REPOST OF MY EARLIEST BLOG

I feel it is necessary to repost this blog for those who may have missed it or wonder what happened to us.

WHERE HAVE ALL MY SERMONS GONE

Yep, when I was "evicted"as pastor from the church I began the process of vacating my office. I packed up my pens, pencils, paper, equipment, etc. One of the things I did was dispose of all the sermon notes I had cataloged and preserved in binders. I must say some of them were really good. The 100's of notes had been used, unused, revised and revised again during a period of more than 30 years of ministry. I had never been treated with such disdain by so-called Christians. I taught and preached the Word of God without fear or favor. Hours of prayer and study had been applied to formulate homiletical sermons for the congregations I served in. It could be said some had impact and others were kind of missing something. My last sermon was on Walking In The Spirit. I was told by my superior that it was not appropriate (he didn't even hear it). My response is that I preach what God wants delivered: I obey God rather than man. The price was high but I would do it all over again and with more conviction than then. Well all the notes went into the dumpster at that church and who knows where they ended up, perhaps in some earth-filled dump I suppose. Maybe someone discovered them prior to the trash pick-up and they live on. I don't care. But now I have you to know that the disposal I made of them was my symbolic expression of how the people trashed me. These sermons are stored on CD's. Yeah, isn't that a kick? It was only ink-filled paper that was dumped, but the messages live on in data form accessible on any PC. Perhaps soon I will publish them on a blog. Hang around and see what happens. Father, forgive them for they knew not what they did.

HEY PREACHER!

Now that I have your attention I want to ask you a very serious question and expand upon its theme with additional thought provoking questions:



First, what are your motives?



Do you perform your ministry out of job profession obligation or God’s love?

Are your goals and intents pure through the call of God?

Are you truly called to your place of ministry?

Is there a spirit of competitiveness within your bosom to become important?

Are you self-aggrandizing to advance in your profession?

Do you crave for hierarchical attention?

Do you please people more than God?

Do you succumb to whims of contributors for the sake of survival?

Is the role of finances more important than the truth that may offend?

Are you joyful in your relationship with the Lord?

Is your family a constant sacrifice for the sake of the church?

Do your sermons reap maturity in the listeners?

Is the size of your congregation more important than the quality of relationships?

Is your “boss” the denomination or God?

Does your community know you exist?

Are you impacting your community effectively?

Do you impose your questionable convictions upon your congregants?

Are your people skills honed and effective?



I believe the above questions will, when answered truthfully, help evaluate your true purpose. Everybody needs change in their life, including preachers. It is critical for the preacher to understand that it is God who weighs our motives. He is the judge we will stand before. We need to continue to be transformed through our rethinking of what is important and what is trivia.



I am truly astounded at the ineptness that is exhibited by preachers who have no formal training. I suggest you apply yourself of available resources. If you are going to write, use correct grammar and punctuation. Be able to support your hypothesis or give good argument for your stance. Check your statements after backing away from them for a while. Reread what you wrote or have someone close to you critique your writing. Don’t unintentionally fall into a pit of unnecessary muck through misuse of the language art. Remember the media of the internet reaches a large audience.

Escape From Presumption

Recent life events have led me to a “know so” perspective. There is now more clarity of direction and purpose for my life. A certain confidence is within my spirit. In my introverted personality I had failed to realize my individuality. Personalizing comments regarding my activities and endeavors have to take their rightful place and not remain offensive. I certainly need to take charge and not feel intimidated or competitive with my peers or others of seeming powerful influence. There is no need for me to “kiss up”. I can now say that I am finding my own way with respect of good advice and counsel that is given with true concern of my life. I believe in myself more and will not succumb to put-downs by those who do not know the whole facts.


My assertions in the above paragraph are meant to assist the reader in finding their rightful place in life too. Each of our life assignments must be taken under the guidance of Scripture and the wisdom imparted to us through life experiences. We should not avoid counsel and advice of family and friends, but ultimately we will have to take responsibility for our decision and suffer the choice, right or wrong. Not all advice and criticism is valid. Weigh each piece of information with the tools you have been given: your sound mind, Scripture, and common sense. A view to the future is advantageous.

Competitiveness should be conducive to personal growth. This is matter of doing what you have been called to do; finish the race God has put you in with integrity and character always in place. I will no longer allow false or phony presumption to overrule truth unfolding in my life.

Wannabes, Ponder This .....

I chuckle about people who must put themselves out front to be acknowledged. They thrive on attention. Their efforts to obtain response are not always subtle. It seems as though they have something deep within that is crying for attention. They love to have attention lavished on them and their particular situation. Many would describe their personality as extroverted. I might describe it as obnoxious.


It is true that everyone has a desire to be appreciated and recognized in a positive and received manner. Each individual, extrovert and introvert, has a God given destiny to fulfill in life and when we attain goals toward that destiny acknowledgement or praise is deserved and earned. Our life purpose cannot always be ascertained immediately because of the comparison mode each of us find ourselves encumbered by so often. There will be failures along the way to our destiny. Distractions can interfere with our duty to perform. We also have to combat the external forces of jealousy and possibly even hatred.

Some people are takers and others are contributors. Self-sacrifice for the benefit of others is a rare character trait. “Wannabe” attitude overwhelms the average person. Motivation comes at varying levels. Pats on the back can often sustain us in moments of slow down. There are also many emotional events that assist or prevent attainment of goals.

Society can make or break individuals as well as groups of cooperative people. We have to revert back to where our real strength of perseverance comes from. Is it the God we reverently serve? Is it our ego we loudly declare?

I will no longer let people dictate my conscience or determine my destiny. I am determined to walk in the paths that my great Shepherd leads.

OUR HOPE

May the true meaning of Easter come to light in the souls of men. My cry is for humanity to grasp the truth of Christianity that will ultimately redeem all responding individuals. It saddens my heart that there will be those among humanity that will reject God’s plan and thus be lost forever by their own choice. For God is not willing that any perish (John 3:17).

My message to the president would be: Please SERVE our nation, not with your own party’s agenda, but rather with the heartbeat of compassion for doing what is right in God’s sight. Of course if you don’t believe in God and His Son, then we are all in trouble. Do not compromise the Declaration of Independence and Constitution by forcing laws and liberal thinking upon us contrary to the original intent of our founding forefathers.

My hope does not lie in government but rather in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ my Lord. Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

I would also like to note the sacrifices of our nation’s military on this occasion. A co-workers son was recently injured in Afghanistan and is in critical but stable condition. Photos brought me to reality of what is really happening. These men and women desire our support and we must pray for them and the nation they are serving in.

An Apology

You may not deem it necessary for me to apologize for not posting for more than a month. However, I must do so for my own sake, because my intentions were to post at least twice a month some little thought or my much needed therapy.


In this post I would just like to say that it has been a very busy season with work issues and exciting family things that will come to light in a future post. I hope my readers will continue to check out information in the future here.

Many of the readers I have are contacts through Facebook. I find this tool amazing and informative. I remain interested in people of my past even though they may have gone different directions or could care less about me. Long relationships should be cherished if possible. But I must remind myself that it is a two way street. If they choose not to remain in contact I must accept their rejection of friendship gracefully and let God heal.

Thanks for stopping by/ Check back often. Hope to post regularly again soon.

Healing of Time

My writing about the terrible wrongdoing against my person and family has become a soiled spot in my life that is fading with each passing day. The odious act is blending in with the background of my life. The stain will remain for posterity, but I will be clean from its stigma. I only reiterate it briefly here to make a point. The expression that “time heals all wounds” has some semblance of truth. Although my anger has diminished, there remains a need to continue therapy through this method.

I have learned lessons from the experience that will be reflected in how I manage my future. I now realize the insignificance and ineptness of those who masterminded the offense. I loudly proclaim that we did not just disappear from the scene or ride off into the sunset to die in the desert of despair. They may have liked or expected it that way. They must recognize the requirement to repent and apologize with true remorse to affect my reception of any expression of “sorry” now. The injury they inflicted knowingly and wantonly upon me, my integrity, and family must be understood. This was a very serious alliance against us. Their expectation of no retribution for such appalling operation is absurd. The anguish we initially felt was very deep and difficult to get over. We have crossed over into a better land of promise.

I have determined to shake it off and get on with God’s call in my life within the boundaries He allows. My course has been altered but God has made the crooked places straight for me to follow. To permit myself to fester over the incident only brings me down to their level. The abandonment and betrayal now serve as my strength to rely more upon God; I want to live on a level far above the devil.

The meaning of Romans 8:28 is clearly revealed through God’s demonstration of caring oversight and protection for us in spite of the jealousy and ill-will directed toward us. His amazing grace sustains us. I no longer want to avenge myself; I am blessed in a most improved way. I am no longer bound by traditions and schedules. Trying to please those of authority is not contributing to my success; I was misguided.

The Lord says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” My Lord is just. Any vengeance of poor health, financial struggles, marital problems, and the like all are permitted from the heavenly. Hopefully the lessons can be quickly learned and repentance proffered.

My sights are now focused upon fulfilling God’s will in my life. I am determined to not allow any past event ruin my future as determined and led by God. Reference to the event will be used in the future to emphasize God’s power and provision. I do not serve man and acknowledge that it is better to obey than sacrifice. New doors have opened for us in manners that are amazing. My current job allows me the freedom necessary to influence through counsel many people, staff and clients. It is truly ministry. I also use the internet through blogging and podcasting to get God’s message out. (Check out these two sites: http://lwaggonner.blogspot.com/ and http://lawman45.podbean.com/#.) Plans are to eventually get a website of my own and post materials, podcasts, and video blogs. My intent is to keep real and avoid religious platitudes that are shunned by most of society. I want my message to touch and transform lives, not make somebody religious. We have too much religion and not enough relationship in the world already.

Adherents to legalism need to take note. You have put on the appearance of holiness but Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and said they were, “full of dead men’s bones.” By subjecting and imposing your rules on others you too are prone to be Pharisaical. Surely you are smarter than a Pharisee. Might I suggest you establish and live your own convictions and respect differences? Remember, God looks on the heart, not the outward appearance. I believe it is our attitude that determines our altitude. Living in the true liberty of Christ will ensure our place in heaven. That liberty will not infringe upon any one else’s liberty. The Bible declares Christ is the vine and we are the branches and cautions us to abide in the vine. My life (limb) may be adjacent to yours or far away, but our source of life is one in the same.

This is not to excuse or even forget what occurred in the past. It may well serve as a launch pad for dealing with serious matters in life as time continues to march on. Every event in our life can destroy or impart blessings to us. I must choose to live above my circumstances and not let them get my spirit down. It is also important that I not be used by Satan to bring destruction to someone else’s life.