Thursday, April 30, 2009

Life is more than Clothes

As a student, wife, and employee it is very easy to get yourself wrapped up in the mundane everyday tasks of life. I think this is a tactic of the devil. He has pounded into every American's mind that in order to be successful, happy, and productive in our life we must work, work, work. If the Devil manages to take all of our time away from us, then we lose who we are, which includes sometimes, losing touch of God.

I also think it is difficult for me because of my age. It is easy to become discouraged, knowing that I still have so much to learn in every aspect of my life. Every where I go, people seem to be either a) astonished or b)amazed. Astonished because I am so young, I'm married, and I am helping to start a church. People usually look at me with not complete approval in this manner. If they're amazed, it is because they see that I am young, in love, happy, and joyous. They understand that I am following something greater than me and that "greater" thing is my God.

Anyway,I constantly have people telling me that I look too young, that I appear to be 16 or 17 years old. Well, as a 21 year old young woman, this can be somewhat despairing to me. I would like to look my age. Yes, many people tell me that this is a blessing later on. But, right now, I view it as a hindrance. This therefore leads me to the unfortunate desire to buy new clothes, spend money on hair products, etc. Which are all things that I know I do not need. I can survive on the clothes that I have, the hair accessories I do have, and the hair cut that I have in and of itself. But, unfortunately, this is what the society of America tends to do. It pushes women to believe that they have to meet certain physical beauty standards. This is what young women, teenagers, and young girls are taught. That in order to achieve in life, they have to meet a certain "look." Of course, this look often focuses on certain attributes of the woman's body. Anyway, in my mind, it is easy to see how this is the Devil working in our culture. The Devil wants us to not feel valued, loved, accepted, or comfortable within our own skin. He wants us to be constantly changing to become something that we are not. Sometimes I just need to take some time to focus and reflect on the love of Christ. HE is the one who loves me for me. He does not care what clothes I wear, what my make-up looks like, etc.

He is the one constant that I have in my life. Besides, why should we be so focused on getting "new stuff" when there is so much more in life. We should be using our money to benefit God's Kingdom. This means caring for others. This is true not just for the hard times of today, but for the easy times as well. It is so much more fulfilling to give money to someone who is struggling than buying a new purse or shirt for myself. Just remember that when you do give, don't give so that you can be recognized. For God says that "when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it" (Matthew 6:3)

Well, there still is more that I want to say. But for now, I will leave you with this:

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Do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds flying around: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest, and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you?

So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of

So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

Matthew Chapter 6

"We Are The Church" Courtesty of Pastor Don...

The following is an entry on my Pastor's blog, Don's Devo Thoughts. It is speaking about the church we are planting in Oconomowoc. It is a great read especially if you do not quite understand why we (or anyone) would start a new church.

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We Are The Church
I want to talk to you about our church plant in Oconomowoc. To do that effectively, in my mind, I want to share my heart in regard to what the Lord has shown me about church planting. When Peter spoke to the church, he said the reason he wrote was to “stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance” “though they knew (those things) and were firmly established in the truth.” Many of the things I am writing serve that purpose, I want to stir them up again and bring them to your attention.

Jesus said, “I will build my church…” and yet we also are told from the Scriptures, “God has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation.” Jesus affirmed this by saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

You see, I believe that Jesus is saying He is with us as we go and make disciples and thus build the church. When we go to build His church, we go with His authority and therefore His blessing. I am writing you because I believe that you also know how important it is for each of us to obey the great commission. Experience has taught the church at large that the most effective way to make disciples is church planting.

Why do many church plant attempts fail if Jesus is involved in building His church? One may blame the faith or skill of the church planter, but I believe no person is called to do the work of ministry on their own. Eph 4:16 tells us that “From Him the whole body… grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” That means we each have a part to do and share responsibility for the work. The Holy Spirit has told us that we cannot say that we do not need each other; each member is essential and necessary not only to the growth of the local church but also to the Church at large.

In the past there have been individual planters whose primary resource from the body of Christ was finances. Because they lacked the other elements of support necessary in planting a church, they failed. This has resulted in a move towards satellite churches where one local church provides almost all the necessary elements.

While these churches are more successful, they still do not reflect the image of the full body of Christ working together for growth and edification. The body of Christ shouldn’t have a sink or swim pragmatic attitude toward church planting success or failure. Rather the Bible says, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Cor 12:26). That tells me that for every church plant that has failed, the whole body has suffered and every success should be shared amongst the whole body (because the whole body contributed in some way toward that success).

What does a successful church plant need? I have grouped the needs into four categories:
1) Prayer – church planting is met with spiritual resistance according to Jesus (Mt 16:18). The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Cor 10:4).
2) People – The lead pastor is called of God to equip/prepare these people to do the work of the ministry (Eph 4:12) and entrusting the same to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Tim 2:2).
3) Provisions – finances are needed for start up costs, to purchase necessary equipment, and to provide for the lead pastor whom God has ordained or commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel (1 Cor 9:14 KJV/NIV).
4) Peers – these are those individuals and organizations willing to provide supervision, guidance, wisdom, and even accountability for the church plant’s leadership team.

Since you are my friends, I am making my plea to you to join with us to help plant Hope Springs Christian Church in Oconomowoc, WI. Pray seriously about what function God is calling you to do in this work. Friends, we do share responsibility and as such we share the success or failure of this church plant. Each one of us can do something, however great or small, however trivial or significant in our own eyes, the point is to have a good conscience before God that we did something and that something is all that Jesus has told us to do.

I am available to share my vision for Oconomowoc to you and your church if you like. Meanwhile check out our website at www.hopespringschristianchurch.org to see our specific plans and view a needs list.