A Disciple of Christ

A Disciple of Christ

In John chapter 15, Jesus explains that the disciple will pray, bear fruit, and glorify God.  While all of the requirements are important, it is clear that the final destination of a disciple is that their life will glorify Christ.  This can only be done through committing to prayer with the Father.  This allows the disciple to hear the purpose of God for their life.  Without this step, there will be no clear direction concerning the specific will of God for life.  While the universal will of God is for all believers to follow, the specific will helps define individual ministry and goals.  Once the will of God is established for a person, they should begin to bear fruit associated with their ministry and purpose.  When a person commits their life to being a disciple of Christ, sacrifice, love, commitment, and prayer will bring glory to the Father above.

Pastor Sean

Repost: To Leave A Church

After reading a blog by Tim Stevens (http://www.leadingsmart.com/leadingsmart/2010/01/how-to-leave-your-church.html) on the proper way to leave a church, I was inspired to write this blog. In his blog, he states that 19% of people leave a church in a loud boisterous manner, and 79% just slip away and you never hear from them again. It is with sadness that I agree with the comments made by this pastor. In my 11 years as a senior pastor, I have found that people leave churches exactly as he said. The question that should arise in the mind of the pastor is why. How could someone who smiled with us, dined with us, and even used the resources of the church just walk away. I have been told by most that they left because someone said this, that, or the other. Others have also said that they left a church because they felt that some things were not right.

Whatever the reason, we are charged by God to do all things in decency and order. When leaving a church, communicate to the leadership your problems. Let them know that your life has been changed in some way at the church. Most importantly, do not badmouth the church in anyway. This is the proper way for a believer to leave a church and keep everything on one accord.

In reality, there will always be those that gossip, lie, and steal. There will always be people that run your pressure through the roof, but how much stronger could we be if we stood together to defeat the enemy on every level. You would not just walk off your job to never return. For those that have done this, they usually face difficulties with obtaining a good report from that employer. Many may not be concerned with the report that the local church will give about them, but we all should be concerned about what the Lord thinks about us. We must all give an account concerning the good and bad that we have done (1 Corinthians 5:10). It is not good to leave cursing everyone and their parents, it is not appropiate to just slip away, the right way to leave any organization is through positive communication.

Just my thoughts on the subject,
Pastor Sean