Novel Ideas
Wow…it’s really been two weeks since I last wrote a new installment to my novel? My apologies to the small number of readers who are fans of it. I’ll get up off my butt and write something in the next couple days. I have been doing a lot of writing lately (fiction) but not the novel. I’ve been trying to spread my wings a bit and get some variety. Won’t be sharing that other fiction here, though, for a variety of reasons.
In any case, have to get rocking on my novel. I doubt I’ll be able to finish it before summer as I had hoped, but I think I can complete it before the end of summer at least.
At the Pulpit
Went to church today, and was disappointed in the sermon and the pastor. Well, temporary pastor, anyway. Our normal guy is on a sabbatical for a while and the associate pastor has been waylaid with breast cancer treatments, so we have the former pastor of the place filling in. Truth be told, if he had been pastor when we checked out this church some months back, I doubt we would have felt moved to join.
It reminds me that while a church is more than a pastor, the person at the top of the administrative and spiritual heap really does have a strong effect on how much one wants to be in a given church. Which is a shame, really. Church is partly about hearing the Word of God, but frankly, it’s rare that I feel truly edified these days. Instead, it’s more about being in a communityof worship and interacting after sermons with people of like faith. Guess I need to go back to visiting Charles Stanley’s Web site for the edification part of things.
It is so true that the person at the top sets the tone for the whole community. I saw that very strongly once on a fishing boat. It was a terrible trip, grouchy, lazy crew, skipper was yelling at us all the time, no one had any fun. We finished the trip, changed captains, and headed out again. That trip we had a crack crew, people were laughing and cracking jokes and busting their butts. Exactly the same crew, mind you – the only person we traded out was the captain.
Proud to say, the second skipper was my brother.
As for church and edification, two different things. Church is a great way to find community (as you noted), but for edification, I take a walk in the woods or climb a mountain. And if I don’t have time for that, I just go down to the creek and hang in the trees for a bit.
It’s hard to overestimate the power a pastor has over his flock.
While we shouldn’t concentrate on the man, it’s pratically impossible not to. That’s why so many folks get led astray by false teachers.
My current pastor isn’t the most charismatic man, but he is sincere. Initially I was turned off by his choppy delivery, but ultimately I chose the church for fellowship and because I believed he was trying to stay in line with God, and not just trying to draw members. He’s a cranky old dude, but his heart seems to be in the right place.
I agree with both of you. It’s virtually impossible for the pastor not to set the tone in a huge way (for good or ill or in-between). And it’s something that I try not to let bother me as long as the intentions are good and he doesn’t put me to sleep in the pew.
😉
What’s wrong with sleeping in the pew? It’s the best thing about church!
Yeah, sure…until the wife jams an elbow into my ribs.
😉