Rumblings and Ramblings

To me it seems we are a world of followers.  Even in the church, I am afraid that we are followers.  I dare say that because there are so many followers, we shun leaders.  What happened to the last person who took the initiative to start something new in your church?  If your church was openned to it, consider yourself blessed.

 I have been doing a study with our high school students calling them out to be Christian leaders.  To be that you must stick out like a sore thumb in our society today.  Be a leader in your speech, your actions, your attitutudes.  Jesus Christ is your example in this.  Dare to dream something big for God and then chase after it.  Pray for someone who is lost and then minister and share Jesus with them.

This is what we are suppose to do as God's people.  To me, many times these are foriegn concepts to our churches.  Many of us cannot stop talking about our fellow believers.  Our attitudes stink when we don't think church is going right, and don't even talk about actions that is a private matter.

I believe that a leader is not satisfied with the status quo.  They are always striving for something better, aren't they?  Can God's church do better?

Oh, well that is my rant today.  I've been driving too much and thus thinking too much.

In Christ,

Terry

As a minister I dream a lot about my church and what we could do.  99.99999999999% of the time I let the dream go because change and traditional church do not seem to go together.  I was talking to a close friend about what we could do to change up the schedule of our church.   After some dreaming I came up with this the idea of bringing our teenagers and adults together for prayer meeting on Wed. to actually pray together.  Traditionally we seperate the youth from the adults on this night.  Why couldn't we move the schedule around and still do everything we normally do but at a different time?  What would happen to our church and community if we actually did some serious praying during our weekly prayer time?  Who would actually show up if we did not have any other activity in the way of the prayer time?  What would God do? 

Sometime dreams are the escape from the real world.

Till next time

Terry

This is the time that we are to celbrate, recognize, pray for, and give to Texas Missions.  The BGCT has always had the Mary Hill Davis State Mission Offering during this time.  This year there seems to be two controversies that may hamper the gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering and it is not necessarily their fault.

The problem, from what I am told, come from the BGCT.  Their are two possible scandals involving mission dollars that have been circulating lately.  One has been going on atleast since March dealing with the Valley and new Church starts.  From what I hear, the BGCT, had been supporting new church starts that were not churches at all.  Allegations show that the money went into the pockets of 1 to 3 individuals.  If these allegatations are true, the BGCT was alerted to what was going on, but they (BGCT) turned a blind eye to what was happening.  Now there may be several hundred thousand dollars that were misused.  Currently, the BGCT is investigating, but who knows if the report will be out by the state convention.

The new scandal comes from the BGCT misusing the funds from the Mary Hill Davis Offerings given to them by the WMU.  From what I understand the money was given to the state convention with the intention that the money was going to be used for missios and new churches.  Apparently this was not the case.  A new investigation may be impending.

Now, the state convention wants to decrease the budget for missions and other organizations.  What is going on in Dallas?  It makes me suspicious and concerned with the direction of the BGCT.

For more info check out these blogs......

http://aintsobad.typepad.com/aintsobad/

http://spiritualsamurai.typepad.com/

Well it seems that a vision that some people have had for the students of our town is beginning to take shape.  Next Sunday evening will be the start of a city-wide youth worship service in the park.  The goal is have monthly worship services geared toward the students of our town.  This will me a mult-denominational effort. 

This has been talked about for a few years and now it looks like it will happen.  Keep it in your prayers and I will report next week.

 Terry

Well officially it began last week, but for Childress it begins tonight.  People are excited because we went all the way to the semi-finals last year.  We have a great opponent tonight, the Stratford Elks.  They took care of a 3A team last week 56-15.  Amarillo media is saying this is the game of the week in our area.  Should be fun.

And I will not be able to see the game.  We are doing to the after-game fellowship tonight so I will be stuck at the church (grrr).  Anyway, hopefully all will go well tonight.

 Go Bobcats!

Terry

Well here is my 1st Blog on this site.......

I read this Sunday, and came back to it today.  It is simple but made me think .....

A group of early African Christians were known for their faithfulness in spending time with God.  Each one had a particular place in the brush where he would spend time praising, praying, and listening to God.  The paths to these private prayer spots became so worn that if anyone began missing his time it became obvious.  Others would then remind him, "Brother, the grass grows on your path."  (My Quiet Time Daily Devotional Journal:  Series K, Student Discipleship Ministries, 1997, page 10).

What an example of accountability!  I wonder how I would react if someone questioned my path?  Guilt and shame come across my mind.  Is it me, or are we scared of accountability?  Are we afraid of getting too close to someone?  we preach and teach about this, some of us even long to have this type of relationship, but does it happen?  What would be the consequences if it does happen?

Anyway, one of my goals with my youth group this school year is to get them to have that daily walk with God.  We are trying to go through this book together.  So far the response doesn't seem too promising.  Pray that our students will take this endeavor on.  Pray for me that I can hold them accountable.  Pray that I will stay accountable.