Today Isn't Monday

Hello Emmanuel,

This is another edition of the Monday Morning Pulpit (MMP).  Today, however, is not Monday.  Nor did I think about writing this on Monday.  Nor did I remember that I forgot on Monday.  Indeed, nothing about Monday is included in this edition of the MMP (except the title… which is incredibly misleading).

This leads me to the theme for today (which isn’t a Monday).  What label would you give yourself and do you live up to that label?  I’m not talking about labels that other people give you.  Often times those labels are wrong or misleading (like saying you are a ‘Monday person’ when you are really a ‘Tuesday person’).  I’m asking if you authentically live out who you say you are. 

For example, I call myself a Christian.  That means that I am a follower of Christ.  It doesn’t mean I’m a saint or divine or morally exemplary.  It means I learn about what Jesus says and try to live accordingly (by the way, it also means that I don’t live according to what other people say that Jesus said…. Be it on Monday or any other day.  I always try to find out for sure what Jesus said and go with that.  We don’t need to add any more words.  He got it right the first time).

So who do you say you are?  If we can get a big group of people together who say they are Christian and try to learn about Jesus and live accordingly (without adding any unnecessary rules), then we might get a really good thing going.  There is, in fact, a name for it:  Church.  And Church can meet on any day (including Mondays) and learn more about how to live the way Jesus says to live.  It can be fulfilling, purposeful and lots of friends can be made in the meantime. 

So who do you say you are?  And is it the same person on Monday as it is on Sunday?  What about Thursday?  I invite you to be a follower of Christ every day of the week…. Even if you forget what day of the week it is today….. and today isn’t Monday.

Love God

Love your neighbor as yourself

Try really hard not to be a hypocrite..

…Then go in grace….

See you next Monday, I hope

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Pains Of Growth

Hello Emmanuel,

I don’t like to spend money that I don’t have.  I don’t mind spending money that I do have.  From a personal perspective, my approach to managing money is this simple:  save enough for retirement, give 10% to the church and then budget to not spend more than what I have left (which means to avoid debt whenever possible).  I believe that this should make me a confiscal moderate.  However, in the world we live in now, where we tend to live on credit, I guess it really makes me a confiscal conservative. 

I don’t remember the channel, but I watched a show on cable that had 3 ‘experts’ predict how the U.S. will come to an end.  It was fascinating.  One expert predicted that the U.S. will run out of clean drinking water.  Another, I believe, argued that the U.S. will run out of fossil fuels.  But the third really grabbed my attention, arguing that the U.S. will have an economic collapse because we continue to over-spend and borrow money to pay pack money.

Every year at about this time, churches are also thinking harder than usual about money management.  Why? Because God cares about how we manage money.  How is the budget working this year?  How will we structure the budget for next year?  Can we expand ministry?  Do we cut ministry?  Do we leave things the same?

Emmanuel’s Finance Team has had a fun job over the past several years.  Our growth in numbers has also meant growth in budget.  As the circle chart has developed more disciples, more disciples has meant more ministry.  We have watched the budget grow from $120,000 in 2009 to $183,000 in 2014.  In that time period, the Finance Team has essentially given the go-ahead on any and all ministry ideas.  More and more ministry got done.  More and more people got to hear about Jesus.  More and more people have come to Emmanuel.  God is good.

2014 has brought a different kind of experience.  We have experienced a ‘ceiling’ of sorts.  The expense of ministry has finally expanded enough to match the giving of the church (which is what we should do every year).  The challenge for 2015, as a result, will have a different kind of feel:  not just maximize ministry, but maximize the effectiveness of ministry.  In other words, focus attention on what areas of ministry need to be more effective.  This might mean saying ‘yes’ to some ideas and saying ‘no’ to other ideas.

I ask for your continued faithfulness in your giving.  Also, pray for the Finance Team.  Being a part of the Finance Team has been interesting over the years, but it can also be very stressful.  Not everyone likes to hear about money stuff, but it is a reality in our lives and a reality that God truly cares about. 

God has blessed Emmanuel.  Let’s honor the blessings by being the best disciples possible.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe