My mind keeps rolling this phrase around..."I am a child of the church".
A child of the church...what does that mean, how did and does that impact who I am today and tomorrow, is it significant, positive or negative?
As a Christian parent I know the scripture from Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."(KJV)
I love the way the Amplified Bible says it, "Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God's wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it."
I took this scripture to heart every day when I was raising my children...it was my anthem, my hope, my driving force to make sure I taught them right, leading by example and not just sending them to learn but taking them, teaching them, sacrificing for them, pouring myself out so they could learn how to seek God, know God, understand God's will for each one of them. It was my great joy to be so involved in feeding them Spiritually and Physically. You know a Mom loves to feed her children.
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| My grandmother fed us physically and spiritually... her desire is for all her family to know Jesus |
But now my children are raised, raising children of their own, working in this world. I still feel the same draw for my grandsons. To make sure they are children of the church.
There it is again, "A child of the church". What is that? Being raised in church...yes. Being involved...yes. Being a member of the family...yes.
There are so many positives about being raised in church. I could sit here and write till my fingers bleed on how being raised in church has positively impacted my life in all areas from marriage to parenting to friendships to work ethic to career, etc. But I want to speak about something that only a Child of the church can understand (a Pentecostal view).
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| More than just preaching... |
Greatness over Servanthood...Me over Thee...My Calling is Greater Than Yours...Use Me and Not Them (or at least more than them).
We have this over inflated view of our calling, thinking it is going to make us famous. We are going to be the next Holy Ghost filled big shot, filling the churches with our followers, disciples, fans, groupies...WHAT? We get a Word from God about being used greatly and think it means..."I'M GONNA BE FAMOUS!!!" Watch out world, here comes Kimi the greatest Christian who ever lived...lol.
We forget to look at those who taught us, poured into us, girded us up with prayer, fasting, prayer, fasting...fought spiritual battles for us...sacrificed for our benefit. We look at them as failures because they don't have a name of influence, they are on a back street teaching children and not on main street with their names in lights. Our lips speak only of what they required of us and not of what they gave us. We expect them to be our servants while we are not willing to serve anyone, because we are going to be used GREATLY!
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| Here's a throne for ya...bahahahaha |
This is a trap. It is a deception of perspective. It is a lazy view of our responsibilities. It is the "Why doesn't the church do this or that?" and God is saying, "Why don't you?" I have heard with my own ears, "that is not my calling and I will when I am ordained." If you don't do it now, you won't do it when you get ordained and truly you should never be ordained if you aren't willing to serve others.
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| One of my favorite pics...Presley giving Jacob the mic...preferring her cousin A servants heart right there. |
Mark 9:34-36Amplified Bible (AMP)34 But they kept quiet, because on the road they had discussed and debated with one another which one [of them] was the greatest. 35 Sitting down [to teach], He called the twelve [disciples] and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all [in importance] and a servant of all.”
I love the calling. I love to see those moving and living within the calling on their lives. I love it when I see young people step up to be chosen for the work of God. But I have to warn you, it is work. It's very rare for someone to become famous doing the work. But as a young man told us the other day, "With all the lives touched by this church and Bishop...the teaching and disciplining that has come from here...this church is all over the world. It's like a big church with a bunch of little churches inside." (my paraphrase) He is right. It's not about the big crusades as much as it is about the daily grind. The investing of ourselves into the lives of others. Giving till it's uncomfortable.
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| A great work being done right here...prayer |
As a child of the church I have to remind myself to be a servant. When we grow up in something, it can lose it's uniqueness, allure, beauty in our eyes. We no longer see what is so special about church, the church family, the work of the church. We don't see the person sitting next to us, we only see their imperfections. Our perspective has become altered through our own desires and ambitions. They become a number and not a sheep or a stepping stone for our Glorious Calling.
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| Don't tell me church isn't unique...embracing all kinds...lol |
Love God, Love Others, Love the Work.
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