Wedding Planning...

I was reading a blog by Kent Shaffer (Churchrelevance.com) he was talking about the wedding ring pillow his wife was making. He pointed out the meticulous planning that goes into the wedding. While reading that it stuck me how right he is. In my time as a pastor I did several weddings. Each one was different, butt each one was meticulously put together. The dress had to be just right, the day had to be just right, the guest list had to be complete, the cake had to be perfect… And on my side there was great planning too. We had to have a certain number of counseling sessions before the wedding. I had to get the right scriptures, the sanctuary had to be laid out just right, the music had to be done well, everything had its place and everything had to be planned for. It took months, or maybe for the bride and groom, a year or more to plan. I often wish that people would put as much time into the marriage as they do the wedding. If they did that we would have a lot less broken families these days.

Sometimes I think, that we approach our relationship with Christ the same way. As believers we plan the wedding. We know just what we are going to say to an unbelieving friend. We plan out the invitation to a special youth event, a church service, or just coffee and deep discussion at the local café. We know what scriptures we are going to use to get the point across, we have prayed and prayed and prayed and then prayed some more for the right words, the right moment, and the right heart to receive the message from the Spirit. Some of us keep prayer journals for years, praying each day for loved ones who do not know Jesus as we do, planning and more planning for the wedding. And when it happens it is a wonderful thing, a glorious thing, and all the planning coupled with the great mystery of God’s timing and the movement of His Spirit in the heart of the unbeliever and BANG!, there is a wedding bride and groom, Church and Christ. Then comes the marriage…

If we gave the same amount of time to the long marriage as we do the short wedding would their walk be deeper? Would your walk be deeper? Are we cultivating our relationship with God? Are we treating our spiritual marriage the same way we sometimes do a physical one? We get comfortable, we start to know each others routines and rhythms and soon we stop doing the little things… the prayers slow down, the devotions get shorter and shorter, we are reading verses quickly instead of whole chapters in God’s story.. Where has the relationship gone?

When it comes to bringing the saving gospel story to one who is yet to be connected with Jesus do we bring it as a gift and leave it at the doorstep, or do we stay with them side by side throughout the journey. Do we give them a fish to eat for that day, or do we teach them to fish to eat for a lifetime? Are we building disciples who build disciples or are we simply planning the wedding?

What is my passion?

"I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ." (Count Zinzindorf)

I gave up the Blogging for a while, took it up again, gave it up again.. and now here I am... I do this the same way I journal. If you are like me you have many half filled, or empty journals on your shelf. The thoughts that go through my mind have not slowed down I just don't seem to get them to the paper (or screen) any more.

Anyway.. I had a great session with some brothers this morning. One of the things that came to mind and heart was "Where is my passion?" Recently, as many of you know I have stepped out of formal pastoral ministry, a place where I believed God was calling me. I completed my education (at great cost to my family), and began ministry, just like the plan was supposed to work, right(?). Along the way God seemed to be telling me that for me to be in ministry the way he called me to ministry I would have to be different than most people around me. Of course, when I did this it was my ruin in the traditional denominational church. I am at peace with that, and I pray for those who fruitfully serve in that church and thrive there in good Kingdom work. But my inability to fit in there began me in a journey of trying to figure out why God made me the way He did, and so, I began to wonder, now that I am standing on the outside... what is my passion?

I think I had gotten to a place where my passion began to take on the same image as my worldly desires. A place where my passion stood above God's passion for me. I started to chase after what made me happy, what I felt was right worship, right practice, right doctrine etc... I, like many of us began to replace parts of what I knew were God with parts of myself, I began to carve an idol that looked a lot like me. I think God has placed me in a great valley of peace and introspection for a reason. I am finding strength here in knowing that He is recreating me in His image, and I have stopped trying to recreate Him in mine.

The scripture that brought it home for me this morning was 1 Cor 1:11-13 - "For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!"

Have we found a Paul, or Apollos, or Peter to follow?
Have we become a Paul, Apollos, or Peter who wants followers?
Have we divided Christ into factions (i.e. denominations, faiths, beliefs, versions of the Bible, Charismatic or Fundamentalist.. etc...)?

Are you satisfied with whom you are following? and is it Christ alone?
Go back and read Zinzindorf's words at the beginning of this post.. is that true for you?