Things I miss from back home

I miss my family...mom and dad, brother Steve, and my sisters Deb and Joni. I miss all of them, my nieces and nephews...all of them. I am especially going to miss them this thanksgiving. That is my favorite time of year and the whole family gets together and enjoys my mom's fantastic Thanksgiving dinner, watching football and eating some of mom's famous coconut cream and butterscotch pies. I really am going to miss them this holiday season.

I miss the crisp fall weather. Leaves changing colors is a beautiful thing to see. I love the smell of burning leaves in the fall.

I miss Skyline Chili. It is Cincinnati style chili and it is AWESOME! Along those lines, I miss Krispy Kreme donuts, Five Guys Hamburgers, Tiajuana Flats Mexican food, and my mom's beans and cornbread. Are you seeing a theme here?

I miss my friends. Dave V, Jimmy, Bob S, Mark S, Mark G, Kevy K, Ernie V, and all my golfing buddies.

Things I won't miss are easy. I won't miss the gray skies from November to March. I won't miss all that snow and wet...yuck. I won't miss having to watch the Detroit Lions every Sunday. I won't miss a cold rain in late October.

Not sure what all this means to you...but I appreciate the opportunity to share.

Take care,

Rod

What next?

I love that Journey Community has "begun". I love the thought of meeting with the family and friends every week. I love preaching and to be able to do that every week is an absolute blessing. We had 155 at our second service and 9 people made decisions to follow Christ. We hope to find a place to be able do some baptisms and we are sure we will. I am excited about the possibility of the influence Journey will have on the community of Fernley and for Christ. But now I am praying about "What's next?"

I am confident God wants something more than just another church in Fernley. What does He want? The call to be a church of Irresistible Influence (I2) needs to overwhelm and overcome us. I want to "tear this community up" for God. I am anxiously awaiting for what's next. I want to live, serve and do expectantly...do you?

Take care,

Rod

Last 5 Reasons to abandon ship

6. The church keeps losing it's Pastor. Let me tell you there are many reasons that make it necessary to leave, but often churches chase pastors away. Consistency and longevity often lead to strength and effectiveness.

7. Secretive leadership. I served at a church where the leaders thought it was best to keep the congregation in the dark...about everything! No doubt there are some things leaders can't share, but good leadership communicates clearly and regularly with the people.

8. Tolerance and Political Correctness become the key words of the church. Its amazing how many people believe that a loving church MUST be tolerant of all beliefs and social stances. Not true.

9. You don't feel loved.

10. You aren't being fed. I know that this can often be a lame excuse, but truthfully there are churches that are spoon feeding their people whipped cream. The church needs to take you deeper and challenge you to dig for greater truths.

Now I want to reiterate that often God calls us to change a church from the inside out. So I am not saying jump ship.

Take care,

Rod

10 (5 today) Reasons to Abandon Ship!

I was reading an article written by Rick Reilly on ESPN.com on the only 10 Reasons you can change your loyalties from one team to another. I thought I would try it for churches. So here we go (making these up as I go along). Here are the first 5:

1. The Pastor is NOT teaching the truth. I put this as number one because this is the biggest reason I could think of. If the truth, the WHOLE truth and nothing but the truth is not being taught...leave. I know the truth can be hard at times and sometimes very unpopular, but as a pastor we need to remember that we will answer to God and not to the size of our church or whatever man-made standard might be out there.

2. The church is not following biblical standards when it comes to finances, missions, or leadership. Most of the time, these are just signs of other deeper problems.

3. The leadership no longer desires to win the lost to Christ. I know, I know, ALL churches SAY they are about winning the lost, but often the sacrifice is too much for them to want to handle, or there are other excuses they have become adept at rationalizing and accepting. Too many churches don't even reflect the community in which they exist. There really is no excuse.

4. Bickering and fighting within the ranks take precedence over the call of the church. I have come to believe that when churches get into this mode they no longer care about the mission of the church.

5. The church has lost it's friendliness. Maybe because of some of the reasons listed above or some yet to be mentioned, but I have see churches become increasingly unfriendly over time. When no one feels welcome to your church it is a sign of deeper problems.

Now I know that many of the reasons I gave, you might disagree with because you think you can change it. Perhaps you can, and if God has laid that on your heart, then by all means, go for it. My goal is not to get you to leave your church, so please understand, if God has prompted you through the Holy Spirit to stay and be an agent of change, then great! Pastors always pray for agents of change and you are probably an answer to prayer.

Just my thoughts.

Take care,

Rod

Obama and the church

I just read about a pastor in Phoenix who told his congregation that he is praying for the death of President Obama. I got to tell you that I AM NOT an Obama fan in any sorts of the word. I completely disagree with 99.9% of everything he does, says and shows. His goals and values are completely opposite of what I have come to believe and hope for...BUT, I will NOT ask for his death, his demise, or affliction to come his way. He is our president and I respect the office and I love this country, so I will pray FOR our president. I ask that God intervenes in his life, maybe a type of a "Road to Damascus" experience to wake him up and show him that his ways are taking this country down a road to weakness and eventual destruction.

My concern, not to sound too preachy, is that the church is rightly standing up for the God-given values but we have wrongly forgotten to pray for our "enemies"...and yes I believe that Obama is an enemy of the church. Church we need to act, yes, but we also need to PRAY. Our country doesn't need the death of our president, we need our president to turn to God.

Just my thoughts.

Take care,

Rod