In seminary they require a coarse in Church Leadership and Administration. Really valuable in ministry. Unfortunately, I only remember one day of the entire semester. It started when the professor presented a flow chart for church leadership that started with the Pastor as CEO and parishioners as customers. Your basic corporate leadership model. When he finished his schpeel I tentatively raised my hand. I explained that corporations in our culture have a reputation for being cold, using people for the sole purpose of making money. Some might find this model off-putting, and where is God in all of this? I wasn’t trying to be contrary, I just wanted to know how our church leadership model could reflect our faith. The professor referred to a tiny * at the bottom of the page that said *prayer must permeate every level of leadership and quickly moved on. What did I learn that day? I will never reduce the Holy Spirit to a foot note. In my job with Home Depot I see a lot of homes in various stages of renovation. I love seeing the transformation from disgusting pile of boards to lovely living space. If you watch HGTV for entertainment, you have no idea what I’m talking about. Until you’ve pulled tiny nails that run 4 per inch down every single stud of plaster and lath or chased leaks in a water line, you know nothing. Demo done in a 2-minute montage of laughing girls with sledge hammers isn’t real. In general, most people lack visionand follow through. Not like my Dad. We walked through their home and I didn’t see past the trash and ugly cabinets. He spent a solid year working on that place, ripped out a stone fire place and turned it into a lovely home. Some of my projects last for years too, but that’s only because I work on them one weekend per decade. We regularly underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit. We often lack vision and follow through. Despite our frequent spiritual amnesia, God remains constantly faithful. God wants to renovate your heart. (That’s right, I went there) Clear out the junk and make it look better than brand new. I talk a lot about spiritual discipline, but I want you to know that no matter what you do, without God our efforts are empty and meaningless. We often lack a vision for what God can do. I see me, limited, tired, slightly too outspoken, I could go on. But God see’s, well, God. I could fill volumes on this one topic but I’ll sum it up. Made New = God remaking us into his good reflection that more clearly reflects his image. The Psalm below is the words of David after he was confronted for doing a very bad thing. “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” God was pulling the nails out one by one. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Read the Psalm and take a minute to remember your phrase from Wednesday… Psalm 51 For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
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AuthorThe Pastors of Cornerstone Wesleyan Church Archives
July 2017
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