Could I have passed the faith test?

Job was a man who loved and trusted God and whose faith was tested by incredible loss and horrible physical suffering. This testimony of the patience of Job (James 5:11) shakes the frivolous teaching of todays church of health and wealth. When everything else in life are gone and all you have is your raw faith in God, you are faced with gut two choices; 1) curse God and give up or 2) trust God and draw strength from Him. Job did the latter. I am 53 years old. I have really good health. I have not lost anyone close to me for 42 years (my oldest sister was killed in an auto accident when I was 11 and she was 21) . I am grateful to the Lord for that. However, no one knows what the future holds and I trust that I will pass the faith test no matter what comes. The Bible says that nothing can seperate us from the love of Christ. Past records of the experiences and obeservations of countless others are certain predictors that it is highly likely that sometime in my future I will be tested in ways that are different than my past. At those moments I trust I will do two things. First of all, count it all joy as James 1:2 says. And second of all draw strength from the Lord that the excellency of the power of God will be made perfect or complete in my weaknesses. God's love cannot be measured by how little or how great we may suffer in this life. Paul declared that the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. " Behold we count them happy which endure" Could you pass the test if called upon to suffer? I trust so!

The Ministry of Presence

Life Lessons: What I am I learning about today- Job; he was a man who feared God and shunned evil. God saw something in him that no matter what he went through he would continue to honor God, even when he did not understand. I see also, the ministry of being present with others during painful times has value. Present with out having to solve or say anything is modeled by job's friends. Job's friends sat in silence with him for seven days and nights because they saw that his pain was very great.
I hope as a pastor I will be sensitive to God's flock. That I will know when I simply need to be present with someone. The ministry of Presence is valuable to those who are going through difficult or painful experiences. One core value that I wholeheartedly embrace: God is present among his people!

So our trip to Illinois for Kathryn Gordon's funeral was all about simply being there. I trust that some good was done because of God's faithfulness to be present among us.

This Week's Video Tutorial

This Week's Video Tutorial: "Sticky Church"

This segment by Larry Osborne is very discriptive of where ALC. I think it speaks to areas that need to be developed.