Approaches to Whole Life Stewardship

I did an assignment regarding several approaches to stewardship. Four approaches included self centered, self sacrificing, good intentioned, and biblical. I found myself laying in the biblical approach most of the time, with the exception of the money area. I find myself leaning more towards the saving aspect of money, rather than having a better balance between making, giving, and saving. I feel like it is very important to save "for a rainy day", because it seems like we have had a lot of those lately. The problem is that in my quest to save some money, I might be neglecting the opportunities Christ is presenting me to further his kingdom with my income. Lord, grant me the wisdom to know when to save and when to give!

Blogging about Stewardship

Stewardship is a very important task in the life of Christian. The giving of your money, your time, and your gifts and abilities is crucial to the life of the church as we know it. I for one believe in giving sacrificially; I have found very often in my life that I have never been out of things that I needed. I certainly have been not able to attain things that I want, but God in his infinite power and grace has blessed me far greater than anything I could ever do on my own. I believe with all of my heart that I am blessed that much because I commit to give what belongs to God first before I give what I feel I "deserve" for my work. Several times in the Old Testament, a variety of authors state "The Earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." It is important for me to be willing to give back what truly belongs to God in the first place. That is what stewardship is about.

Funding the Mission

The prompt for this journal reading asks how I feel about paying the local church apportionment to help support district and general church ministries. I think that support the district and especially the general church is essential! The Church of the Nazarene is growing all over the place, even in exponential numbers in certain places. With that in mind, it is vital to the health of the entire church to support global ministries. Part of this support is through encouraging and spurring the local church to pay the connectional budgets. The financial support is essential; It won't be long before there are more Nazarenes in places like Africa and South America than in the United States, and those places will need our support to further their exponential growth. Kingdom building all over the world... catch the fever!

Church Communication

This prompt wants me to discuss my feelings regarding the church reaching out to me in personal communication. As of late, I have been the beneficiary of some very high quality, care based communication. A group of ladies in the church started an encouragement ministry called Open Heart. These ladies do a variety of activities, but there main thrust is in writing letters. Birthday cards, Graduation cards, Military service cards, loss and grief cards... the list goes on. I have received several cards as of late, including two get well soon cards after my daughter recently had her tonsils and adenoids removed. I have been very blessed by the ministry that is leading the way in exemplifying good quality personal communication within my local church.

Time Management: Waste of Time?

I have to admit that I freely struggle with an effective use of time. It is so easy to get side tracked, to find myself distracted by the likes of profootballtalk.com and the endless pit of bargain deals known as Craig's list. Its easy to get caught up in a coffee break or an extended lunch time... When all of the sudden, I look up, and poof, its time to go home... except I didn't get my lesson planned for church. This applies even to this course, as I currently sit one week behind on my course work. I could make up a variety of excuses, but the truth is that I have none that can truly justify my disability to use my time better. This module has an active calendar, where you plan out every hour of your work week. Even though it is just for an assignment, I am going to try to use it, to see what happens. I guess we will go from there.

Look! Another Big Idea

From the reading:

After a motion is made in the decision group, the implementation of the idea depends on delegation and her friends—programming and follow- through.

I think I have a good grasp on programming and follow through. I feel like I can create a program and effectively implement it, and follow up that it is working the way it is intended to work, and that it is effective. I think the delegation aspect is a harder one for me to let out of my grasp. I find often in youth ministry that it is my baby, these are my teens, and I have a hard time letting go of responsibility for them. If I delegate a task to someone else and they don't follow through, I as the youth pastor am still responsible for their failure. Their failures reflect on me, even though they aren't my failures. The problem is that I can't minister to the youth of my church by myself; I need the delegated help of others. I hope as I grow in ministry that I can move beyond the point of control, and let God work in the hearts and minds of those he calls to work in ministry.

Being a Leader in the Church

This is my reflection on what it means to be a leader in the church. I truly am blessed and honored to be in a position of working with Youth in Owyhee County. I feel that God has called me for such a season as this, he has gifted me in working with these young people, and I am encouraged by the growth in spirit and in number I have seen recently. I think things are going well in leadership because I am following God's will for my life, and because of that, he is blessing me richly, not just in ministry, but in marriage, in relationships, in finances... everything! It is a high calling to be a leader in a church, but it is one that brings blessings by the handful.

Devoted to giving my money

I have found that being able to give of my money for tithes and offerings has never really been a problem for me. The truth is that every good and wonderful thing I have in my life is a gift from God; he gives me everything that I have! Repeatedly it is said in the scripture "The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it." I am thankful that God has blessed me so much that he would give me an interest free, long term loan on all of his stuff that I currently have in my possession. With all that God gives me, 10% is a paltry sum in consideration of the remaining 90% plus in stuff and blessings I receive in return. The return on investment is exponential; in my entire life as a committed tither, I have never had to worry about coming up with the money I needed to pay a bill. I have never found my self in want, and it is because of the blessing of God that makes that very thing possible. I praise his name, and want to continue to serve him with my finances.

Let me hit you with some Knowledge

So, I have to admit something to you. I am studying to be a Pastor in the Nazarene Church, and I probably don't know the Nazarene Manual that well. I led a class of high school kids in a bible study tonight, and they had some tough questions that needed answers. I knew the answers, but had a memory block, or couldn't remember a particular word. I was trying to explain the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, and got Scripture, Tradition, and Reason out no problem... the last one was on the tip of my tongue, couldn't remember the word my brain was looking for... finally it dawned on me after having to look it up that it was experience, that was the part of the quadrilateral I was missing. I have to admit that I feel convicted not for a lack of knowledge and understanding of Nazarene doctrine, but at my ability to clearly communicate what I believe in words that make sense. This makes me a bit nervous for my district license interviews coming up this month.

The Chandelier

The new young pastor received a generous donation from an anonymous source for the exact price of a new chandelier for the foyer of the church. So at the next regular, monthly board meeting, he proposed that a motion be made to purchase a chandelier. One board member said, “We’ve never done it before.” Another said, “We don’t need it.” The church treasurer said, “We need that money for something else.” The chairman of the trustees said, “We should buy new lights for the foyer first.” The board secretary said, “I don’t know how to spell it.” And the last straw—a comment by another board member, “Who would play it?”

I think this story is a humorous reminder of what great responsibility the leadership of the church has in taking care of Christ's local church. There is a fine balance in spending money in a church, and questions of affordability, necessity, priority, and profitability all come into play when making a major decision in regard to the church. It is my hope that as I grow in relationship with the leaders of my church, that these questions will be opportunities for the board to lean heavily on God to provide the means necessary to equip our church to reach the lost. The key is following what God wants us to do as stewards of his money, personally and communally.

Blogging Fatigue

I have to admit, that this is the most difficult part about doing a course of study. It is so easy to go through the work, and leave the journaling by the wayside. So here goes, trying to pick up what I struggle with and make it a habit. A thought from this reading:

"Progress requires change, and change almost always causes resistance or conflict."

I think this follows another saying that "change is the only constant". This is not completely true, because I would say that change in a church setting is an incredibly slow process, not one meant to be undertaken swiftly or without prayerful consideration and careful planning. I think that is one thing I like about working in the youth department, because youth ministry is wild, crazy, against the grain. You are allowed to do any off the wall idea in youth because youth ministry is goofy and fun loving. Does that mean that youth ministry can be done without prayerful consideration and careful planning? Yes it does, although it would be done rather poorly.

I think the biggest issue in creating change needs to be this: the change initiator should be building open doors and bridges, not lines in the sand. A great deal of compromise is necessary for significant and effective change to take place. Also, an even greater deal of patience is mandatory.

Cost Benefit Analysis

"Every decision has its costs, rewards, and consequences."

I think this is an important statement for anyone in ministry, and people in general. I remember learning in economics about an opportunity cost. For every decision I make, there is an opportunity cost; I choose to eat chocolate ice cream, my opportunity cost was vanilla ice cream (or any other flavor of ice cream I might have picked). For every decision I make as leader of the youth ministry, there is an opportunity that I am taking out of the picture by doing whatever I decided to do. It puts high priority on the decisions that you make.

Planning to Plan

Another idea:

Planning—the art of leading the voyage to the future—takes energy, savvy, time, courage, and patience.

I think the one that I have the hardest time with in regard to planning is patience. I think it is difficult to execute a plan and wait for the plan to take effect... the other problem is having patience when I don't think the plan is going the way I think it is going. My youth pastor taught me something in high school that has always helped me to remember patience. He taught that God never gives you patience, he gives you the opportunity to practice patience. He told us as Christians it was important to PP (pee-pee), or to "practice patience". So remember when you try to execute a plan and it takes a while to unfold, or it doesn't go the way you plan, you have to remember to pee-pee.

Kingdom Building

Another note:

For Kingdom expansion, congregational health, disciples’ spiritual development, and the multiplication of a pastor’s ministry, every lay leader must be challenged to become a member of a ministry team and shown how to do it.

This is an important thing, because if a Pastor can effectively challenge church members, they will take on the work they are called to do, and they will own the work that God has planned out for them. The scary part and the challenge is the reality that if I don't do my part to help lead and equip people to do the work they are called to do, then I am hindering their ability to minister... It is certainly a tall order to be a minister.

Inhuman resources?

A thought:

Every church has an abundance of nonhuman resources that are sometimes overlooked and thus seldom fully utilized.

I think of two of the rooms that are part of the youth department. One of them has a pool table in it that basically takes up the entire room; it gets used about once a week, if I remember to unlock the doors. The other room is filled with an air hockey table and two foosball tables, used once a week again, if I remember to open the room. I fully intend to sell some of this stuff, because in the scope of things, it is not a good use of space to have those in there. I could see something like a ping pong table getting great use in a room like that, mainly because a ping pong table is completely portable, and can be moved from one room to the next. Creating functionality in the space given to you is crucial, effective use of space can aid in effective ministry.

The Big Idea

Here is a note from this week's reading:

God provides resources for His Church.

I think this is important to think about, because it is not my own work or effort that makes resources available, it is God in all his mighty power that provides the resources for His church. When I do the work he has called me to do, he is going to provide me with everything I need, including funding, equipment, and the right people to help. It is when I try to force things to happen that I am frustrated with the resources, placing someone in a position that they are not qualified to work in. It is up to me to be a good steward of the resources God has given me.

From C.H. Spurgeon

Reflect on the quote from C. H. Spurgeon (Lectures to My Students, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954, 32.): “We must feel that woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel; the word of God must be unto us as a fire in our bones, otherwise, if we undertake the ministry, we shall be unhappy in it, shall be unable to bear the self-denials in it, and shall be of little service to those among whom we serve.”

This quote seems like it is speaking of the motivation to be called to ministry. One must not go into the ministry because he/she "likes working with teens", or enjoys the social aspects of ministry, but one must only follow the call into ministry if there exists a burning desire to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed to all. It is Christ and Christ alone that we serve in ministry, and when ministry's focus changes from Christ to selfish ambition or vain conceit, it only becomes a discouraging and frustrating endeavor.

Competence and Character

From this week's reading:

"The need of the church and the personal need of the pastor is to be spiritual and emotionally well, to serve effectively, and to finish well."

This stands out to me because it is not mutually exclusive; the church and the pastor both require this type of health, because a leader who is not emotionally or spiritually well cannot lead and serve effectively. I also like that it adds in the fact that one must finish well... I think often pastors leave positions in times of angst and adversity. I think that a pastor's spiritual and emotional health could be a good indicator on whether or not that pastor will finish well... A pastor who does not take care of his health opens himself up to conflict and defensiveness, and could find him/herself ignoring the direction of God for their charged congregation, and doing more damage than any potential good.

Self Management

Here is the latest thought from Church Administration:

Church members, coworkers, potential believers, acquaintances, and even those who are almost strangers—inside and outside the church—expect a spiritual leader to demonstrate credibility, integrity, authenticity, and personal piety.

I think I have the categories of credibility, integrity, and authenticity down pretty good. Personal piety is one I have always struggled with, even in the midst of being a pastor. It is so easy to get sidetracked by everything going on. I can't remember how many times I have looked at the devotional book sitting on my night stand, looking at the clock, and saying to myself "I'll do it in the morning", only to find myself waking up late, blitzing out the door, and forgetting what I committed to do the night before. It takes discipline to be able to maintain a daily devotion time, and I struggle mightily with that. It is my hope that maintaining this journal can help jump start my devotion time. One encouraging aspect is that our family has decided to read the one year Bible together. We are only a week behind, but we are fully committed to sticking with it. Lord willing, we will read the entire bible this year.

My Feelings On Administration

The concept of being a pastor has never been equated with administrator. The classic joke is that a pastor has the greatest job in the world because he or she only has to work one day a week, in the pulpit on Sunday morning. That is the pastor aspect of the job, and it is a small fraction of the actual work. The work of administrator is a huge portion of the actual work of a pastor. It is this type of work that makes me the most nervous about being a pastor. It is the behind the scenes stuff that no one understands that defines the work of the pastor. Most people only rate the Pastor's finished product; the sermon, the programming, the bible study he/she puts together. It is the building and facilitating of work and workers, the growing and maturity of congregants, that truly defines the work of the Pastor. I find that I can produce an excellent sermon series, a crazy activity to play at youth group, or a top notch bible study, and if I don't go and make calls to people, If I don't facilitate the work of my department, if I don't do all the behind the scenes stuff, I am burned out and frustrated when I don't see any growth and maturity in my young congregants. The administrative work is the glue that holds the Pastor's work together, and it should not be taken lightly.