Thankful for Confirmation

What a wonderful evening we had last night at the 2nd Annual Men's Chili Cook-Off.  Last year we had 8 pots of chili and just barely enough to feed a good size crowd.  Last night we had 14 pots and even with a much bigger crowd (that our Annex could barely hold) we had plenty and then some.

Sometimes as a pastor I worry that I am not on the Lord's path.  I pray, study His word, try to be attentive to the voice of the Lord (that soft, quiet leading inside a Christian's heart - 1 Kings 19:11-13) yet I have times where I wonder "Am I doing the right thing?"  There have been many times of hurt in ministry; misunderstandings, rejection, betrayal.  I don't know why these things surprise me they happened to Jesus and are any of us more spiritual that He?  Of course not.  That's why I am so thankful for times of conformation.

We pastor First Assembly of God in McCook, Nebraska, to the best of our abilities.  Despite the fact that OUR gifts and talents are woefully lacking the Grace of God is obviously present in this church.  In the last year we have seen (at least) 13 saved, countless folks re-dedicated, 5 baptized in the Holy Spirit, and with last night 18 baptized in water!  In the last year we have added 14 new members and will add a few more in March.  The church has added at least 4 new ministries to meet the needs of a growing congregation and speaking of that the Sunday morning attendance is about 35 folks better than it was at this time last year.  No small thing in a town this size with several strong churches.  We have new young couples that are establishing themselves as leaders by working hard and rarely missing a service.  I must admit I am SO proud of this new generation that is taking the reigns of the church.

Is everything perfect?  Not even close.  People make up this church from the pulpit to the parking lot so there will always be problems.  Yesterday as I took the pulpit I could sense a spirit in the place that I knew would make it hard to receive what I was about to preach.  I delivered an old message that I felt God directing me to.  I have preached this message maybe 6 or 7 times in 5 churches and this was the FIRST where it wasn't received as it had always been before.  That made preaching it tough, but thanks to the grace of God I made it through.  After the service I felt drained but had so much to do I couldn't sit down and dwell on it.  That's a good thing too as the Bible warns repeatedly about the dangers of idleness and how it effects our thinking.

Later, as we prepared to baptize our candidates I looked upon that great Sunday night crowd, considered how we had almost doubled in contestants for our cook-off and thought "Lord, I may not do everything perfect, but I am so thankful you are building a church in SPITE of the people who attend there or the insecure pastor that leads it".  As I always say, GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!  It was a great evening.  Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and never forget You Are Loved!