Word of the Day – In the last few days I have made a visit to the ER and had a pretty tough week overall. Today my doctor told that I have a very rare heart condition that disrupts the electrical pathways in my heart. He was very clear and blunt. He said, with this condition, one day you may randomly and suddenly fall over dead and will not be revivable.
He seemed confused as he looked my way and saw a smile on my face. “Does this not bother you?” he asked. I replied, I guess that I have heard that statement so much from the great preachers of past that it just doesn’t phase me anymore!” We all will die one day. Some of us get to see that day coming while others receive no advanced notice.
Yet for a brief moment, the flesh within caused me to ponder. “If I may die sooner than later, why should I spend my time and energy ministering to others when I could spend the precious time with those I love?” We all know that ministry is a tough road; especially when you are starting a church without the help of a denomination. In ministry you invest your life and energy into so many other people. “Is it such a bad thing to want to use that energy for my own purposes instead?”
The moment came and quickly was pushed away. For my life is no longer my own. I am a servant of the living God. And even though my greatest desire is to see His face, I will faithfully remain at my post until He calls me home. Just as Paul wrote from his prison cell, 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain… 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. (Phi. 1:21,24)And He has made that post clear for me. He has called me to start a new type of fellowship in Bock, MN that may one day foster a reform in church structure. This new fellowship will function as a prototype for many other pastors and fellowships to use as the Lord leads them out of the institutionalized church.
Therefore, know that if you see me preaching. I am not there to build a legacy or to make a name for myself. For if I had a choice, I would spend every waking moment with the wife and children that I love. Yet the love inside of me compels me to push forward in the plans Christ has laid before me. I am starting a church because I love the people in this community and I desperately want them to experience the same love and warmth I feel from a God that has redeemed me from sin and has given me eternal life in Christ. I serve only because I love, and I love only because I have been loved.
What folly it is to start a church with no board, no launch team, and no assets. Yet those things are not what bring people together who are seeking the living God. In our culture today, people are seeking Truth. They are done with politics; they are done with philosophy and psychology. They are done with this half gospel of “God loves you” that has left a hole in their souls. People want the Truth. People are ready to hear the full gospel from someone that they know loves them.
Therefore, if you find yourself in the Milaca/Ogilvie area and you are one of the many hundreds of people who have walked away from religion, know that there is a fellowship starting that will love you where you are at, yet at the same time strive to reveal the Truth so that we can all have joy in this life and the next.
I don’t know if God is going to give me 5 months or 40 more years on this earth. But with every breath I take, I will strive to serve the Lord. You see, I don’t have time for politics or legacies. I don’t have time for the traditions and bylaws of men. The thing that I have time for is loving those God brings my way and sharing the living unfiltered Word of God. Therefore, let us all live like our days are numbered. For one day soon, Christ will come again for His faithful. Holiness unto the Lord…