Brothers And Sisters The Same

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I love my Coffee With The Pastor times every Tuesday! Yesterday a relatively new Christian (and a great friend), Barney Fritcher, shared with me his heartache over people who snipe and bicker and complain about their church. In Barney’s short time of being a follower of Jesus Christ, he has attended two churches which have closed their doors as a direct result of infighting. How incredibly sad!

God has given Barney a great gift of poetry. After our conversation yesterday, he penned the following lines that are just too good not to share with you:

Look around at the sign of the times
churches are closing their doors
is it because God has left them
or because of internal wars

There’s people trying to find the Savior
but they don’t know where to go
one says, “This church is a good one“
another says “No, it ain’t so”

What happens when the doors lock
what happens to the lost soul
is this what Jesus was all about
was fancy carpet His real goal

Does anyone know where God truly is
did He tell you while deep in prayer
does He need stained glass windows
for Him to be present there

If Jesus Himself came to your church
do you think that they’d let Him in
or would they say, “That’s outrageous
the people He’s with commit sin”

Do you think that you’ve overcome
that you’re a sinner no more
if that’s what you think, I’m sorry
Jesus has something for you in store

We all are sinners each and everyone
none of us are innocent and pure
if you think that you are different
I don’t think that you are so sure

So before you go pointing your finger
before you go laying the blame
remember what it says in the Bible
we are brothers and sisters the same

How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! —Psalm 133:1 (The Message)

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Coffee & Questions

coffee-with-the-pastorOne of the first things I started doing when I arrived at Bethel Assembly of God was to start going to Starbucks every week. (Just to clarify: I still do not drink coffee, but I do enjoy their green tea frappuccino blended with ice and their iced black tea is also delicious.) I wanted to hang out at Starbucks just to build some relationships. Almost a year after starting this, it is still one of my favorite times of the week!

I have loved getting to know people in a more casual setting — both folks who attend Bethel regularly, those who attend occasionally, and those who have never attended. But the part about the getting-to-know-you time I really love is the questions. Some questions are lighthearted, and some are very deep and challenging. Here’s just a sampling of the questions I weighed in on this morning:

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    • How can I get my wife to respect me?
    • Is Allen Iverson going to be a good fit for the Pistons?
    • Did God just create the universe and leave it alone, or is He still involved in our lives?
    • How did you decide who to vote for?
    • Did all of humanity really just come from two humans?
    • What does it sound like when God ‘speaks’ to you?
    • Is that a good book?
    • How do you spell “questions”? (Seriously, I was asked this today!)

I love questions! Questions keep me sharp… questions give me an insight into the motivation of the questioner… questions keep the dialogue interesting… questions move people closer to Truth. If you are around Burton/Flint on any Tuesday morning, please stop in the Starbucks at Center and Court from 7:30-9:30 am (or later if the questions are still flowing).