Comments for Mike's 3 Cents

Comment on subtle penance by Paul

Paul — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:40:56 +0000

Your words are a reminder to me of how I often underestimate the effect of man’s ‘Fall from Grace’ that took place in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:6 reveals, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” The wisdom that our first parents gained in consuming the fruit was, and continues to be, the type of wisdom that we humans use to come up with a host of strategies apart from God, such as the “subtle penance” about which you write! I pray that Jesus would continue to point out these dead-end works in my life and the lives of His children and daily help us, as you conclude, to “enjoy Him in the rich moments of grace and faith.”

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life…So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness”(Titus 3:5-7; Colossians 2:6-7).

Comment on confess what? by Mike Smith

Mike Smith — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:41:05 +0000

any further thoughts Morgan? what have you found? Have you read James 5? One very serious consideration regarding confession is not “if” we confess to others, but “to whom?” Only the one we’ve wronged? An accountability partner? Your pastor? What about a confession that has the potential to “ruin” an innocent bystanders life (so to speak)?

Comment on confess what? by Ali

Ali — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:37:18 +0000

Morgan, good question! And what if the person doesn’t know we sinned against him/her? I’m thinking about in the case of gossip.

Comment on subtle penance by Ali

Ali — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:36:26 +0000

What a healthy and necessary reminder halfway through Lent.

Comment on confess what? by Morgan

Morgan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:58:24 +0000

my question is do we need to confess to others our sin? I know we need to confess to God, but should we also be speaking our sin out loud to someone?

Comment on confess what? by Ali

Ali — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:10:28 +0000

Love this.

I actually find this freeing. When I look back at the years when I was not actively walking with Him, I realize that I was immersed in satan’s lies. I was swimming in a cesspool of warped and twisted beliefs that came from satan. And because I wasn’t seeking God’s Truth, I failed to realize all the lies that surrounded me. In fact, I believed all the lies as if they were truth.

Now, as I seek God’s Truth and as I turn to Him daily in prayer, I am constantly realizing, “wait, that’s a lie,” and, “that’s another lie,” and “yep, that’s a lie, too.” And because I was living according to the lies, I was a sinful mess (I still am, but gosh, it is such a beautiful thing to be in an active relationship with a REDEEMER.) Now I can feel the Holy Spirit saying, “that was a sin and if you wouldn’t believe that lie from satan you might not have acted that way.”

This realization has given me the freedom to check myself, check my motivations and intentions, and seek God’s Truth and forgiveness as I sort through the mess that I thought was life.

Comment on second site, plant or second service? by Paul

Paul — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:14:06 +0000

I went through a second service addition as a Children’s Pastor and agree with Ben where he notes that more are willing to serve as they are able to also participate in the Sunday morning service. As the months wore on, though, I observed that the downside for a family with younger children (infant-6th grade)was that it was difficult for them to sustain their service due to the morning being too long. Eventually, the work load fell on those who were single, empty nesters or those with jr. or h.s. kids. The upside is that we gained new workers in the process, but it ultimately was a heavy commitment on those remaining.
When we planted Vista, it seemed more like a ‘do or die’ situation! There wasn’t anyone but the team to get the work done and it promoted a great deal of unity among us.
I believe a church plant will create the need for a new staff, new servants and servant-leaders. I think adding a service will create more work for the existing staff and those already in leadership as well as add a few more into the ranks of servants and servant leaders.

Comment on second site, plant or second service? by Ben Huber

Ben Huber — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:26:51 +0000

I know about the 80/20 rule when it comes to work load, and maybe I’m the exception, but I feel that if there were two services, I’d be able to serve in a greater capacity by attending one service and serving at the other. Maybe I’m the rarity and it would only be 79/21, but I feel that it’s hard to ask members of the body to serve regularly (weekly) if that means missing the corporate worship/service. If I was able to serve weekly in some capacity, but still attend one of two services, then it would be easier to make that decision to get involved on a weekly basis.

Maybe the people that you’d consider recruiting for leadership for a church-plant could be redirected to be leaders for the second service to share the burden on those currently working so that 20% weren’t doing 80% of the work for TWO services.

Comment on second site, plant or second service? by Sarah Belanger

Sarah Belanger — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:00:50 +0000

This pivotal question could be thought of as creating a solid foundation – spreading outward to create a more stable base . . . and perhaps, these concepts are not mutually exclusive, with step 1 as second site or church plant, and as vista’s growth is revealed step 2 could be a second service . . . However this develops, I’m in.

Comment on 4o days kick-off… by Ali

Ali — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:09:55 +0000

Gosh, is this ever true. I started my Lenten journey promptly on Ash Wednesday. And it is safe to say that last week was one of my most difficult as a mother. I was ugly. My kids were basket cases.

Yet every morning I woke up turning to Scripture and prayer. And by the afternoon, satan was camped outside my front door, slipping in and out in a nasty attempt to kill and destroy my desire (and efforts) to grow closer to the Lord.

I had never felt spiritual warfare as heavily as I did last week (and satan didn’t like that my husband and I attended Forever Changed only a few days prior to Ash Wednesday; he didn’t like that one bit at all).