Easter Reflection

As I reflect on Jesus' healing of the blind man at Bethsadia, I am reminded how much I want to see Jesus clearly for who He is. It matters not who others believe that He is, nor who religion says that He is. He is who He is and I must look intently at Him through prayer, the Gospels and personal devotion if I am ever to see Him clearly. 

Reference: Seeing Christ Clearly at www.proebstelchurch.org 

Today, I went to a hardware store to buy a special tool to fix my truck. I wanted to take the tool out to the truck to see if it fit.

I offered the cashier my driver's license and she said, "Anything of value would be fine. Just don't give me a business card."

I replied, "Actually, that would work well in my case, since I'm a pastor. I wouldn't want anybody to think that Pastor Willis traded his integrity for $10!"

What started out as a joke became more profound to me for the rest of the day. Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is to be more desired than great riches, Favor is better than silver and gold."

How did we get here, Church?

I got a thought provoking article sent to me by one of my parishioners regarding the sad state of Evangelicalism in America. Here is my response . . .
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"It is easy to be critical and blame pastors for the reality that it was impossible for a generation of hypocrites to pass authentic faith on to their children. What we see in America now started decades ago with the failure of Christians to live true lives of true faith. The insurgency against Christ found willing followers to easily believe the lies of the emerging culture because of the emptiness of religion they experienced in their homes. The combination of conservative Christianity's suppression of our humanity combined with liberal Christianity's embracing of unrighteousness combined to form a Christian house of cards that crumbled to the winds of change.

Now we have a church divided as we see 2 Timothy 4:1-4 lived out in the church. People are only interested in hearing what they want to hear from the pulpit. They want their ears tickled. The conservatives want hate, hell, fire and brimstone and have their Pharisaic judgmentalism endorsed by the pastor and the liberals want pastors who will bless off on their wretched, licentious, sinful lifestyles.

You are certainly correct that sound doctrine needs to be espoused from the pulpit by men who have a loving, authentic, intimate relationship with Jesus. Pastors who are like Jesus. But, we must think beyond the pulpit if we are to make a difference for Jesus in this world. We need men who are sincerely dedicated to Jesus and ready to do His work from the heart, starting in their own homes. The bottom line of the problem lies in the hearts of men and until men humble themselves before Jesus and worship Jesus and desire to know Jesus, we are surely doomed."
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Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice." Are you listening?


 

I'm Back

I guess you have to be somewhere before you can say, "I'm back." But, I see it's been a long time since I got the great idea to start a blog and then did nothing with it. Being busy is a good excuse that way. Anyway, since I'm my only follower, I am preaching to the choir!

My impetus to start writing again was spurred by a phone call from a company that wanted my blog name. I appreciated the call because it was a great reminder to me to get off my butt and start writing. If I am not going to surrender my blog to them, it would be disrespectful for me to continue to sit on my blogbutt and do nothing with my site.  Therefore, since I told them "no", I thought I had better do something with my blog that I have sat on for years. To not do so would be greedy. Greedy like saving seats at a theater and not surrendering them when your friends are late or not coming. Seats nobody got to sit in because you "reserved" them for people who never used them.

Greed is very common in our culture. We are a culture of "hoarders." We save all kinds of things we really don't need, in fact never use. But, many of those things could bring great pleasure to others. Perhaps, many of things we keep for years needlessly could be of great help and benefit to others. But, they instead simply collect dust and occupy space in our closets, attics and garages.

The Bible says in Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."

In other words, it is OK to want good things for yourself. There is certainly nothing wrong with saving seats in a crowded theater for your friends. But, to a point there comes a time to surrender those seats in the interests of others. It is also OK to have things. But, surrender those things and donate them to a charitable thrift store, church rummage sale, or just plain give them away if you are truly keeping them needlessly.

Consideration is the response to greed. Learning to be considerate is a source of great happiness in your life and to the lives of those around you. You'll have better appreciation for the things you have and you do use, the satisfaction of knowing your departed items are blessing others and find yourself able to have better relationships with others as you prove yourself considerate of their needs.

So, I am thankful for this reminder to get started using this blog site.

First Post

Well, here I am creating a blog. HHhhhmmmm.......I'm a blogger. I'm a blogger!?! Who'd a thunk it?

Anyway, I am going to start writing as I have been encouraged to do so by many who have read my stuff (obviously I command an audience with my mesmerizing vocabulary!) in the past.

Enjoy and come back often to Get Edified!

Ed