a few of my clouds

i grew up in the church, but i’m often dismayed when i compare the church of the New Testament with the church in America.

As i mentioned in my introduction blog (1/25), i not only grew up in the church, but am a part of generations of pastors. My grandparents, Ed and Meriam, were missionaries to Guyana, South America during troubling times of that country’s history. Their faith and the influence of others like them have shaped a set of values and a passion inside of me that seems contrary to the church in America.

After my dad’s rededication to the Lord, he was mentored and discipled back into his calling by my youth pastor at the time, Kurt Salierno. Kurt, who has spent most of his life on the streets ministering to the homeless, is currently founder and pastor of Church on the Street in Atlanta, GA – www.churchonthestreet.com). Likewise, my father discipled me and Kurt mentored me in ministry. His testimonies and life of sacrifice for the least of these are large part of my own faith foundation.

My father, William, once he rededicated his life to the Lord and following a call to ministry he originally received in his teens, followed the Lord’s prompting to Belize, Central America. He did not know anyone there, he just felt the Spirit telling him to go and he bought a ticket and went. He came back with information gathered and at our church movement’s next annual convention, presented the vision for starting a mission there. All he had was information – but another man heard the vision and took dad out to dinner. While at the dinner, the man asked questions and then told the story of following the Lord’s prompting to Belize himself. While he was in Belize, the Lord prompted him to buy 200 acres – he had no reason to buy it, just buy it. Well he did, and when he heard the vision from my dad, he said he felt the Lord prompting him to turn over the land for the mission. While dad was seeing and living this amazing faith story, I heard his parishioners at the time telling him, “the problem with your ministry are all these new people.”

My faith found depth under the creative preaching and vision casting of my pastor in college (Jim Lyon, who’s now also the speaker for our movements international radio program, viewpoint: www.cbhviewpoint.org). He refused to lead the church according to the norms of church ministry, but into newer and costlier ideas such as the seeker models (just developing at the time), developing a shelter for battered women and children, and more. His patience and wisdom in informal appointments were as valuable to me as my formal training in classes.

In recent years, the messages and writings of Erwin Raphael McManus have re-stoked these fires of risk, sacrifice, faith, and vision. I highly recommend all three of his books and their church’s website, www.mosaic.org

The church in America seems contrary to these leaders that have been a part of my cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). These taught me to be proactive, seeking and saving the Lost. I’ve been challenging our church lately with the question, “Christ came to seek and save the lost—who are you seeking?” It seems the church in America has shrunk back behind its walls and we've been giving the world away to the enemy --like passengers on a cruise ship shaking their heads at souls dying in the sea while saying, "Can't they see how much better life would be if they would just get on board?"