Monday, May 26, 2008

Moral Support and the Colstrip report


Our trip to Colstrip went well and we met and were encouraged by the church there. The weather was a bit iffy with a lot of rain, and the Sunday was also Graduation Sunday and Memorial Day weekend as well. Still we were blessed to be able to visit there.

Today I am posting the help wanted ad for moral support. Please remember that these categories are man made and although there are biblical basis for these they are still to be used as tools only and not had doctrine.

This is probably one of the harder support pillars for me to ask for. It is probably second only to asking for money….I think there are several possible reasons.
1. Satan uses my asking for moral support as an admission on my part that I am demoralized. 2.I fear the “yes men” who will agree with all of our thoughts and not use discernment. 3.The asking for moral support makes us accountable to the givers of said moral support. This is good and I should welcome it and I do but covenant entering does make me nervous some times. 4. In asking for moral support I feel like I am implying that we have not received any. Nothing can be further from the truth.

I also realize that moral support is the foundation of all other supports. Hence the picture of the pillars I also realize that each of those support categories provide moral support and that moral support is integral to each of them

A moral support verse Josh 1:9

Biblical examples of moral support Jonathan and David, Barnabas and Paul, The church of Antioch to Paul and Barnabas
Biblical examples of the lack thereof: Mary's pregnancy announcement to Joseph, Jesus in the Garden.

Wanted: Moral Supporters. We are looking for individuals and groups to fulfill an important niche in our ministry. Must be alive, willing to talk to us, listen to us, offer correction to us, and otherwise guide us. This person should have an active relationship with Jesus and be willing to be supported back. The holder(s )of this position must realize that moral support is a foundation to any ministry and that Christ is our chief cornerstone. They must be willing to build on this foundational stone by encouraging us to live simply, focused, and to be involved where we are. The holder of this position should also be an active listener with us, be willing to take part in commissioning us, and be willing to send us. This is not a paid position but the holder thereof will store up riches in glory. “Yes men/women” and perpetual "wet blankets" need not apply as they are not true supporters. Please send applications to swegn001@gmail.com.



ps you may want to check out the other categories before you commit.






Friday, May 23, 2008

Traveling Road Show and Early Goal Directed Therapy


This weekend begins our family's jaunts to various churches. This weekend we are going to Colstrip Mt which is Montana's newest city and was voted as Montana's top sport's city by Sport's Illustrated in their 50th anniversary. It is also a coal mining town so I should feel right at home (I grew up in the hills of eastern Kentucky).

As we begin these weeks of speaking in churches I thought I would place some "help wanted" ads for those of you who would like to serve as senders........These ideas are taken from a book titled, oddly enough, Serving as Senders by Neal Pirolo.

Today we will just introduce the concept. The genesis for the book was the author's realization as both "goer" and a "sender" that there was more to sending than merely praying or giving money to the goer. He catalogs some stories of both good and bad examples of goers being steadied or burning out depending on the support of senders. He then sets out some specific areas where the church body can focus on as senders and helping the goers do what God is calling them to do.

The areas the author chooses are : 1. Moral Support. 2. Logistics Support 3. Financial Support
4. Prayer support 5. Communications Support and 6. Re-entry support.

In future blogs I will try to flesh out job descriptions for each of these areas......or you could just buy the book for 10 bucks.......my blog is free but you get what you pay for......

An analogy here is a concept in emergency medicine for treating people dying of major infections (we call it sepsis). There is a move afoot to not just "do stuff to make the dying pt better" but looking at specific areas we can monitor to do that. Since we like acronyms and fancy titles we call it Early Goal Directed Therapy. In medicine we would check the blood pressure, some fancy numbers, their blood counts etc.....Here to make sure we survive you as a body of Christ can focus on these six areas to keep us alive emotionally and spiritually.

Thanks

Stephen

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Moving Upward and Onward

I wanted to fill everyone in on some new developments in our story and some recent encouragements that we've experienced.

#1 I spoke with our lawyer doing our adoption of Kathleen and she is still unable to find Kathleen's mom. In the next week she will do the public announcement in the newspaper in Waynesville, MO for several weeks then we can petition the court to allow us to adopt Kathleen. A tentative date is the middle of June. We are happy to see the light at the end of this tunnel.....and we hope it is not the train:)

#2. Since our visiting the district council in Billings MT for the Christian and Missionary Alliance several churches have expressed interest in having us speak. We are speaking on 5/25, 6/1, 6/8, 6/22 and 6/29. We are traveling to Colestrip, Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Great Falls, and Helena. Of course we covet your prayers for safety and developing more and more prayer partners as we share God's story for our lives.

#3. We are also getting encouraging signs from other churches from MT to Baltimore regarding supporting us as well....This is very encouraging.

#4. The members of our home church continue to give us support. It is especially encouraging to see people being willing to volunteer to help us transition out of our children's church ministry.

I would continue to urge you to pray for us as we continue to follow God's plan.....for discernment, for planning our transition, for witnessing where we are, for enjoying God's timing and goodness as we follow him