"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad." - Proverbs 12:25
In the last two weeks I have seen this to be true. I have been with parents who sat in the hospital by their newborn as it fought life-threatening sickness with their only rest coming from the words of assurance that their God is with them and their church family loves them and is praying and standing by them regardless of their situation.
I have been with single dads and moms who have been through the ringer, so to speak, with the legal system draining everything they've worked for, their estranged spouses spreading confusion and then finding rest in the comfort of words that remind them that they are good and they are Gods...as they are.
I have sat and listened to dozens of personal stories from people who have been told over and over how wrong they are about this or that in their life and left with their heart heavy, filled with anxiety, and hurting, only to hear words of life that God really loves us as we are and we can't change that by believing a certain religious doctrine or following a prescribed way of doing church. But God is patient, tolerant, and kind waiting for us to hear His voice and come to Him.
I believe we can look at this proverb and accurately deduct that if it is words that bring the gladness to the heart, it it also the words that can bring the anxiety. The Bible teaches us that we will give an account of everything we say; that the tongue can be used for both blessing and cursing; that it is a hard thing to control; that it usually controls our life; and that a tree cannot bear both bitter and sweet fruit. Jesus reminded us that whatever we had in our heart would eventually come out our mouth.
The age old saying stands true: "Four things come not back: the spoken word; the speeding arrow; time past; the neglected opportunity."
Branches Church has come about because God has opened an opportunity for the doors to the Kingdom of God to be opened wider in this area. The Holy Spirit led our hearts to hear that call and we answered. But, there is nothing we can do to gain time back, to re-do yesterday, to go back to the way life was when it seemed easier or simple or worry free. There is nothing a person can do about choices made, once they were made the "arrow was speeding" and there it is. And so it is with the spoken word. We cannot get them back. But we do have a choice to control what they are BEFORE we speak them.
Branches is committed to being a safe, authentic, accepting, and growing place...
So, if our words are creating heaviness or anxiety in the hearts of others...let's be careful to consider the condition of our own eye before we try and clear the vision in another persons eye. The writer of Proverbs also said that a wise person doesn't broadcast what they think is knowledge, only a fool does that because it may be folly, and not knowledge at all.
"May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." - Psalm 19:14
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
It's February 14th and it's a Reality!
This year, February 14th is not only Valentine's Day, but it falls on a weekend with all the winter activities of snowmobiling, skiing, sledding, hockey games, ice fishing, community fund raisers, shows, and the opening of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Oh, Yes, it is also the official day of the Branches Church launch as the newest ARC church plant in Wisconsin!We are one of four churches launching this weekend through the Association of Related Churches. The other three are: Champion Center Church in New York City; The Freedom Church in Anniston, Alabama; and Second Place Church in Monee, Illinois. You can learn more about these and other church plants preparing to launch at the Association of Related Churches website at: http://www.arcchurches.com/
We are celebrating what God has done in opening the door to the Kingdom of God wider in the Dunn County area! We are thankful for everyone who has captured the vision of having a place where people can "come as they are" and joined the team to help build that reality. So, for Sunday, with all its activities to capture our time and attention, I say we are still going to have a celebration! I'll see you there!
Pastor Mike
Monday, February 1, 2010
Let's Start the Journey From Here
We are coming to the end of our eight weeks of advertisements to the community that lead up to Branches Church officially launching on February 14th, 2010. We have tried to create interest and communicate in simple 'teasers' what Branches Church is all about. We started the week of Christmas and chose to run a different 'teaser' each week. Each ad began with, "Branches Church: Real People, Real Lives, Real Jesus" followed by:
Week #1 - "Still Jesus After all These Years"
Week #2 - "Keeping Church Uncomplicated"
Week #3 - "Thinking Outside the Box - Church"
Week #4 - "People Don't DO Church - People ARE Church"
Week #5 - "Because We Shouldn't Do Life Alone"
Week #6 - "A Safe Place to Grow"
Week #7 - "Just Come as You Are"
Week #8 - "Feel the Love"
God has a plan for the me He wants me to be, and the you He wants you to be. He is not a mass producer, but a hand-crafter. His plan for you will not look exactly like His plan for anyone else, which means it will take freedom and a little exploration for us to learn how God wants to grow each of us.
When Theodore Roosevelt Jr. landed on the Normandy beaches on June 6th, 1944 with the men he was commanding, they realized they had come ashore on the wrong beach. They were not where they had planned on being. They were not where other people thought they should be. The terrain didn't match the maps they had studied. They did not however, head back to the relative safety of the ship. They did not try to get into the 'right spot'. Roosevelt is credited with saying, "Boys, let's start the war from right here!" And they did.
From where we can see it as humans, we do not know exactly where God is working in someone as they start to form the intention of following God's leading in their life. They may not be where they thought they would be at, or where we think they should be at in this point of their life. They may not recognize God at work around them because it doesn't look like what they've been told it would look like. Or maybe they haven't left the comfort of the familiar surroundings they are in even if they are destructive or dangerous.
If the Church will stop trying to get the world to want what we've got (denominational affiliations, church membership, fellowship among ourselves, and member services) and start offering what they need, which is what people have always needed: God in their lives, we'll see transformation in those whose lives we touch. We'll see fruit OF the Spirit in lives being transformed BY the Spirit. Branches Church has been compelled by the Spirit to embark on a journey that will create a church community where people do not have to become 'like us' in order to find God.
We all learn differently, struggle with different sins, and relate to God in different ways. What we at Branches Church value as the measure of your devotion to God is not your religious life, or lack thereof, but simply your life; the trajectory of your heart toward God. We are going to start by saying, "Just come as you are, we'll start the journey from here!"
Week #1 - "Still Jesus After all These Years"
Week #2 - "Keeping Church Uncomplicated"
Week #3 - "Thinking Outside the Box - Church"
Week #4 - "People Don't DO Church - People ARE Church"
Week #5 - "Because We Shouldn't Do Life Alone"
Week #6 - "A Safe Place to Grow"
Week #7 - "Just Come as You Are"
Week #8 - "Feel the Love"
God has a plan for the me He wants me to be, and the you He wants you to be. He is not a mass producer, but a hand-crafter. His plan for you will not look exactly like His plan for anyone else, which means it will take freedom and a little exploration for us to learn how God wants to grow each of us.
When Theodore Roosevelt Jr. landed on the Normandy beaches on June 6th, 1944 with the men he was commanding, they realized they had come ashore on the wrong beach. They were not where they had planned on being. They were not where other people thought they should be. The terrain didn't match the maps they had studied. They did not however, head back to the relative safety of the ship. They did not try to get into the 'right spot'. Roosevelt is credited with saying, "Boys, let's start the war from right here!" And they did.
From where we can see it as humans, we do not know exactly where God is working in someone as they start to form the intention of following God's leading in their life. They may not be where they thought they would be at, or where we think they should be at in this point of their life. They may not recognize God at work around them because it doesn't look like what they've been told it would look like. Or maybe they haven't left the comfort of the familiar surroundings they are in even if they are destructive or dangerous.
If the Church will stop trying to get the world to want what we've got (denominational affiliations, church membership, fellowship among ourselves, and member services) and start offering what they need, which is what people have always needed: God in their lives, we'll see transformation in those whose lives we touch. We'll see fruit OF the Spirit in lives being transformed BY the Spirit. Branches Church has been compelled by the Spirit to embark on a journey that will create a church community where people do not have to become 'like us' in order to find God.
We all learn differently, struggle with different sins, and relate to God in different ways. What we at Branches Church value as the measure of your devotion to God is not your religious life, or lack thereof, but simply your life; the trajectory of your heart toward God. We are going to start by saying, "Just come as you are, we'll start the journey from here!"
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