Everything Ok?
C. Hayden 2-26-18

I want to write to you this month as inspired by my favorite auto repair shop.  The past two weeks have resulted in a banner month for having work done on my truck.  After having a tonneau cover put on the bed of said vehicle, I received an email from the installer requesting feedback on the quality of the work done.  As I recall, the owner wanted to make sure their work on the the truck went well and simply asked, “Everything ok?”  I was pleased to know that they are willing to follow up and open themselves up to such responses that may or may not be pleasant.  And while it can be unpleasant, sometimes receiving such feedback is often a good way to gauge the quality of services being provided.  I want to do something similar.  Before I do, however, I need to explain something.  A ministry of the Lord is a bit different than an auto repair shop.  First, a Church is not possessed by a single owner.  It belongs to the Lord and all of God’s people are fellow workers in this enterprise so that any criticism is one that involves all of us. And second, opinions often differ on how something should be done in a ministry (Determining the best way to reach a culture is not like changing a carburator on a truck).  So let us get feedback on OUR ministry.  in regards to Central Christian Church I have 4 survey questions:
1. How are we doing in ministering God’s love and truth to others? (Please be specific)
2. What things could we do better as a ministry in reaching our community and being a place people can grow spiritually?
3. Is their something we could do to help people grow more in their commitment to Christ and this ministry?
4. And finally, is there anything you would like to ask, say or advise the Pastor about in regards to Central Christian’s ministry? (I may or may not agree with you but I will respond in love and give reasoning for my thoughts).

Now you may ask, “Is there Biblical precidence for this kind of survey?” Sure.  Isaiah 1:17-18 records God’s request for His people.   “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”  The Lord tells us to come and reason together with Him.  When we do, though we may have issues needing to be fixed, He will make us white as snow.  Let us come together also.  Though we need improvement, we can also grow into what God has called all of us to be.

Send your feedback to the Pastor’s email, which will be held in strict confidence: 4019hc@gmail.com
In this way I can know your thoughts and feelings about this ministry, what needs improving, who is being ministered to or not, who may or may not be reading this blog!

Be blessed even more and have a wonderful week!!

Pastor Chris

Be My Valentine
C. Hayden 2-12-18

As we approach one of the Hallmark Corporation’s favorite of holidays, Valentine’s Day, we are reminded of the opportunity to once again show our love to that special person or persons closest to us.  Yes, we can view Valentine’s Day as another shameless attempt of corporate America at getting us to rush out and spend money on flowers, chocolates or any number of gift ideas trying to prove our love to our spouses or significant others (a thought for the overly cynical mind). But maybe there is a lesson that can be applied surrounding this mysterious holiday that most believe is based on the mixture of Roman pagan fertility deities and our own St. Valentine who was martyred around 270 A.D.  For the Christian ingredient of this mixture, there exists the story of a Catholic priest named Valentinus or Valentine who was martyred for defying the Roman emperor Claudius II who banned marriage for fighting age warriors.  The emporer believed that unmarried men made for better soldiers.  Valentine saw this as an injustice of power and burden on couples in love. In consequence, he married these young lovers in defiance of the emperors orders for which he was martyred.  Well Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
So what is the lesson we can take from Valentine’s Day.  For the answer, let’s gp to the scriptures, shall we!  The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:21-26, 33 (NLT), “And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of His body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. 25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.  33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” In other words, both husband and wife should love each other in the same way that Christ loves us all.  The practical lesson is this.  Christ loved us so much that He gave his own life to meet our greatest need…the need for salvation from the effects and consequences of our own sin.  In the same way, we should love our spouses and significant loved ones to the extent that we say no to our own wants and desires for the purpose of giving our all to meet the need of those we love – especially those we are closest to.  Christ gave all to meet our need, should we do less for our most beloved?

Be blessed even more and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!!

Pastor Chris