This is post #250. Crazy.
It will be randomness because that is all I can think of today.
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On Monday I will be heading to Coldwater to go to a to begin the process of getting rid of my allergies. Normal doctors say it can't be done, but this will be an experiment that you can come along with me on. The good thing is that, unlike me, it won't cost you a dime. I have severe wheat allergies and mild dairy and corn ones. I can't eat wheat without getting extremely tired and acquiring severe headaches. We will see what happens.
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More people from my church are arriving here. I was asked a couple times at church this Sunday what the address was for my blog. So if you're one of the new ones, welcome. I hope I don't offend. If I do, you won't be the first. Feel free to comment. Criticize if you like. Just remember to be cordial and identify yourself. Anonymous critiques are mocked and made fun of. And the crazy thing is that we enjoy doing it.
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If you're wondering why things are going to be tamed down, it is because people are coming here from my church. Just kidding. Things won't tame down. I do wonder if there is stuff in the archives that will cause trouble. I hope not. But I guess if it is something I believe, then it is probably okay that it is out there. Either I can be corrected if I am wrong, it can be ignored if it is true, or things can change.
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And just to prove things are taming down:
Our church handed out forms to fill out for what people are looking for in a minister besides the givens of being godly and the like. They wanted three things.
Here is what I have written down so far.
1. They have a passion for using church finances in loving ways.
I didn't explain my whole feelings on this subject on the paper. I think it is a good goal for a church to spend 50% of all of its offerings on tangible loving actions. Although I church is currently in a financial bind, I see nothing wrong with making every future decision that we come across with that goal in mind. Whether that is through supporting missionaries, helping people within the church, or loving projects to those outside of the church, doing acts of love is the main way for us to be an example of the kingdom of God. I will probably go into loving actions more in the future, but I also have gone over them a lot in the past.
2. They are very comfortable with sharing the pulpit and sharing ministries.
The last thing a church that is on its way to becoming a priesthood of believers needs is for one person to come in and take over the ministries of the church and quench all the progress. I have thoroughly been blessed by hearing other people preach rather than the same guy preach every week. I hope it is true for other people in the church. And we do have many people involved in ministering. There is no reason for one individual to come in and take charge of everything.
3. They aren't scared of going to the bar for a meal. This goes more towards their attitude towards the lost and their activities. We can talk all we want about having a heart for the lost, but if they aren't willing to go where the los are, they aren't going to be overly effective at showing Jesus' love to those in dire need of it.
This one will, obviously, be the most controversial. I included it because of something that I was really convicted of this morning. A minister in a town like Antwerp should be in touch with the bartenders and barkeeps. The minister could work with them, not in selling beer but in helping people who have needs. The bar is a place where people confess their sins and share their needs. Unfortunately, the church has nothing to do with it, so we don't know those things. But if we have a healthy relationship with the bartenders, then we would be able to discover those needs and help. I don't know if that would break barkeeper/beer drinker relationships, but I think it would be worth a try.
Antwerp only has two bars. If I were the minister, I would take the bartenders out for a dinner and share with them my idea. One of the bartender's wives already goes to our church, so I don't think it would be a tremendous stretch. The only problem is the fact that the Nazarene denomenation is a dry denomenation, and many people would view working with the bar in this manner as compromising the faith and condoning drunkeness. However, I do believe it is what Jesus would do. Am I wrong in thinking that?
It doesn't just stop at being loving to them. If they want to have a relationship with God, we would have to help them become holy. For some of them that might mean giving up alcohol. But alcohol isn't an evil in moderation. If you think I'm wrong, I'm open to you showing me Scriptures that prove otherwise.
I think the town of Antwerp would be touched by a community of believers who focused on spending their offerings on helping people, had an active laity, and was out in the community where the community actually is. I think having a minister that focused on these things would be incredible. I know it would be controversial, but I do think we follow a Savior who was a little controversial himself.
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I saw no movies this weekend. That is the way my life is. I wish I was like Bob and could watch movies. I just don't seem to get around to it.
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I have written 141,054 words to date on this blog not counting today. I thought it was approaching a 1,000,000, but I guess I have a long way to go to reach that. Sorry if I lied to you and say I was at 1,000,000.
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Alan Keyes didn't call Barack Obama to concede and congratulate him. He did concede to the public, but he didn't do the cordial call. I think he makes a good point. If you believe abortion is killing babies, yet someone beat you in a race which empowers him to legislate the killing of more babies, would you be comfortable in congratulating him for getting the power to kill more babies? You can go here and decide for yourself. Or you can choose to ignore it since it was the Illinois Senate Debate.
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I watched My Big, Fat, Obnoxious Boss tonight. What bufoons. I'm going to have to watch that show regularly. It's a study in how low humanity will stoop if they think they are going to get rich. And it's also hilarious at the same time.
Watch out for the potholes.
