I know that in ministry, we'll always have ups & downs.
Especially in a new plant like we are, we'll have struggles, and victories.
Today, today was definitely an up.
Our worship service this morning was great, "the praise & worship" in our singing was uplifting, we had a lot of fellowship over coffee & donuts, and yes we laughed a lot. Communion moved me to tears. We all signed a Bible and gave it to our newest sister in Christ who was recently baptized, yes it was a truly wonderful morning.
Tonight at the Watson's our meal was delicious, and everyone was engaged in our study.
Could the day really get better? Yes. Good evening together too!
Everything just seemed to click, to mesh, to synchronize so well. Like a beautiful sunset you want to capture, today was one of those days where you feel like all is well, and you enjoy a certain glow.
For all of my fellow ministers, and brothers & sisters who haven't had the best of time with church, I just wanted to share the joy of today with you to say, yes it is possible to enjoy church again. It is possible to have peace, unity, and share the love of God with a great church family. I know this, only because I'm experiencing this blessing now, at this time, and I praise God for where He has led me & my family.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Continuing my self-education
I had to run to Sam's club today. I always try to run through their book section whenever I can, which is about 99% of the time when I run into Sam's. I picked up a book today by Taggart & Wines titled, "My Grammar and I... or should that be me?" Even though I have a couple of graduate degrees, I still feel the need to cultivate and nurture my mind.
More to the point, I'm continually striving to improve my writing abilities. Presently, I don't have the time, money, or really even an interest in going on to further my formal "higher education." So how am I growing my skills as a writer?
Over the past couple of years (along side reading some classics) I've read a host of books on the craft of writing, composition, and several memoirs written by authors. I'm looking at this season, or chapter of my life, as my self-education. It's probably a slower process than going back to school, but nevertheless, I find myself growing all the same.
I realized some time ago that my oration skills as a preacher improve as I work on my writing abilities. Though the written & spoken word vary in the delivery, there seems to be some symbiotic relationship in increasing their quality, at least as I see it as a communicator. I've also noticed a weird correlation in higher education and ministry... Some of the best educated "theologians" I knew (not all!) had the least amount of people skills. Maybe I'm cautious that this is true of writing as well...? BTW: William Faulkner never graduated from high school, and, Kurt Vonnegut didn't finish his college education which was in anthropology...
I feel very blessed to have had several wonderful writing opportunities open up this past year. I feel my blogging has suffered recently (I'm blogging less lately) even though on the other hand I hope to have more quality ideas to blog about. Since I don't have as much time to blog, when I do, I want to be more selective in what I blog about, and do it better than ever!
More to the point, I'm continually striving to improve my writing abilities. Presently, I don't have the time, money, or really even an interest in going on to further my formal "higher education." So how am I growing my skills as a writer?
Over the past couple of years (along side reading some classics) I've read a host of books on the craft of writing, composition, and several memoirs written by authors. I'm looking at this season, or chapter of my life, as my self-education. It's probably a slower process than going back to school, but nevertheless, I find myself growing all the same.
I realized some time ago that my oration skills as a preacher improve as I work on my writing abilities. Though the written & spoken word vary in the delivery, there seems to be some symbiotic relationship in increasing their quality, at least as I see it as a communicator. I've also noticed a weird correlation in higher education and ministry... Some of the best educated "theologians" I knew (not all!) had the least amount of people skills. Maybe I'm cautious that this is true of writing as well...? BTW: William Faulkner never graduated from high school, and, Kurt Vonnegut didn't finish his college education which was in anthropology...
I feel very blessed to have had several wonderful writing opportunities open up this past year. I feel my blogging has suffered recently (I'm blogging less lately) even though on the other hand I hope to have more quality ideas to blog about. Since I don't have as much time to blog, when I do, I want to be more selective in what I blog about, and do it better than ever!
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