Slowing Down

The last couple of days I haven't been feeling very well and feel like I need to spend time resting. I will not be blogging and posting as much as I have lately in order to care of my health, family and ministry in Rocksprings. I still going to blog just not as much. I hope you understand.

They Smell Like Sheep Vol. 2 By Dr. Lynn Anderson

The book that has changed elderships across the country into the way that God intended them to become was "They Smell Like Sheep" by Lynn Anderson printed by Howard Publishing. If your congregation does not have that book you need to get a copy for all the elder and study it. It will change the way you and your elders look and hope the eldership should function within the congregation. A follow up to the book is now avaliable "They Smell Like Sheep Vol. 2." .

They Smell Like Sheep Volume 2 Table of Contents are as follows:
foreword by C. Gene Wilkes
foreword by Bob Russel
acknowledgements
introduction: ASSUMPTIONS.

Section One: A HEART OF GOD
one: THE HEART OF THE MASTER
two: A HEART COMPELLED BY THE GLORY OF GOD
three:A HEART ON ITS KNEE
four: A PRAYER PATH FOR SHEPHERDS

Section Two: A HEART OF INTEGRITY
five: A HEART IN SEARCH OF INTEGRITY
six: PATHWAY OF INTEGRITY
seven: A HEART SHAPED BY THE HOLINESS OF GOD
eight: A PATH TO PURITY

Section Three: A Three: A HEART FOR PEOPLE
nine: IT IS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE
ten: A HEART FOR LOST AND HURT PEOPLE

Section Four: A HEART FOR THE WORD OF GOD
eleven: A HEART FOR THE WORD
twelve: A FOR TEACHING THE WORD
thirteen: KEEPER OF THE FOREST

Section Five: THE HEART OF A SERVANT
fourteen: A HEART WITH HANDS
fifteen: A BROKEN HEART

Section Six: A HEART THAT MOVES AT A MEASURED PACE
sixteen A HEART MOVING FROM WARRIOR TO Lamp
seventeen: A HEART AT PEACE WITH AMBIGUITY
eighteen: A HEART THAT DOESN'T WRING ITS HANDS

Section Seven: A HEART THAT FLOODED WITH HOPE
nineteen: A HEART OF ENCOURAGEMENT
twenty: A HEART THAT EXPECTS GOOD THINGS AHEAD
epilogue
notes

"They Smell Like Sheep Vol. 2" by Dr. Lynn Anderson

Published by Howard Publishing

Again I believe this book would be a great investment for any church, minister, elder to buy. I am sure you can get it again at Abilene Educational Supply, Sunset Book Store, Howard Publishing at http://www.howardpublshing.com/

I will have more post on this book later on.

Have any of you read this book? What did you think? Did you think it good as the first? Why or why not? How can it be a tool for the elders across the country? If you are an elder and have read this book already how has it impacted you as an individual and the congregation where you are at right now? Do you plan on put this book on your reading list? Again, as I mentioned earlier there will be more post on this book and the role of elders later on. I am excited about this book and hope you are as you and your congregation is as well. (Other great books by Dr. Lynn Anderson include: "The Shepherd Song", "Navegating The Winds of Change", "Heaven Came Down", "If I Believe Why Do I Have These Doubts?" "In Search of Wonder").

Just one of the rich quotes by Dr Anderson found in the book on page 9 is:

"A spiritual leader is the kind of God-hungry people want to be like."

What do you think?

Share your thoughts.

Victims or Victors

I have noticed that it is a lot easier to be a victim and be the center of attention than it is to overcome and be a victor. Being a victim is looking at the problems as insurmountable. All humans have problems in life. You have a choice. Are you going to be a victim or a victor? A s Christian we need to understand that we are victors through Christ Jesus. In Romans 8:37-39 Paul says, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Some questions to consider:
What can we do to remind ourselves to be victors? Does the Church have a role in helping each other in each other remember that we are victors instead of victoms? By not addressing problems do we inable people be victims instead of victors? If you have made the choice to be a victim how can you change and become a victor? Why is it so easy to be a victim instead of victor?

What do you think?
Share your thoughts.

Psalm 100

Psalm 100
"Shout for joy to the Lord, all
the earth.
Worship the Lord with
gladness;
come before him with joyful
songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and
we are his;
we are his people; the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good and his
love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues
through all generations."

What has God done in your life recently? Have you thanked Him for it? Would you like to share what God has done in your life?

If you are just coming across this blog for the first time and you are not a Christian I want you to understand that God is His creator of Heaven and earth. He created you with a purpose. He has set eternity into your heart. We all have problems. We all have sinned. Fallen short of the glory of God. Maybe you have a burden, a problem that you have been carrying around all by yourself. Trying to fix it all on your own... You know what you can't...Only God can fix your problem of sin. Give it over to the Jesus today in prayer. God cares about you so much that he sent His one and only son Jesus to take away that burden away once and for all on the cross. Jesus Is the Son of God who loves you more than you will even know. So, why give not only your problems over to Him but your life over to Him. You are saved by the grace of God. (Eph 2:10) But you must believe that Jesus is the son of God (John 3:16) I want you today to go to the Church of Christ nearest you knowing that God's grace, the Holy Spirit and forgiveness of sins, awaits you there in baptism(Acts 2:38). You have been called by God to be a disciple of Christ(Matt28:18-20). Jesus wants you to follow Him today. There may not be a tomorrow. The great thing is that God has given you the gift of today; rejoice and be glad in it!
Thank God today that he has given you life and an opprotunity to recieve eternal life!

What do you think?
Share your thoughts.

Forget Paris Hilton- Did You Hear About Mary Winkler

Mary Winkler the preacher's wife who murdered her husband as he lay in his bed was charged with voluntary manslaughter in April. Today she was sentenced to 3 years in prison, but with time served may be released on probation in a little less than two months. Winkler must serve 210 days of her sentence but gets credit for 143 days she already has spent in jail. Do the math, that only leaves 67 days so Judge McCraw said up to 60 days of her sentence may be served in a mental health treatment facility. Lawyers are saying that she might only spend another week in jail.

Does this sentencing shock you? Why? or Why not? How does it make you feel? She committed murder. She took a life of a man who could have kept preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God for who knows how more many years. Who know how more souls could have been saved through his message of God's Word. His wife shot him in the back. In the back. She maybe out of jail in a week and on probation for committing murder. What does this say about our society today? Our justice system in America? The value of life in America?

Honestly I don't know the reason, you don't know the reason, her lawyers don't know the reason, the jury really doesn't know the reason, the judge doesn't know the reason, but the only two who honestly know is Mary Winkler and God.

What do you think?
Share your thoughts.

Disciples of Christ

Jesus had 12 Disciples. Three close disciples that followed Jesus wherever he went: Peter, Jeames, and John. In Matthew 28 we are called to go make disciples. Countless times in the gospels Jesus talks about the cost of being disciples.

As Christians we are to be disciples of Christ, so why is it so hard for us to be disciples in the world in which we live today? Are we making disciples today? After we baptize do we make disciples the way Christ wants us to do? Do we count the cost? Do we understand the cost of discipleship to why or why not? How can we do so? Should discipleship be preached more in the Churches of Christ? Why or why not? What distracts us from discipleship today? How can we overcome it? Can we overcome it by ourselves or not? What Spiritual disciples help with us becoming the disciples that we need to become? What should be our focus? What where the focus of the disciples in Jesus' time?

I know I ask a lot of questions, if you would like just pick a question or a few and answer what strikes you about discipleship.

what do you think?
Share your thoughts.

Preachers & Rock Stars

Last night we were flipping through the channels and landed on the "Wedding Singer" and watched it for a few minutes. It was at the part where Adam Sandler was singing "Love Stinks," and my middle son asked my wife, "Why do preachers yell?" My wife, said, that he wasn't a preacher. He then asked, "Why do rock stars yell?".

It is funny what little kids pick up on. Do we really yell?