Several years ago, I was standing in the church office and an opinionated person made a statement that stuck with me … “Bloggers are nothing but a bunch of egomaniacs.” Really hit me in the gut …
I have blogged for a couple of decades now and it made me think. It made me ask the question “Why do I do this?” Is it about the BRAG value? It is an ask for pity? It is about ME???? (All of us have egos. All of us should probably ask those questions regularly about the things we post)
From a blogging standpoint, I have searched for the purpose of THIS for years now. I have posted a few times since that day, but not regularly. Because I wanted to KNOW the purpose of this!!! And I think I have found what I am supposed to do with this blog. So, going forward at some regular interval I will be posting things. Things about leadership. Things about being a pastor. Probably more about the mistakes I have made than about the successes. And my purpose and hope is that these will help another. If that happens, AWESOME!!!! If not, then the therapy value of this for me will have to do!!!
CHANGE
Ministry has changed since that Sunday in 1991 that I committed to leave my career in IT and follow Christ where He would lead. People have changed. I don’t think we can only blame COVID for that, either… Technology, of which I am a HUGE fan, accelerated changes in our society. Some are better. Some are worse. And this is CHANGE.
Growing up, I always heard that two things are inevitable: DEATH and TAXES. I would definitely add CHANGE as the third leg of that stool!!! People have changed. Social skills are changing. We are far, far removed from the “Greatest Generation” that Tom Brokaw wrote of, that sacrificed much for the common good of America and ultimately the world! Yes, there are still ,sacrificial people. You find some of them serving in our Armed Forces, some serve communities in political roles, police, fire, EMTs, teachers, nurses and doctors, pastors and church staffs, and any vocation that serves people There are still people that believe in serving for a greater good. But as a society, we are definitely more ME-focused. I see it every day and those who serve in like roles I think would agree.
The result of this is there are fewer and fewer people who are willing to put themselves on the line for a society that doesn’t even seem to care. All of those professions I mentioned above are experiencing shortages and will continue until there is a notable CHANGE.
We have hosted basketball leagues at Ebenezer since before I came to EBC in 1995. A perfect example of this is found in the problems we have finding referees. Increasingly, people are less willing to ref CHURCH BASKETBALL (imagine that), not as much because of how the players act, but because of how brutal the coaches and parents behave. CHURCH BASKETBALL!!!!!!!!!
So how can we help our society turn all of this around??? BE THE PEOPLE WE WANT TO SEE. BE the change. THINK about how the way that we live our lives make an impact on our world!! YOU DO INFLUENCE OTHERS whether you will admit it or not. BE THE CHANGE!!
After all, isn’t that exactly what Christ commanded in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7)???
(In plain terms, when you are coaching or watching a ball game, know that your words tell everyone around you the story of your character)
One Pastor's Perspective 
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