Everything That Rises

Ten years ago today, I was ordained to the gospel ministry, an affirmation of my calling to serve Christ and his Church through the practices of pastoral, congregational ministry. If I knew then what I knew now… It hasn’t been easy, but then again, I knew it wouldn’t be. Like most things in life, people can tell you a hundred times a day the way things will be, but there’s still something within you that wants to prove them all wrong, something within you that wants to triumph over the challenges of the past and straighten out the difficulties of former generations. I suppose we might call that hope. I listened to mentors tell me about being threatened by church members, how they had been verbally and physically assaulted in their offices, sanctuaries, and church parking lots. I listened to stories of how people had come into pastors’ homes to threaten their financial security, how a “gang of three” was all it took to persuade a congregation of hundreds that the best thing to “kee

"Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In your tithes and offerings!" -Malachi 3:8 Now, I know what you're probably thinking when you read that verse, "Here we go again. Another blog post/article/sermon about stewardship, about giving money to the church..."  Well, yes...and no.  Yes, because, well, whether you like it or not, your local church--the congregation to which you belong, the place where you gather with other members of that congregation, the various ministries, missions, and activities in which you and those other members take part--does not do all that it does on thoughts, prayers, and tax exemptions. It takes (I can almost hear people shifting in their seats at the thought...) MONEY, and do you know why it takes money? Because EVERYTHING costs money. The lights for the chandeliers and/or the praise band's stage...costs money. The air conditioning that's too cold fo