Pastor’s Garage March 31, 2022

Good morning!

Last week I had the opportunity to be in Calgary for some missions
committee meetings with ACOP. It was great to meet face to face after 2
years of being separated. Unfortunately it was plus 18 one afternoon… it
was terrible sitting in the sun 🙂 That being said, thank you for releasing
me to go and to serve on that committee.

I am reading a book right now during my devotional time called “Common
Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.” It’s basically a fresh take on
The Book of Common Prayer. In the reading for today, they quote the
twentieth-century Jesuit theologian Henri de Lubac who said,

*“The finest and boldest Christian effort, the freshest and most enduring,
has always flourished from the roots of tradition.”*

What I read from that is that a “radical” Christian is one who sticks to
the basics. Read your bible and pray a lot and obey what you read. In other
words, be a Christian rooted in time honored traditions. Being radical
might actually appear to be rather boring! However, I think that’s the way
God intended because the focus is not supposed to be on us – the focus is
supposed to be on God. If we do things that bring attention to ourselves or
that bring attention to ourselves we are missing it. It’s really clear from
1 Corinthians chapter 1 that God doesn’t want the attention to be on us!
All the glory is God’s and we are supposed to boast in Him.

The church has always faced the challenge of being relevant or fresh and
while I definitely believe we need to understand our culture and know how
to relate I think we can at times get lost in things like programs,
initiatives, strategies and the like. Marketing tactics and leadership
strategies get talked about more than I’d like to admit. In seeking to be
relevant I think we lose our way – seeking out the greatest or newest or
freshest idea that will open the doors to growth and revival. But the world
doesn’t need more of that stuff. We are overrun with the next best thing
and yet people are more empty than ever. Perhaps the most attractive thing
is a person who exudes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). A person who
is filled with the power of the holy spirit who can bring knowledge, wisdom
or a prophetic word or healing (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). A person who has an
answer to some of life’s most perplexing and confusing questions (Psalm
119:105).

None of those come from a program or from a “fresh” idea. They come from
knowing God and from being acquainted with His word – something Christians
have done for the last 2,000 years. The world needs such men and women of
God. People of the bible. People of prayer. Imagine that just by reading
your bible and spending time in prayer and by obeying what you read – *YOU
CAN GET TO KNOW GOD! *Maybe the path to greatness is the old path.

Does this mean we throw out all programs and ideas. No. I don’t think so.
But, the power of who we are and the impact we make doesn’t come from a
well oiled machine – it comes from the people of God who know God and his
word as the power of God works through them.

God bless,

Pastor Dave