Happy Thursday!
Went back to Ocracoke yesterday… all four of us surfed for a few hours… had a blast! Emily was smiling BIG on her new surf board… kept asking me, “Charlie… did you see me on that wave!” Her excitement and her smiley face… priceless!
I wish you guys could have seen the SCHOOLS of fish going up and down the break… there were so many fish, the clear water turned black like there was an infestation of seaweed. The fish were JUMPING out of the water… hundreds of them. This happened every ten minutes for the entire time we surfed!
Only two days of vacation left… gonna make them GREAT… then back to my amazing hometown!
For todays message, I’m posting a follow-up to yesterdays blog and the comments it provoked.
“Thanks for the encouragement Tammy… I’m really missing everyone back home… only two vacation days left… looking forward to Destiny Family Center on Sunday!
Randy, I’ve been thinking about your comments on shepherding… and I love Tammy’s reference with David and King Saul. So often, previous generations LOAD US DOWN with whatever worked for them… and it doesn’t work for us.
I like Tammy’s phrase… ‘same office, different assignment’. It helps to explain what I was getting at in yesterdays blog… not questioning my office… just the SPECIFICS of MY assignment… and the assignment of THIS developing tribe.
From my studies of five fold ministry (Ephesians 4 Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher)… clearly, there were Prophet/Pastors, Pastor/Evangelists, Pastor/Apostles… and so on.
God most definitely combines spiritual gifts and ministry offices for specific eternal purposes. God gives us what we need to carry out our specific assignments. And if we get stuck in the rut of fighting our giants within the DEFINITIONS of one TITLE instead of following the specific vision God places in our heart… we may end up losing the epic battle of our generation.
I’m not asking God IF I’m called to shepherd or IF I’m called to carry out the great commission… thats a given. When Jesus launched the church… he incited a movement… over the years, the church has turned his MOVEMENT into a RELIGION.
I’m asking God to use me and my friends to turn our RELIGION into a MOVEMENT again! This requires new vision… clear vision… a biblical manifesto for this modern generation.
Whereas, this movement is about so much more than ME… it includes me… and I’m talking to God about the part he wants ME to play… as the Pastor of Destiny Family Center… and as a husband, father, blogger, writer, conference speaker, etc.
Hopefully, my transparency in these two blogs will inspire others to do the same with their own lives… and together, we will progress beyond a general life purpose to one that is far more SPECIFIC. And maybe… just maybe… we will incite a legendary movement together!”
Thanks again for your comments… hopefully, I’ve better clarified my current pursuit. You guys are amazing… love you all!
Pastor, please correct my thinking here if I am wrong but isn't shepherding feeding your flock? Was that not the command Jesus gave Peter?
Then in Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
I take that to mean…. feed on the word of God, that is how we grow. That is how people are saved, miracles, healings, EVERYTHING!
So my thought is that is what you do now, you preach and teach the word of God not only to the local church body but through other ways in the media (blogging, writing, platform speaking, etc).
If we think of how the world has changed and we change our methods to reach that world we need to be media based, internet based and of course keep locally grounded as well.
I am excited for whatever visions God is showing you for ways to Sheppard this flock he has entrusted you with and what is to come!
We miss you guys!
Vickie your post had me thinking a shepherd doesn't feed the flock they bring the sheep to a place to graze and then moves them from place to place to graze. A shephard leads to the right food. A pastor leads to the word and we are to read and to study.
Hey Nuala, I didn't think to look at it that way, wow, you just might be right there! Cool, thanks for the great insight! It is up to us as individual sheep to grow spiritually and to read the Word on our own. Its up to us to develop a relationship with God ourselves. Thanks for the response.