Author: Victor Scott

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, husband, father, and author. I am an avid Cubs fan and a lover of Chicago-style Deep Dish pizza.

UPDATED: How Long Is Long Enough?

This post was updated on June 13

Pray Hard

This past week my pastor continued teaching on prayer in the The Circle Maker Series. The subject of this weeks message was “Praying Hard.” The story that he used was that of the persistent widow in Luke 18. The story tells how a widow seeking justice pestered a judge until he caved into the requests of the woman, just to get her off his back. It is an interesting story because she did not wait until her appointed court day. She continued to seek after the judge. The twist in the story is that this is not seen as inappropriate. Jesus seems to imply that God desires this kind of tenacity and stubbornness. Continue reading “UPDATED: How Long Is Long Enough?”

Growing Pains, Pt. 2 | “Ministry”

“Am I A Minister?”

I have had this question asked of me and I would like to say that the answer to this question is yes–and no. It is “yes” because we all have accepted the salvation that Jesus Christ died to provide for us. We all are capable and encouraged to share and speak about the faith that we now profess to live. Peter speaks about the priesthood of believers, which implies to me that there is a shared responsibility to minister.

But the answer to the question is also no. It is “no” because not all who believe in Jesus are called to be pastors, teachers or evangelists. Not everyone is called to preach and to stand in front of the church and proclaim the gospel. Not everyone is called to be a preacher because there must be a desire, a passion for the word and work of Jesus Christ, a willingness to share the Gospel. Ultimately, our willingness to be a part of the process is what God wants from us.

Not being a full-time minister does not relieve any us of our responsibility to model, tell and live the life and death of Christ in our bodies before the world for them to see.

Ministry is not an Option

After Peter denied Christ, Jesus gave him the same number of opportunities to be reconciled (John 21:15-19). Having done so Jesus sent Peter to feed His lambs. While the command to feed the lambs is found within a specific personal and historical context, I believe that it is a much more general command. One that must be listened to by all who love Jesus. To follow Jesus is to walk where He walked, doing what He did, with love and grace.

When we identify with Jesus we buy into the ministry that He came to bring. The great commission shows us this. Jesus, once He had suffered, been crucified, died and was resurrected did not leave this earth without leaving some final instructions. There is work left to be done and that work is the responsibility of all who bear His name. Do you know when we will no longer have to worry about spreading the Gospel? When we are in heaven.

Ministry is not an option for the Christian. Some may feel that they are exempt because they do not know enough or because they have not been Christians long enough. These are not valid reasons for not ministering. The most basic Christian responsibility is to love one to another and this is done through ministry.

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us that we all have spiritual gifts. So the question that each Christian should ask is why? These gifts that are different and given to all have at the root of them have one purpose–to minister other believers and to the world around us.

Learning To Say, “Yes!”

When we think of the word minister we most often think of someone who is a pastor or who, at the very least, works for a church. The word minister actually means “to serve.” There are some professional ministers that have forgotten this, but that does not give the rest of the body of Christ the right to forget. The Christians in this modern time must come back to what is most important, service. We ought not to dread doing the work of the church.

Many do not serve because they do not know where to serve. Others fail to serve because they do not know how to serve. Still others fear serving because they believe they have nothing to offer. All of these would be incorrect. Allow me one last word of encouragement. Just say “Yes!” to God and the rest will take care of itself.

Video Spotlight | The Power of Affirmation

Over the last year I have enjoyed watching X-Factor (in its various iterations) and American Idol on YouTube. It is an interesting process watching the various stages of the process. I think that the best part of the show is always the first audition. The story of why the person is there is reveals with a lot of flare and fanfare.

Now, I am not under any illusions about how the producers of shows weave the story lines together to pull at the heart strings. I get it. They are trying to get ratings and maybe sell a few things through advertisement. But, in spite of all of this you can never erase genuine emotion. This is especially true of the young men and women who are just looking for someone (other than their parents) to validate what they may fear is nothing at all. There is something powerful about being affirmed. To be reminded that you are special can change your life.

The Bishop and His Beautiful People | “Your Call Is Still Calling”

There is nothing more important to the work of the church than to be totally and unashamedly committed to Jesus. Any failure to love God and to love those whom God loves misses the message of Jesus.

The South Georgia Annual Conference met from June 3 – 5, in Macon, Georgia. This meeting takes place once a year and is the time for the conference to handle the business of the church. I was not able to attend, but did watch on the live stream online. One of the wonderful benefits of technology. As the conference drew to a close Bishop King shared some important thoughts with the clergy and lay members of the conference. I would like to share with you these thoughts and some of my own reflections.

Our bishop regularly greets the members of the conference by saying, “Hello beautiful people.” And he does so with such a warm smile it is hard not to smile back, knowing that this is a sincere greeting from him. I hope I never take it for granted. I am always left with the impression that the bishop really means it and he wants us to believe it for ourselves. We are a beautiful people. Not because of anything intrinsic within us, but because of who we have become and are becoming in Jesus.

Bishop King then said to those in attendance and those of us viewing online, “Your call is still calling.” Continue reading “The Bishop and His Beautiful People | “Your Call Is Still Calling””

The Roman Catholic Church, Postmodernity, and Human Sexuality: The Power of 1,700 Years of History

Pope Benedictus XVI
From Wikipedia: Pope Benedictus XVI

I came across an interesting article this week looking at the Catholic Church’s response to the book of “Sister Margaret Farley, a member of the Sisters of Mercy religious order and emeritus professor of Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School.”* There were several points that I found interesting in the article. I will take them one at a time.

Before I do, I do want to say a couple of things. First, I am not Catholic, an ex-Catholic and I do not have an axe to grind with the Catholic church. Second, there are many things that I appreciate about the Catholic church. (Two of my favorite movies have heavy Catholic themes: Joshua and The Shoes of the Fisherman. Check them out they are very good.) Third, while there are many within the Protestant traditions who do not believe that the Catholic church is true to Christ’s desires, thinking like this is such an overreaction that I do not even have time to write about it here. Fourth, any failure to see that in spite of its flaws (as we all have in our churches) the Roman Catholic church protected the Gospel of Jesus Christ from A.D. 300, when Constantine Created the Holy Roman Empire to A.D. 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Thesis sparking the Protestant Reformation. Continue reading “The Roman Catholic Church, Postmodernity, and Human Sexuality: The Power of 1,700 Years of History”

Are My Prayer’s Big Enough?

My pastor, Pastor David, started a series on the book The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. Batterson is the pastor of National Community Church is Washington, D.C.

The heart of the message on Sunday looked at the legend of The Circle Maker a man named Honi ha-M’agel. The story of Honi (“hoe-knee”) revolves around an event where he drew a circle with his staff and prayed that God would send rain to help put an end to the drought that was ravaging the land.

On one occasion when God did not send rain well into the winter (in the geographic regions of Israel, it rains mainly in the winter), he drew a circle in the dust, stood inside it, and informed God that he would not move until it rained. When it began to drizzle, Honi told God that he was not satisfied and expected more rain; it then began to pour. He explained that he wanted a calm rain, at which point the rain calmed to a normal rain.

He was almost put into cherem (excommunication) for the above incident in which he showed “dishonor” to God. However, Shimon ben Shetach, the brother of Queen Shlomtzion, excused him, saying that he was Honi and had a special relationship with God. [Source]

The impression that I was left with after the story was that this was a very brash and ostentatious way of praying. I do not think that I have ever, in my life, talked to God that way. And that is exactly what we learn from Honi. Honi was not demanding for God answer to him, but that God was more than capable to do what no one else could. That is a very different way of thinking about prayer and why we pray. We have to believe that God can do what he promises because if we do not, then what are we doing praying at all?

Pastor David challenged us to realize that we were not praying bold enough if we are praying for things that we can accomplish on our own, in our own strength. I have heard this often in the church. I get it. It is a challenge to trust God more and more. But, do you know what really struck me as I was listening to Pastor David? What about me? Am I praying that God would conform me into the image of Jesus? Am I praying that God would change my heart, mind, attitudes, emotions and values?

You see, one of the dangers of praying for “BIG” things is that the biggest thing gets overlooked because “I have it under control.” This is a terrible mistake. I can not change who I am, save myself, or even guarantee the next moment of my life, and we want to pray boldly about “big” things. What could be bigger than being the person that Jesus died for us to be?

Pastor David was right, my prayers are not big and bold enough. But, I left with the impression that the subject of those prayers, at least for me, is not those “big” things “out there,” but the big things inside my own heart. I know that this is my tendency, to look inside rather than out. What I have realized is that I want to be the person that prays bigger and bolder prayers because I do believe that God WILL, not just another a person who prays big prayers because I think God CAN.

Video Spotlight | “Love Everlasting” by Cassidy Robinson

This is a new segment to the blog. I was told by one of my youth that I spent/spend too much time of YouTube. She may be right, but regardless I will be spotlighting videos that interest me. They may or may not be viral and they may or may not have comments. It will depend on what strikes me. Enjoy!

Growing Pains, Pt. 1 | “Fellowship”

What is Fellowship?

Fellowship is more than just being in the same room as someone else or even saying “hello” to those that are around us. Fellowship is found not in the halls that we meet nor in the restaurants that have great atmosphere. Fellowship is the sharing of lives. It is coming to a place where those that at one time were strangers to us have now become family. When those people that before we would have seen only once in a while, now for some reason we find yourself thinking about and wanting to be around them more and more. Fellowship is the process where two or more people’s lives becomes a part of our own life.

I do not mean that another person is being nosy or trying to run or ruin our life. But, when another person becomes a loved one, so that you hurt because they hurt, that is fellowship. It is not an easy road to travel, the one called fellowship. It is a slow and sometimes hurtful journey to bring people in that close. It is not easy, but there is something about being able to share with someone, about having that outside influence and strength. Will we be able to have fellowship with everyone in the church? The truth is no, that is not possible, but what are we doing to reach out and invite in those that we can?

Why Is Fellowship Important?

Growth only happens in an environment where trust exists. If we do not trust those that are around us will we be able to grow and feel safe? One of the most difficult things about growing in faith is being able to share our genuine concerns and know that they will not become the talk of the town, or worse the church. We cannot worship in an environment where we feel that we are being singled out. Trust is built by being trustworthy. Love is known by being loving. Fellowship comes when we are neighbors to strangers and family to friends. This may seem like a difficult way of doing it but that is what Jesus did for us. The apostle Paul writes it this way, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8; NKJV).

A large part of what makes fellowship what it ought to be comes from the way that we react to the people and circumstances that are around us. Do we want fellowship to exist? Then let us be the first to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. These are the tools that we are to use to create an environment that will produce fellowship. To answer the question a little more direct, “Why is fellowship important?” we need to understand that it is in the context of fellowship that we love one another and that people will know that we are Christ’s disciples (John 13:35; NKJV).

How Do We Sustain Fellowship?

Here is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. How do we go about sustaining fellowship within a body? The word that comes to mind is sincerity. If true and lasting fellowship is going to exist there has to be sincerity among those that are acting and doing within the body. If what you do is half-hearted or selfish, fellowship will not grow and it will die quickly if these things come into the body of Christ.

Fellowship will happen when we decide that we are really going to care about those that come to our church, whether visitor or member, and we will love them with the love of God.

Exit mobile version
%%footer%%