I must say that it's been a rough month of July for me in terms of making myself available to those in our community. I have had some conflicts with people whom I love because they love the God I love as well. Sometimes, I spread myself way to thin making myself available to those in need of my spiritual advice (in which I am glad to give), eventually neglecting others also in need. It seems that I am torn between two, three or four places at the same time.
When I baptize a person bringing him/her into the Lord's Kingdom, thankfully, I was informed that I suddenly abandon them, leaving them alone in the dark world. They are a new creation whom Satan preys on. Assumingly, I thought the brothers and sisters within the Lord's church at Fairfax would give such a new creation the support he/she needs but I was wrong. It didn't happen. And such a new person in Christ did not know who to turn to or do they know the right person to help them build their life on the very foundation of Jesus Christ our Lord?
I cannot count how many souls we have brought to Jesus and, at the same time, how many we have lost! This opened the eyes of my heart and after sharing this newfound problem with a small group of strong faithful Christians at Fairfax, it opened theirs! We gathered together to quickly discuss the problem and search for a remedy to this ongoing problem. One member raised his hands up saying that he wants to take the "reins" forming a New Member Ministry where he and his group will put extra efforts to ensure the new person of Christ is growing on the very foundation of Jesus Christ, that they are being nutured and taught the very Word of God and that they are growing up in the Lord.
Another member raised her hand asking that we have an "All Family Meeting" again to discuss the weaknesses in the church and get the Lord's children involved putting attention on some of the top 3 ongoing problems in His church. She also mentioned that our community need to see the deaf minister and that's where he needs to be: out in the field ripe for harvest! Instead, he's in the office preparing sermons, bible study lessons, MediaShout, answering emails and more. Not that he should neglect this important responsibilities mentioned above but just to remember that Sunday's lessons aren't the "most important", it is the people out in our community that is the "most important". He needs to expose himself like Jesus did all over Judea and Samaria!
Though, we're an imperfect church with a perfect Savior Jesus Christ our Lord, we're grateful to the Lord for opening our eyes to see such a problem that deserves our attention and those souls who had craved for spiritual guidance had been neglected. Forgive us! You know it's never our intention. Thanks for waking us up and Lord willing, we'll tackle this problem down to the ground!
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,.." Colossians 3:23 (niv)
3 comments:
Mark,
Personally, I'm grateful for this blog! I recalled the class when you talked about "compartmentalized living" and how most of the Christians in almost every church super-pack their "priorities" lessening the availability to serve God. They say, "I serve God on Sunday but I have my own responsibilities the rest of the six days of the week. And if something pops up, it all depends on my "schedule"."
I like it when this female Christian told you this quote, "Sunday isn't the "most important", it's the rest of the week that is the "most important" where souls are ripe for harvest." Sunday is a time to "prepare" for the rest of the week. Sadly, many of us don't think this way. Mind if I share with you another thought for the Sunday's worshippers to see? If you don't like this comment, feel free to delete it:
I Attended church, and Worshipped God, then I'm Outta here so see you Later. You saw them on Sunday now they have gone AWOL: Attend, Worshipped, Outta, Later.
Do they realize they may be doing more hurt by living a super-packing-compartmentalized-living?
We need to change our perspective of what worship really means. It's not only my or your Sunday's attendance. It's an everyday experience with God: with times of prayer, with diligent study of the Scriptures, with reaching out to others (consider others better than ourselves), with fighting against Satan's plans (individually), with inviting people to our homes, with making ourselves available for whatever the Lord has in store for us, with making sacrifices freeing up my compartmentalized living and with getting to know God better each day!
Don't kick yourself too hard. I think the church as a whole drops new Christians once they have been baptized....just at the time when Satan would be working overtime. We often think that once we've been baptized we've done our job! So false a statement. I applaud you for recognising this trend. Maybe we can all as a whole work on minisitering to new Christians as well as the soon-to-be Christians.
Amen! Thanks for your comments! And, Val, thanks for your encouragement. Being a minister is never an easy task. Expectations of me and Michelle are extremely high. We're two fishes in a fishbowl and everyone is watching to make sure we're doing what they think we're supposed to be doing and if we're giving them the answer they expect us to give and that they're receiving exactly what they want us to provide.
If all the above is true, they're in for a huge disappointment because that wasn't the way Jesus did in the old days when people expect Him to provide for whatever they're searching for. Instead, He ask a question or give them something else.
Again, thanks for your comments. It helps!
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