Serving while in the Waiting Room

Romans 15:17 (New International Version, ©2010)

17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.

Last week I literally got a 'call' to lead the Sunday service at church. I would was asked to do all the announcements and the basic 'elements' of the service.

As I was asked... I suddenly was overwhelmed with a peace that I haven't had for a long time... I have been in the 'waiting room'... wondering when God would call me for a specific purpose to serve Him.

And so,last Sunday I was able to serve...interestingly enough, we were talking about Spiritual Gifts... and I felt so, so, blessed to be able to use the Spiritual Gift I have been given in order to serve Him.

After the service, many people came up and thanked me for sharing the gift with them this morning... and I am praying that I will receive another 'call' to serve Him in the near future.

And it is interesting to note... this was in a traditional church setting... not an alternative church that I thought I was being led to... maybe God has something else in store for me...

Call to Start a Church

Awhile back, I meet with a church planting representative (person in charge of starting new churches) from the denomination that I have been involved with. He asked me a question that I have been mulling around for months... it was more of a statement actually than a question and it went something like this...

Pastors who are successful with starting a new church feel that God has called them to this ministry and there is no other ministry that they could be involved in... they feel that if they did not start a church that they would be disobeying God.

Ever since that meeting I have been thinking about the call that God has put in my heart. I feel that I am called to be a pastor of a different model of church... I have often mentioned a coffeehouse that would function as a church. The church would be a place where people who were Christian as well as those who were seeking could meet and talk about God with mutual respect for others opinions. We would be a church who cared about the community around us that took care of our neighbors both physically and spiritually.

That is my call.

What is the Fruit of Your Spirit?

Galatians 5:22-23 (New International Version, ©2010)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Lately, I have noticed an increase in 'hot button' issues in my life... you know, the pet peeves... the items that raise your blood pressure with a simple syllable. After a day of fighting back these annoyances, I went to a membership orientation meeting at church this afternoon... and in the midst of it as we were talking about the church and it's beliefs, I felt a peace that I haven't had in awhile. The Spirit was present in that room today.

Later, we were discussing an issue that is dear to my heart (the same issue that was taunting me before the meeting) and we talked about the two opposite viewpoints. The woman sitting next to me (who also holds the opposite view as me) put her arm around me and I leaned into her with love as I said we were on the opposite side of this topic.

This is what church should be about... where you can still LOVE each other even if you don't agree. This is the Spirit bringing unity to the Church.

The Greatest of These Is Love

1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version, ©2010)

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When I was a child, I was extremely compassionate to those who were hurting. My heart went out to any cause and social justice issue... and in college I took on the nickname of Peaceful (as in Give Peace a Chance... John Lennon was my favorite Beatle).

And suddenly I changed

I no longer felt my heart ache for those who were mourning... I became more pessimistic with life in general... and more specifically with religion. You see, I had become a Christian. Yes, this was the way to peace... deep meaningful inner peace and all I continue to experience the pessimism.

But I know better, as a Christian we are supposed to be known for our love... our compassion. I believe that since I once was able to love deeply the world around me and now I am struggling with it there must be some sort of spiritual stronghold preventing the deeper love to manifest itself in my life.

There is a song by Brandon Heath entitled "Give Me Your Eyes" that talks about having the compassion that Jesus has for the rest of humanity.
Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes lyrics | LyricsMode.com

I am praying that the compassion that once flowed so freely would return to me anew and that the pessimism would leave.

Is God Calling You?

Recently both my husband, Eric and I have had a pull toward ministry. We are looking at going to school again... or applying for positions... or....

We are wanting to serve God, but life is getting in the way. I am pretty sure that other pastors have the same issues... would love to pursue full-time ministry, but we need to pay the mortgage, get the kids through school... just live.

So... we wait... for the call to let us know the direction that God will have us going into ministry.

Days of Small Things

"Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)"

- Zechariah 4:10 New International Version

I was watching a talk show this morning on television and the actress that was interviewed said that she always thinks about this verse when she begins a project. She says she rejoices each step of the way because she knows that it is building on something that will eventually become bigger.

This passage is about building of the temple… and people were scoffing at the beginnings. But God reminded them that one day even those who laughed would rejoice when they saw the temple completed.

Jacob’s Well has also had small beginnings. We are still in process and taking one step at a time. Our biggest challenge is that Jacob’s Well is a vision for ministry that is not following the current models. We need to take baby steps… and have many days of small things. One day, if God is willing, I anticipate that Jacob’s Well will become something bigger. Until then, I am learning to rejoice in these small days.

Heart of Worship

1 Corinthians 14:15 (New International Version)

¹⁵So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

I have been thinking and praying a lot about worship lately. This passage from scripture gets to the heart of New Testament worship. We need to be worshiping Jesus with our spirit as well as our mind. Living in Minnesota, I have seen many, many, many worship services where people are only worshiping with their minds. Worshiping with your mind is the more 'technical' part of worship. Are you singing the correct notes? playing in tune? saying the right words? are the words Biblically based?

But there is another side to worship that is often missing in worship services. That is the worship in the spirit. Kevin J. Navarro states in his book 'The Complete Worship Leader'...

"Unregenerate people are incapable of worshiping the living God for they are too busy worshiping themselves or something else." pg. 51

"If we are to lead worship, we must be born again. And, if our congregations are to worship, they must be born again. This is so basic, yet greatly neglected in churches across America. If we are wondering why worship is cold in some of our churches, it is a possibility that our people are not born again." p. 52

In other words, are we worshiping in the Spirit?

I have been to powerful worship services where I have felt the Spirit and the experience has been very worshipful. Two stick out in my mind, because they we unique and in the extremes. The first was at a Michael W. Smith concert at the Excel Energy Center in Saint Paul Minnesota. The song was "Let It Rain." This was a simple song with simple lyrics... 'Let It Rain, Let It Rain... Open the Floodgates of heaven.' The Spirit was so powerful in there that evening that we were vibrating and tears were pouring down our cheeks. The second was at a small country church in Big Lake. It was their Christmas service and some of the members prepared special music to sing. The singer was not trained in singing, but had practiced the song to the best of their ability and as they presented the song, they were singing their heart out to the Lord and I could feel the Spirit move in that place and the tears also came. In both experiences, it was clear that this was worship that was happining in the Spirit.

So how do we get there? How do we worship in both mind and spirit? I have had the opportunity to participate in a few worship teams over the years. There is a point where you technically learn the music and it suddenly turns and the Spirit takes over and I was worshiping in both mind and Spirit. When this has occured to me it has been 1) when I had rehearsed the song so many times that it was memorized and I had worked out all of the technical issues 2) I prayed and surrendered my worship to God. There are many times I have been in worship where I no longer was singing. Something else takes over and it was complete focus on God. In that moment my entire focus is on God and I forget about everything else around me. This is when true worship happens for me.... I am worshiping in mind and spirit.

I know there have been times that I cannot get to that true worship. I have been so focused on the music and lyrics that I forget who I am there to worship in the first place. I am worshiping the technical aspects of the music and not worshiping God. Or the opposite is true, I am alowing my Spirit to turn to God but am not able to work out the technical elements. Either way has not worked out well for me. We need to be doing both in order to worship God.

I encourage you... the next time you are at church to focus on God when you sing, sing songs you know and turn your Spirit to Jesus. Try giving your heart and mind to Him as you worship.

Peace,

Lisa

PS Check out Steven Curtis Chapman's video onYouTube for 'Lord of the Dance'

Emergent Church and the Question of Ordination

When we established Jacob's Well, we used the values statement from Emergent Village as our values statement: http://www.emergentvillage.com/about-information/values-and-practices .

Emergent has people from many denominations who follow their teachings. Because of this, Emergent has not established any formal type of Ordination for people in positions of leadership within the movement. There is a belief that all Christians are qualified to perform the sacraments and therefore there is no need for formal Ordination recognition because all are 'ordained' in the body of Christ.

While I agree with the idea that everyone in the body of Christ is qualified for ministry, there still needs to be some sort of recognition for the leadership. This isn't to say that non-leaders can't minister but there needs to be a go-to person for organizational types of issues.

I have been in non-profit groups where we had complete team leadership with no one in charge. The problem that I ran into was that there was conflict because there was no clear-cut person in charge. I am now involved with another non-profit group that runs as a team. However there are specific people designated in leadership positions and the group runs more smoothly and we designate leadership for specific tasks as well.

I am wondering if there are other people out there who are not denominationally active, who are starting other Emergent Churches who would like to come together in some sort of formal recognition of being a leader in the Emergent church? Perhaps a licensing of sorts recognizing that you are a leader? Email me at jacobswellprayer@aol.com if you would like to join me in establishing a leadership recognition group.

Peace,
Lisa

Quest for Peace

I have noticed lately that I have been ‘off.’ I have been discontent and edgy and I just haven’t been able to find a good reason as to why. Except that I am off and I am looking for peace. It’s a cognitive dissonance. In other words, life took a turn that I wasn’t expecting and my preparations were for nothing and it left me feeling disconnected.

I know that I somehow need to get back on track. But what is the track that I need to be on? I have been chasing rabbit trails leading to dead ends. But I know that there is a peace out there that I could be a part of.

This peace that I am longing for is that connection… the connection we experience when we are participating in God’s will in the world. This is when we are in harmony with what God has planned for us.

Have I been following the wrong path? Have I not been in line with God? I don’t know. I didn’t think I was, and yet I have lost the connection. I just pray that the door will open for me to connect with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.

No good answers today… just plenty of questions.

In Christ’s Name,

Lisa

Sunday Night Prayer

We are starting to meet on Sunday Nights from 7:00 - 8:00 PM to pray for the direction of this group. Dessert will be shared as a part of our time together.

Saint Patrick's Day 2009

Each year our family welcome's Saint Patrick's Day... it has become one of our family's favorite holidays. We always have a special meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage and other green items. We take the time to look back at our heritage... the countries that our ancestors originated in and the Christian traditions of the holiday.

So, join us is celebrating this holiday. Have a hearty meal and wear the green!

Peace,
Lisa

Facebook and the Abbey

If you are on Facebook, stop on by and visit us! I am attempting to have conversations going on our page in Facebook. Check Us Out!

Also... I haven't given up on the Abbey. Anyone care to join me?

Peace,
Lisa

House Church Meetings

We will continue meeting on Wednesday nights for a meal and fellowship at 6:30 PM about twice a month. Please be in prayer for direction for our group.

Blessings,
Lisa

Romans Update

Hope everyone is enjoying getting into character for this study!

Just wanted to mention that we have changed the time for this study. We are meeting from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM on Wednesday nights.

Looking ahead, we are going to need to juggle how we do the study. We have 1 1/2 hour alloted for it and the book recommends 2 1/2 hours. We will see how next week goes and we may need to break up the time for each chapter in order to get everything in.

Also, if you know of someone who wants to be a visitor to the study for a week, we can include them as a visitor.

See you Wednesday!

Peace,
Lisa

Friends, let's look at Romans!

Update on Romans Bible Study...

We are changing the meeting time to Wednesday Evenings from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. We will be going through the book of Romans with the study guide: "Roman House Churches for Today: A Practical Guide for Small Groups" by Reta Halteman Finger. A dessert/snack will also be served.

Peace,
Lisa

It's all about... growing in Christ

How does one encourage growing closer to Christ with people who have given up on religion?

This is my question for the day.

Is it just about showing people the love of Christ?

I think about the life of Mother Theresa who selflessly helped so many in India. Why did she do this? It was through her love for Christ that she was able to help all of those people for so many years. How can we as devoted followers of Christ do this in our communities? Where are people hurting and in trouble that we can step in?

Just in Montrose...
How can we help our children continue to participate in activities that they have grown to love but their parents can no longer afford it?
How can we help those who are about to lose homes to foreclosure?
How can we help those who can't afford food, gas and other items for daily living?

What would Christ do to help those in Montrose live a better life?

Just asking the questions....
Peace,
Lisa

Dis-Organized Church

A little over 5 years ago I had and idea… it seemed like it was a simple idea, but I am finding out that it actually is rather complicated.

My idea was to start a church for those who didn’t want to attend church… I knew there were a TON of people out there who believed in God… maybe even Jesus… who did not believe in organized church. So, I began a dis-organized church… and it sure has been dis-organized!

Our small home-based church has attracted lots of interesting people…

- A family who wanted to keep themselves out of the church and isolate themselves from the world around them because it wasn’t Biblically based enough – or at least what they believed to be Biblically based…

- Another family who had a home built in Montrose but could not sell their home in the cities… the home they built was bought by someone else who went into foreclosure…

- people who wanted to form a church that looked like the church they came from and could not understand why we weren’t giving sermons, holding worship services, doing Bible studies, etc…

- People looking for children’s programming to keep their kids occupied while the parents went off and did something else…

- People pressing me for my opinion on Evangelical ‘hot button’ issues – homosexuality, abortion, end times (lots of end times) to name a few…

- people who have watched so much televangelism that they believe that God will send them more money if they give money to the church… and would continue giving money to large television churches…

Maybe we just weren’t clear along the way… maybe we didn’t know how to reach people who I know are out there… who might want to be a part of a completely different kind of church.

Jacob’s Well is a church for those who

- believe in God, but not religion

- value spending time with their families and don’t need another activity to suck up their time

- would like to talk to others about God

- believe that helping out others is just what they are supposed to be doing

I’ll admit… I don’t know what this kind of group would look like… my attempts at forming this group are in a holding pattern. I would like your help… if you can give me ideas on how to start this kind of group, please let me know. I am open to any suggestions.

Peace,

Lisa

Pastor of a completely dis-organized church

How to be In Ministry without Money

A pastor friend of mine sent out a plea yesterday for more funding so that he can stay in ministry.

My mother-in-law used to tell me about her old church where the pastor would regularly request money from the congregation for his personal income.

I wanted to be in ministry without asking for money... but how can people do this? Any ideas?

We have been creative on jobs and financing in my family but with the way things are going in today's economy... how can we all live without the income?

Jesus didn't have anything... he relied on people he met to provide the resources for his ministry. Can you see pastors actually being able to do that today? Maybe in some parts of the world, but in the US... probably not.

I still am not convinced money needs to be at the root of a ministry... and I am open to alternatives.

Peace,
Lisa

The Abbey

Announcing…. The Abbey

I have been trying to come up with some sort of clever play on words (so that I won’t be infringing upon copyright)… I have tried many names out and keep coming up with simply “The Abbey”.

So what is “The Abbey”? It is a group of people who have dedicated themselves to the following:

To growing with each other closer to Christ in such a manner so that we might share Christ’s love with others.

In other words, this is a group of people who are interested in becoming closer to Christ and also sharing that closeness with those around them. People who are following Christ will take part in regular prayers, worship, meals with each other and study of the Bible. They will also take an active role in their community in order that Christ might use them in the community.

As a part of this new endeavor, I would like to begin a more active online community in which I will place weekly teachings/devotionals on this blog. My hope is that this can keep us connected with each other even when we are not actually getting together.

If God is willing… I would like to see The Abbey group start running in September… if you are interested in joining the Abbey or if you have questions, please email me at jacobswellprayer@aol.com.

Peace,

Lisa

What Do You Mean By Church

People have asked me over time where I go to church. Sometimes I will tell them that I don’t ‘go’ anywhere to church, I am always at church. And they usually look at me with a puzzled look on their face.

I know that they are asking me “which building do I attend on Sunday morning?” But my understanding of the meaning of church runs much deeper than the group people see once a week.

The term used in the New Testament that we translate as church is Ecclesia. To better understand what the New Testament writers meant when they were writing about church, it is helpful to understand what the definition of Ecclesia is.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesia

Ecclesia (lat) is a term derived from the Greek root ekklesia [εκκλησία], which literally means a "gathering" of citizens, in an ancient Greek city-state, or a "called-out assembly"; usually defined as "gathering of the called-out ones"^[1] or “gathering of those summoned”^[2]. Theologically it has been equated from the New Testament passages, originally written in Greek language, as the Church (though the origin of the term "Church" is the Greek root kyriakon [from kyriake, kyriakos; kyrios; kyros])^[3] and also as the Body of Christ, a view which reflects a deeper Spiritual and invisible dimension into the use of the term Ecclesia.

I know… you are reading this and wondering what all of this means… basically in the early years of the church, they did not refer to specific buildings or denominations but rather a gathering of people who were following Christ. And this gathering could happen at any time or any place… they just needed to meet with each other and talk about Christ. As a Christian, we are all members of the Body of Christ. So where ever we go, that is where the Church is.

So to answer the question “Where do I go to church?” The answer would be “Anywhere I go because I am a Christian.”

Peace,

Lisa Ellwoods

Pastor Jacob’s Well