Finding Identity

Getting ready for this weekend's big event: Identity's First Anniversary Celebration!! We are so excited to see the next year in our adventure begin. Tomorrow I'm talking about what God has done for us in the last year and what we're believing to do over the next year.

I believe we're about to see Identity grow even more. We want to be a community that helps people connect with God in a new and unique way, outside of the usual traditional setting. We also want to be a community of people sharing life with each other, not just a place to go, get filled up and go back into our individual worlds, but truly share our lives and faithwalk so that when things are good or bad, hard or easy we can stand as the church and see God work in our lives.

If anyone is in Fairmont, WV this weekend and you want to come and see us, please do! Saturday night at 6 PM. Check out our website too. There is a lot more to come on it, but it will get you started! By the way, pray for me because I've got this awful cold/sinus stuff and want to feel better by tomorrow night!

Posted by PJ at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

From my perspective, having been a Bible College grad, but not seminary, and having been full-time as an associate pastor for the last 11 years, I think that the emerging church model will definitely redefine the office of Pastor/Teacher. I don't necessarily think that it will be the end of salaried positions, quite frankly, we don't really make that much to make a difference. (In the majority of cases, pastors are not paid well, or even supported sometimes by finances, etc., except when you see the "bigger" more visible ministries.

I think though that the biggest shift in pastoral ministry from an emerging sense is going to be in that pastors will be participants of the community, more so than in the modern church. We were all trained not to become friends with our congregations and pastors are dying of loneliness. Jesus was friends with the disciples...he had relationship with them, not just a teacher/student role. I just read a great article on this by Erwin McManus. It really speaks to this concept. It's called the Friendship Dilemma. (http://erwinmcmanus.com/friendship-dilema)

I want to be a part of something bigger than me. I want others to share that journey with me. I think it will be awesome when others walk with me and share the journey. It will also hurt sometimes, but is the cost worth it? I think so. Jesus thought so. It may take longer doing church the emerging way. We just can't open up shop and start pushing people through a conveyor line. We have to live with them. See their struggles, walk through them together. That's what I think the emerging pastors will look like.

Posted by PJ at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

Here's the family. 

Posted by PJ at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments

Something I was thinking about today. If we, as Charismatics/Pentecostal believers believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to move in people's lives in supernatural gifts, why is it that we don't train people to build relationships with people outside of their circles which already experience it? I mean, I believe God wants to touch people with His gifts and love, and we have taught people extensively about moving "in the Holy Spirit," but it isn't happening outside the four walls (sometimes not even inside them!). I think it's because people don't understand that God's gifts are not for us, but for others, for the people in our community. Not that we have these "supernatural"-like experiences that happen on the street either, but that naturally through relationships, people begin to receive from God's Spirit on the inside of us.

I guess one reason this came to me was that my mom has begun ministering to a woman at the gym she works out at. It happened naturally out of conversation, and now the woman is knowingly or unknowingly pulling on the spiritual gifts in my mom. I think this is how we should teach on the gifts and the supernatural in the emerging church. Start from the beginning to tell people that the gifts are not for inside the house (though they operate there as well and are important), but their true value is only found in the community, with our neighbors. Not in spooky spiritual settings ("the Lord has spoken to me about thee..."), but in simple conversation, sharing the voice of God without even people knowing. Their spirits will respond, because it's God who does the talking, not us. Just thinking.

Posted by PJ at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

Sarah's entire elementary school put on a patriot music revue tonight at the high school. It was really good. She did great, looking cute in her little barbershop quartet hat with red, white and blue on it!! I am so grateful to God to have a wonderful daughter like Sarah.

Afterwards we hit DJ's Diner with David, Jordan and Sarah and then Dave came over and we watched LOST. Finally, a new episode and a good one at that, keeping me hungry for the next episode. Is Henry Gale an other or not???

Posted by PJ at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, here we are starting a new blog. I've been with Typepad so long, I was hestitant about starting over, but feel like I need a change and I don't want to pay for my blogging addiction right now. So, we start over with finding identity.

Identity is the name of our church of which I'm the lead pastor. We are a church plant in a church, where I also serve as the associate pastor. We are an emerging church, and we're growing!! New families, visitors each week. We are so excited! Saturday the first of April will be our one year anniversary! It's hard to believe that it's a new year, a new day and that we've been doing this for a year now!

On a personal, family note: tonight we get to go see Sarah perform in a school-wide Patriot Musical. It should be really cute. She's nervous about it, because she says that she can't remember the last song!! (Doesn't matter if she messes up, she'll be in a choir of first-graders! Enough said.) But it is cute how serious about it she is.

She is growing up so fast and some days I catch myself staring in awe of who she is and what she's becoming. Thank you Jesus.

Posted by PJ at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments