Lesson’s From a Church Builder

I am excited, lost, and stuck all at the same time. Over the last few weeks we have had some really good things happen here at West Side. At the same time I feel like I have been dealt some pretty heavy blows. I am feeling excited, worn out, optimistic, and depressed all at the same time. I think there might be a lesson God is trying to teach me about the whole church building thing.

I like to read blogs. I read several every day. Through the course of reading them a few that I have really grown to like are the ones concerned with church planting and leading a church. I have read that church planting and church rebuilding is incredibly hard and draining work while at the same it is entirely rewarding. I cognitively understood the concept, but it never really sank in. Until now. It reminds me of going to Bible college.

When I went Bible college I heard from students, professors, and even our dorm parents that I was going to have to work really hard to stay in the Bible reading it for joy and to spend time with God daily. Initially I thought that wasn’t going to be a problem. “Man, I am at Bible college. I am going to become a spiritual giant over the next couple of years,” were the thoughts that ran through my mind. But as I started into my freshman year, it wasn’t long until those prophets words rang true. But their messages weren’t so much prophetic as they were words of wisdom honed from experience. The Bible became a text book and prayer became something we did in class and chapel on a daily basis. And I found myself caught in the middle of learning how to make the Bible not a text book and my prayers with God real and genuine, like I was speaking from the heart.

And so, I find myself in a very similar situation. I read about men who are going through the church planting or building stage and see that they are having mountain top experiences while being drug through the sludge of the sewer. I see their prophetic words of wisdom starting to ring true in my life. Why do I have to be so stubborn to learn this lesson all on my own? I don’t know! But maybe it is the only way I am going to learn, see, and experience all that God has planned for my life and ministry here in Lebanon serving with West Side.

Above image was used from the blog Find Me ... The Real Me . No copyright infringement is intended.