Christianity

TRAINING WHEELS COMING OFF

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

In my last coaching session I used a couple of similes to describe how my mother’s hospice care makes me feel. I said it makes me feel like Nemo at the edge of the reef staring out at the open ocean.

I also said it felt like the training wheels were about to come off of my bicycle.

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In ministry, I have always struggled with not getting consumed by the expectations of others. It has been hard to navigate the waters of what other people think I should be doing as. minister. I have a problem with approval addiction.

Since I moved in with my mother over a decade ago, her health has been a concern and a governor for the amount of ministry I could do. As her health has declined over these last three or four years the ministry has become more governed. I have had to prioritize the things I really felt God telling me to do, THE FOUR THINGS, and let the rest of people’s expectations go.

Now as our family faces Mom’s passing I am faced with a question about how I will navigate ministry after her passing. Without her health concerns to guard, guide and keep me focused, will I fall back into old habits of being consumed by the ministry expectations of others? Will the old monster of approval addiction once again rear its ugly head and take control of how I work?

My coach asked me a good question in my last session with him: “What will be the new governors of your ministry work?”

I do worry about my ability to say “No!”

I do worry that my agenda will not be enough.

I know I need an intentionally thought out plan or I may just go back to…. old ways….old days.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU USE TO KEEP YOURSELF FROM GETTING DISTRACTED?

PREPARING OUR HOMES PT. 2

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As 2024 began The Lord gave Cornerstone Church a directive we are calling the congregational sentence. It reads: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

Over the course of the next several weeks these seven “prepare statements” will be broken down into 21 weekly devotionals. This is devotional number 8 in our series. It is entitled,

Prepare your infrastructures (your structures, infrastructures and plans)

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There is a certain sense, when we talk about preparing our structures that we understand we are talking about very practical activities. We understand it means to clean our bathrooms before company arrives. It means to stock up on some extra groceries in expectation of guests. We can even understand the very practical nature of preparing our hearts to be more intentionally welcoming when guests arrive at our church door(make sure you introduce yourself to the new people). But what does to mean to prepare our infrastructures? What even is an infrastructure?

Infrastructure-the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities of a community.

In community/ church life there are three kinds of Infrastructures we are concerned with preparing:

1. SOFT INFRASTRUCTURE- THESE ARE OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEMS. IN PREPARING THESE WE ARE STRENGTHENING THE CONGREGANTS HEART OF GENEROSITY AND THE LEADERSHIP SYSTEMS CONCERNING STEWARDSHIP OR GIFT MANAGEMENT. AS WE PREPARE WE CONFRONT THE STRONGHOLDS OF POVERTY, SELF-CENTEREDNESS AND ENTITLEMENT. 
2. HARD INFRASTRUCTURE-
THESE INCLUDE OUR CHURCHES FACILITIES, ACCESS AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. 
HOW EASY IS IT FOR OUR PEOPLE TO GET INTO AND OUT OF THE CHURCH BUILDING? HOW EASY IS IT FOR NEW PEOPLE TO FIND THEIR WAY AROUND THE BUILDING? 
WHAT IF A PERSON CANNOT DRIVE OR HAS NO CAR? CAN THEY COME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY? CAN THEY COME TO YOUR DLT GROUP? HOW?
HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE IMPORTANT NEWS IN OUR CONGREGATION? IS OUR METHOD EFFECTIVE?
3. CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE- THESE WE WILL DEFINE AS OUR EMERGENCY PROCEDURES. HOW DO WE FUNCTION IN AN INTERNAL EMERGENCY? HOW DO WE RESPOND TO AN EMERGENCY A COMMUNITY WIDE EMERGENCY?
WHAT ARE OUR SECURITY PROTOCOLS?
SHOULD OUR COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE SOME SORT OF DISASTER ARE WE PREPARED TO INTENTIONALLY HELP? HOW?

IN LIGHT OF THESE QUESTIONS WHAT QUESTIONS COME UP IN YOUR HEART? WHAT ARE YOU PRAYING FOR TODAY CONCERNING OUR INFRASTRUCTURES?

FOUR THINGS

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As I have been in my place of contemplation during the days of my Mom’s hospice care, I have come to realize that as a minister I am focused on four things.

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The first focus of this part of my work is prayer. By prayer I mean five to six hours a day of deep abiding prayer. It has become my call and when I miss one of my prayer sessions I feel it.

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The second focus of this work is the study of the Word of God, the Bible, and teaching it.

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The third focus of this part of my ministry, is congregational visitation. One of the directives I feel God has set for me is to sit with every congregational member in an order for the purpose of encouraging and giving spiritual direction. This is not hospital visitation or counseling it is not crisis intervention. I feel I will be writing more about my ideas concerning crisis visiting in the future. In fact I am making a note of it right now. Suffice it to say, that crisis visits are a part of my work but not a focus of it. My focus is just visiting and being in the lives of the church body. Being a rather severe introvert I am surprised by how much I am enjoying this focus of the ministry.

The final focus of my work just now is leadership development. My desire is to see a second tier of leaders raised up in Cornerstone to replace those aging out of leadership (including myself) and to fill the slots of growing outreach in the community.

As my coach says, “What you say ‘Yes’ to automatically makes you say ‘No’ to other things.” So this is what I need to say yes to. It is what I have been saying yes to during the last three years and as I launch into the deep beyond THIS NEW THRESHOLD, I feel like I will be saying yes to these four things in an ever increasing measure.

WHAT IS YOUR BURNING YES?

Preparing our Homes Pt. 1

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Our congregation spent a month in prayer to come up with what we are calling the congregational sentence. It reads…

“Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

During these next weeks these seven prepare statements will be broken down into twenty-one brief devotionals the congregation is praying into.

Today we begin talking about Preparing our facility ( structures, infrastructures and plans)

WHAT ARE WE PREPARING FOR?

This next step of preparation seems to be intensely practical and external. We are being asked by God to prepare our facility…our building(s). We are seeking to prepare our hearts, to make internal changes that will help us to be spiritually and emotionally ready for what is to come. This preparation is different. We are being asked to prepare our church building and our personal homes. For what?

  1. FOR GREATER USE- I don’t know all of what we will be approached for, but I do believe our community is going to need our building for public uses. We need to make sure our building is ready for increased usage
  2. FOR HOSPITALITY- This goes for both our homes and for our church building. The Scripture over and over calls us to show kindness and hospitality toward fellow believers and to strangers. We must prepare to have open doors.
  3. FOR SACRED DUTY- I guess this goes back to more of a mental and spiritual preparation, but we must never forget what God has given us a building and homes for. We have what we have so that we may share the good news, the story of Jesus Christ. We must always look for the God connection as we prepare our facility for use, hospitality and sacred duty.
    • What does God really want to use our building and our homes for?

The Watches Of the Night

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Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord

who minister by night in the house of the Lord.

2Lift up your hands in the sanctuary

and praise the Lord.

3May the Lord bless you from Zion,

he who is the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 134

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Mom’s health is now at a place where someone is with her in her room or the next room 24/7. As I write, Brenda and I are working remotely with our ministries from the table just outside Mom’s room while she watches Jessica Fletcher from her hospital bed. She has just had her morning meds and is slowly falling back to sleep, which she does a lot these days.

I generally have the night watch. I sleep really well in the recliner at the foot of Mom’s bed (an ability no one else in my family shares).

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Mom is usually up at least one time in the night if not twice. This has radically changed my sleep schedule and that has blessed me greatly. One of the things I have always wanted to implement in my prayer life was the Benedictine rhythm of prayer: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline.

I have managed to implement the sessions but not in their proper time slots…that is… not until this season of life.

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Mom’s nighttime schedule has made it very easy to get up and pray for Matins and Lauds. I have to say, spreading out the hours of prayer into more evenly spaced sessions has made the prayer-life balance so much richer. Life flows out of prayer, then life flows back into prayer. One of my hopes is that I will be able to establish this rhythm permanently and naturally into my life.

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PREPARE TO PRACTICE COMPASSION PT. 3

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THIS YEAR OUR CONGREGATION IS FOCUSING ON DEVELOPING 7 PRACTICES ARRIVED AT THROUGH A SERIES OF CONVERSATIONS WE HAVE BOILED DOWN INTO SOMETHING WE HAVE DUBBED THE CONGREGATIONAL SENTENCE, WHICH SAYS … “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I HAVE BROKEN THIS SENTENCE DOWN INTO 21 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS TO SHARE HERE THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. HERE IS OUR 6TH DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT. THIS WEEK WE WILL… PREPARE OUR SOULS TO PRACTICE AND FEEL COMPASSION.

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WHICH COME FIRST, THE FEELING OR THE PRACTICE?

Is it always necessary to feel compassion before we practice compassion? Is there a place where we practice compassion simply because it’s the right thing to do regardless of how we feel about it?

The answer to that question is….OF COURSE. The book of James teaches us, “17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” James 4:17

There are many things we do in our Christian walk that go against our “feelings”. Walking in the Spirit means letting the spirit (that part of us that connects to the Spirit of God) lead rather than our souls (our logic, personal will and emotions). We begin walking in the Spirit by coming to know and obey the commands and principles of the Bible. After a time of such practice we can begin to hear the voice of God directing us in the place of prayer.

What I have discovered is that when I practice walking the way the Spirit leads, my emotions line up with the Word, but if I wait to obey God until I feel like obeying Him my “feelings to want” godliness never grow.

Steadfast Sons

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Our church is comprised of small groups of people we call Doing Life Together Groups. Each group is encouraged to

STUDY THE BIBLE TOGETHER/ TO PRAY TOGETHER/ TO FELLOWSHIP AND BUILD DEEP RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER/ AND TO MEET NEEDS IN THE CHURCH AND IN THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER.

One of our “DLT” groups is a group of men called The Steadfast Sons. This year they chose to minister to the greater community of men in our church though and event called “BE A GODLY MAN”.

About 40 men from 8 different DLT groups showed up for breakfast lunch and five breakout sessions

Andy Ross and Stephen Sandoval were our co facilitators in Doing Life Together for the day.

Here are some of my take aways from the day.

BOYS CANNOT CONFER MANHOOD ON THEMSELVES. MEN NEED TO CONFER MANHOOD ON THE NEXT GENERATION OF MEN.

WORRY IS ANTI-PRAYER.

JESUS NEVER OFFERED US A COMFORTABLE LIFE. THERE WILL BE CHALLENGE AND PAIN.

YOUR PROBLEMS ARE NOT OTHER PEOPLE. TROUBLE IS ALWAYS CENTERED IN THE SPIRIT REALM FIRST AND FOREMOST.

MEN MUST CONTINUALLY “GOSPEL” THEMSELVES ACCORDING TO EPHESIANS 6.

THERE ARE NO CHUBBY BREASTPLATES IN THE ARMOR OF GOD. THE ARMOR MAKES US FIT AND ENCOURAGES US TO STAND IN THAT FITNESS.

THE ARMOR SHOULD MAKE US FILL THE WORLD AROUND US WITH PEACE.

THE ARMOR OF GOD IS MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN LINKED WITH A BAND OF BROTHERS.

PRAY THE WORD NOT JUST THE NEED.

Our men had a great day of fellowship together. I was greatly blessed by all the relationship building I saw going on.

In our final sessions I got a few more thoughts to think about.

STRONG MEN ARE SABBATH MEN. ADAM RESTED FOR WORK NOT FROM IT. REST IS FOUND IN JESUS NOT IN “REST”.

GOD LONGS FOR US TO BE IN RHYTHM NOT NECESSARILY IN BALANCE.

GOD HAS CALLED US TO PERSEVERE.

GOD HAS CALLED US TO HUMILITY AND SUBMISSION

GOD HAS CALLED US TO SERVE.

It was a great day of worship, spiritual reminders and challenges, fun, and fellowship.

THANK YOU ANDY AND STEPHEN!