Frayed, ragged, shabby and tattered are synonyms for worn. While most people will visualize a physical condition, there are other ways to become worn. Counselors, psychologists and therapists can become emotionally overwhelmed by a patients life. Meanwhile, clergy, pastors and spiritual leaders may be shaken by the problems of their flock.
“Man is also chastened with pain upon his bed, and with continual strife in his bones;” Job 33:19.
When disease, illness or sickness strike individuals, just getting up for a moment can make someone exhausted. Depending upon the severity of a condition, physically features may be altered. Without a cure or medicine to improve, bodies will continue to deteriorate. In the passage below, time has a way of wasting away bodies.
His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen; and his bones which were not seen stick out, Job 33:21.
Currently, I find myself in a different state of worn. One that involves a loss of energy, passion and vigor for life. Trying to keep any type of positive momentum is a grind. Thus, I struggle to experience joy in this life. Perhaps I need to remember the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 embracing my weakness so that Christ may be strong.
If you have ever visited several churches over the course of a month, methods, styles and terminology vary. Some denominations expect priests, pastors or preachers to do the core of the discipleship, evangelism and ministry work. Yet, Jesus tell his disciples a completely different approach. God’s plan involves harvesters.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,” Matthew 9:37.
In this age of megachurches, spiritual growth is misleading. Visitors often treat facilities like the latest trend, hopping from the old to the new as long as it satisfies your soul. When the crowd begins to move in a different direction, loyalty is pushed aside. This mentality causes individuals to become consumers, not servants. Thus, harvesters are vanishing as a new generation of Christians take center stage in the church.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field, Matthew 9:38.
One of the logical reasons for this void is known as the 90:10 rule. Ten percent of congregations does ninety percent of the work at church. This overuse can wear out willing volunteers. If these harvesters aren’t given a break, burn out can occur. In view of this, discipleship, nurturing and training is essential to unite the body of Christ. When spiritual workers become a rarity in your house of worship, may a spirit of prayer prompt the Holy Spirit to bring harvesters out of retirement and back into action.
Although its been thousands of years since Lucifer first planted the idea of questioning God within eve’s mind, Genesis 3:1, there is a new trend gaining traction. Sure, there will always be doubters, haters and nay sayers who will claim God does not exist. Yet, this latest fad might be more harmful, especially when their promises come up empty. Like a page out of the Bible, more and more people are sharing stories about how God is speaking to them in an audible voice, either in dreams, during a prayer or while reading the Bible. Before these phanatics get excited by telling anyone who will listen, maybe they should practice 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, asking the question, “did God really tell me that?”
The reason why I say this is that gullible and hurting people are often burned by optimistic news, taking what pastors, television evangelists or faith healers say as gospel, as if these words came straight out of Jesus’ mouth. Back in February of 2012, I began to hear countless testimonies, people who reached out to the parents of Joseph Feeley, one of my former students who had been battling cancer for 2 years. Though I believe each had good intentions, they were proved wrong when Joseph went to be home with the Lord on February 27th, less than a month after confidently proclaiming Joseph would be healed, traveling throughout the country as a motivational speaker.
Six months later, I received a similar message at a Christian bookstore in Delaware. Since I was still searching for a full time job, I was vulnerable, grasping at straws for anything positive. When I wrote a blog on this encounter in late August of 2012, I was hopeful the words of this prophet might come true, “God will reward you with a great paying job, surpassing your wildest imagination.” Unfortunately, this grandois prophecy did not occur within the time table give but who knows, maybe my position at Amazon could turn into something special. However, like the Feeley family, I am still in a lot of pain, disappointed by the outcome of my current path.
Instead of crying over spilled milk, I won’t give up on chasing my dreams of becoming a novelist, screen writer or both. In future blogs, I will be careful not to exploit anyone with promises unless I am certain of a specific message, truth or word of insight people need to hear. The lesson to be learned from this blog is to dot your i’s and cross your t’s, ensuring your words don’t inflict false hope to a world searching for answers. May these words, stirring within my heart, strike a cord, helping you to reflect before blotting out any words in the future.
The other night at Bible Study, an impromptu discussion broke out about how hypocritical Christians can be. In fact, every year people who are seeking God become turned off by churches, pastors and modern day Pharisees who care more about traditions than displaying the love of Jesus. Instead of continuing their search, hurt people have decided to stay at home, finding other things to do on Sunday.
In business, there was a an old principle called the 3/10. For every good experience an individual has, they will tell 3 other people. However, whenever a customer encounters poor service, they reach out to 10 people, sharing their disappointment and frustrations. Recently, a new ratio has replaced the 3/10 now known as the 11/4 principle, with the negative being the higher number. Since first impressions often have lasting affects, if you’re not careful, someone might say, ” to hell with you and your religion!”
Unfortunately, the reality in life entices most people to get a little too comfortable, caught off guard by unknowing observers. As a result, Christianity becomes less and less attractive to Americans due to the bad taste of judgmental believers. In the end, something has to give, either the offended will give God another try or immature followers of Jesus will grow up by starting to resemble the son of God. Whenever you are on the road of life, Matthew 7:13-14, may God nudge you back in the right direction.
ExpressYourself4Him 