Hey Friends,

I just made an announcement at church this past weekend that kind of flies in the face of popular wisdom:

Popular wisdom says if you’re going to grow a healthy church you have take care of the children so adults can be free to enjoy the word of God.

Being Led By The Lord
With as much as I love the Word of God and I love for people to listen to me when I teach it this could have been a difficult decision to make.

But, the Lord seems to deal with me sometimes in ways that aren’t optimum. Especially when I’m slow of hearing.

You see, I believe the best way for a pastor to lead is

• for him to have a close personal relationship with the Lord,
• know the Word,
• hear His Voice,
• get direction from Him and
• implement it.

While I believe that’s best, that’s not how this decision came about.

What Happened:
For two and a half years we had some very faithful workers handling our 0-5 year olds. Lisa a ministry school graduate was handling our Toddlers and Cyndi was handling our nursery. With as faithful as these ladies were there was not a line of people volunteering to relieve them. This didn’t feel right. They have families too. They need to sit in the service too. They need to hear the Word preached and have times of fellowship. It kind of bothered me that we didn’t see what I would consider the blessing of the Lord on our recruitment efforts.

I believe, for sure, that where He guides, He provides.

On the Sunday before Valentine’s Day Lisa arrived all ready for the day, she had made a special treat for each of the kids with their names on it. But when Nancy arrived with our 4 year old Olivia, Nancy had already planned to keep her in the service to hear me teach. This confused Lisa. What’s wrong with this picture? She’s putting all of this thought, prayer, emotional energy, and hours of work but the pastor’s wife won’t let her minister to their child. Where’s the clarity of vision.

So Lisa called me on it. Thank God she did. Now Lisa is a godly woman, polite and very cordial but she wanted some clarification. Was this a babysitting service that she was running? Was children’s ministry really even in the vision for the church? After much discussion with me, her husband and the Lord she felt led to step down from her role.

Going Back To The Vision
This like I said earlier was God leading me in a less than optimum way. It forced me to go back to the seeds of vision that He had planted in me and my wife’s heart in the years of preparation before stepping into the pastorate.

We had always seen, in looking to the future, families together, learning how to be families, learning how to sit together, learn together. With all of the things that divide the family throughout the week we felt the Lord was leading us to give them one place where the family was not required to be split up again.

Teaching Children
My wife often tells me, “Joe, you have a gift to teach all ages. The little kids get something out of it all the way up to the elderly.” I’m not sure if this is a gift as much as it is a learned sensitivity. My brother, Vince, taught me as he discipled me that if you’ll teach to the children’s level then the adults will finally get it.

So, we’re off on a new adventure, we don’t know what it all will look like. But we know that we’ll fail if we follow popular wisdom but we’ll succeed if we follow God’s recipe for our church.

The Correction
After I announced the change to the church a friend came up to me after service and asked if I was open to some correction. I said, “Sure.”

He said, “You said twice during your announcement that we were stopping having children’s ministry. But really you’re taking children’s ministry to the next level.”

Here’s a word the Lord spoke to me yesterday:

Son,

I am your God,
I am your Father,
I am your Friend.

Be strong in Me; secure in our relationship and My love for you.
Be confident that I’m with you; that as you move forward in a direction that I’ve spoken, you can be assured that whatever opposition rises up against you, I am for you.

Now don’t let opposition be more influential to you than My Word.
Stick with what I’ve said, no matter the opposition.

My Word will bring you to victory.

Hey Friends,

Here’s my journal from this morning:

Jeremiah 45:5
And seekest thou great things for thyself?
seek them not

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 7:7
Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Matthew 7:8
For every one that asketh receiveth;
and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Son, seek Me!
Pursue Me!
Hunger & thirst for Me!
I can be found by you
and your soul will be rewarded
I am your Prize!

Be blessed,
Joe

Hey Friends,

I heard that one of the meanings for the word “understanding” in the book of Proverbs is “organization”.

My pastor, Bill Winston, taught me many times that

About a month ago the Lord asked me a question:

That is a thought provoking question.
Taking time to answer it will pay you handsome dividends.

I came across this simple book. Although I don’t like to classify myself as a dummy sometimes in the area of organization I may act like it. So I’m taking time to read a simple book like this to shore up in this area. It is amazingly helpful to do this.

If you are weak in an area shore it up. But don’t spend too much time on your weaknesses. It’s better to staff your weaknesses, but that’s another subject. Get your weaknesses to a place where you can at least function reasonably. Reading/studying in these areas will help you.

Also, in areas where you have expertise you may want to read up on something in that area to see if there is something new or something you forgot about. That can be a humbling experience for some, but be encouraged: you’re bettering yourself and those you serve.

I read my Bible a lot and I’m glad I do. But I find reading other books that bring understanding/organization can greatly enhance your life.

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I hope you all are seeking the Lord diligently.

Today in my prayer time the Lord spoke this to me:

I hope this encouraged you today.
Joe

Well Friends,

I’m off on another prayer retreat. Leaving tomorrow after church, I’ll have to miss the SuperBowl which I was kind of looking forward to, but when you really think about it, if you know God very well at all, watching the SuperBowl can’t even be compared.

So here’s my challenge:
Are you setting aside any time to meet with the Lord?
If you don’t know how to do that check out the last post before this one.
Pray for me, I’ll be praying for you.

Blessings
Joe

Hey Friends,

Don’t neglect the great benefits you receive by just taking time in God’s word.

Let His word just cleanse you, purify you.

It works if you’ll take the time to do it.

Turn off the TV, the email, even the web-surfing, get to a secret place or somewhere that you won’t be interrupted, get your Bible and your journal or a fresh notebook.

Take time.

Pray and ask Him where to turn to start reading. If no thought comes to you, just turn to wherever you want to read. As you read you might want to write down in your notebook or journal some of the key verses that seem to really be speaking to you.

Write down other thoughts that you have, God will speak to you through this. When I’m doing this I often get a wave of thoughts that try to pull me away from having time with God. So if I remember, “Oh I have to call so-and-so!” I write that down. Then leave that thought alone, go back to my reading of the Word. If another distracting thought comes I do the same again.

As you are persistent in this you get better at it. You’ll get your task list written and clear your mind out of all these thoughts that are floating around demanding your energy and attention.

David said in the Psalms, I have stilled and quieted my soul. This is how you do it.

Get focused on God,

• loving Him,
• praising Him,
• listening to Him.

He is good and He wants to touch your life.

Go ahead friends, try this out.

Hebrews 11 says that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God bless you
Joe

Hey Friends,

Here’s something the Lord was teaching me in my journal this morning:

Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Son, peace to you. Let my peace reign in your life, in your heart. All is well.

My goodness and mercy desire to come forth on you, don’t block them. Don’t let your heart block them.

Proverbs 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

Proverbs 4:21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

If you let a lie about me arise in your heart then your heart becomes impure. The pure in heart see Me. Letting your heart become impure will block your sight of me. I am good Son. I’m loving. I’m here for you. Let it be known in your heart that I am loving, kind, generous, helpful, encouraging and strengthening. I am good Son. Now you can see Me better.

Hey Friends,
Happy New Year!

I hope all went well for you.

The Lord has put something strong on my heart:

Being strong in moral character will help to keep you from falling.

I preached a message about it yesterday at church, take a few minutes to listen.

I believe it will help you.

God bless
Joe

I believe your (and my) success for the new year is directly related to you spending time alone with God.

The Bible says in Hebrews 11 that
He(God) is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

He also promises in Jeremiah 29:13
“If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me.”

The most meaningfully successful people I know seek the Lord the most.

The one’s whose success is purposeful and very blessed are the one’s who intentionally set aside time to pursue improving their relationship with God.

I know you’re busy but God is waiting and He’s available to you.

Consider going into your room by yourself, closing the door, kneel down next to your bed and talk to Him.
He’s ready. He’s waiting.

Consider taking a day and getting away by yourself to seek Him.
He’s ready. He’s waiting.

Consider taking three days off by yourself to pray and discuss your future with Him.
He’s ready. He’s waiting.

Open your Bible, read it.

Get a journal, write what you want to say to Him, write down thoughts and impressions you think might be from Him.

• God loves you.
• He’s your Father.
• He’s full of wisdom.
• He’s not holding back.
• He’s not mad at you.
• He loves you.

Go talk to Him.
He’s ready. He’s waiting.

Happy New Year!
Pastor Joe

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During Christmas time people try to be very cheery. MERRY Christmas!

Well some people struggle with that.

One quote I heard this year was
“Happiness doesn’t come from money it comes from relationships.”

In the Bible, the very first thing that God disapproved of was man being alone.
He set about immediately to change it. You should too.

The other night my wife, Nancy, came home from shopping with a few of our kids.
She said something about really needing to spend time with me because she felt lonely.
Now I don’t claim to understand women 🙂 , but I can’t see Nancy being lonely. We have seven children and we spend ALOT of time together.

As soon as she said that, I said, “Nancy, I don’t think that’s you. I think it’s a burden to pray for someone else.”
She said she instantly knew that I was right. She said it was a deep grieving in her gut. Someone hurting really bad.
She spent some time praying in the spirit for them until the burden lifted. Nancy is quite a prayer warrior.
If that was you that she was praying for, be encouraged. God is thinking about you. God agrees with your discontent with being lonely. He wants to change it. He wants it changed.

The other day I was taping a video devotional for the TLN network. One of the devotionals I taped went something like this:
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January 9

Researcher Carolyn Schwartz wanted to see if multiple sclerosis sufferers would benefit from receiving monthly peer-support phone calls from other MS victims. But over time, a surprising trend emerged. While those receiving support calls appeared to gain some mild benefit, the real beneficiaries were those lending a supportive ear. In fact, those who offered support experienced dramatic improvements in their quality of life—several times more so than those they were helping.

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My Friend,
If you’re lonely. Change it. Call someone. Help someone. Get out of those four walls, either physically, via phone, email or snail mail. Reach out. Help someone. You will be quite blessed.
Local nursing homes need volunteers to come and just talk to people.

If you’re lonely reach out to someone else. Don’t wait until they reach out to you.

You’ll be blessed if you do.
Love ya
& MERRY CHRISTMAS
Joe

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