hope you never loose your perspective. Your perspective from where you stand influences the perspective that we, as followers have.
And with regard to the arm chair coaches. If they would get out of the stands and play a game on God’s team, their perspective would change wouldn’t it. I have to think about Matthew 7:3 right now with regard to Christian ctitics. Thank you for your perspective. I cannot begin to tell you how important it is in todays world. May the Lord continue ot bless you.