One of the hardest things about being a pastor is trying to reach out to my members.  We are a small church comprised mostly of older member.  To my surprise, the younger members have been very inviting and engaging, while the older members have been harder to connect with.  There is no trouble in this area, however I seem to find that it takes a lot of time and a great deal of effort to connect with them.  I don’t mind… It’s my joy to do so, I’m their pastor. 

So I thought, how can I reach out to my Church members and these are some things that I began to practice, maybe you will find them helpful!

1. Take the church directory and write notes of encouragement, (I write 2 every office day) telling them that you are praying for them

2. Send out birthday cards

3. Visit a member/family every week - (on top of making visits to hospitals and the home-bound)

4. Go through the church directory calling members and asking them about their prayer request, ball games, doctor visits, kids, extended family, etc…

5. Schedule times when you can meet over a meal

These are just a few things that I practice to help me connect with my members.  This is a little easier with smaller churches but rremember, (as a pastor) you are called to shepherd your people… and one way we do this to connecting with our members.  This is so very important, if you study, read, write, but neglect to connect with your people then you are only crippling your ministry  If you have other suggestions please feel free to add some thoughts!  By all means, tell me what works for you!

-Yogi

Well the VBS is over… so to speak.  We still have our VBS Celebration on Sunday Morning.  I will update you later on how things went… until then enjoy some quotes by our kids…

1. It’s hot.

2. It’s cold.

3. Who carried Jesus’ cross for Him? “Simon Cowell” [from American Idol]

4. Mr., Brother, Pastor Yogi, can stay the night?  I like it here!

5. Brother Yogi are you going to sing Sunday Morning?  No never mind we don’t need you to sing, we got it!!!

6. Did Jesus really make my daddy’s car?

7. It’s cold.

8. Its’ hot.

9. Your that preacher guy!

10. You have a big belly [That's my favorite :)].

Enjoy!

Being that we are a small church with 80% of our members retired, we were looking for some way to conduct a Vacation Bible School.  With almost no man-power and scarce resources we were left with little options.  Upon attending a pastor’s luncheon, I met Vicky Willis (the Children & Families Ministries Consultant for the Mobile Baptist Assoc.) who shared with me how Mission Fuge (aka M-Fuge) can help small churches with their Vacation Bible School. 

Here’s how it works… A team from the camp consisting of adults, high-school students, and college students will come at a determined time (our time is 12pm - 2:30pm) and host the VBS at your church.  They bring all the “man-power” (i.e. all the teachers, helpers, song-leaders, etc…), all the materials, and anything else needed to conduct the Bible School.

What are you responsible for?  Three things… 1. Outreach for the two weeks prior to VBS!  We did this and I will tell you there is nothing like having 60 to 80 year old men and women going out door to door sharing about our VBS… it was encouraging and good for the mentality of our church (aka: good for our members to get out into the community and share).  The Mobile Baptist provided us with 400 flyers and we made 200 copies with a total of 600.  We passed out about 550 to houses, Apt.’s, and businesses!  Those numbers do not translate into kids, but it does increases the chances for a larger crowd.  2. Snacks for the campers/kids.  This takes hardly any effort, if you manage it right.  We had Sun. Sch. classes commit to contribute cookies, chips, and drinks for 3 weeks and then if they liked they could donate some homemade goodies, or just some cash to help buy some goodies (if need be).  There needs to be someone in charge of this station at all times during the VBS to keep it flowing well.  3. Proper outreach when it is over.  This is my favorite part.  You must have proper info to contact the little ones (and their families).  It helps if you can get some additional info (i.e. parents are divorced, or mom is very sick, etc…)

Our outreach begins this week with VBS ending on Friday, we are inviting our kids back on Sunday Morning to be apart of the Worship Service.  After the service we are having a pot-luck dinner and some inflatables for them to enjoy.  Hopefully they will come back and join us, and might even bring mom and dad. 

What are the drawbacks to having M-Fuge?  1. You don’t know the teachers.  It could be that there are some teachers who just can’t get the Gospel right.  This is a drawback.  Chances are the ones teaching are going to do a good job.  The camp screens the teachers/campleaders… they may not share the Gospel as clear and theologically correct as you would, but they are hitting on all cylinders!  This is a point for us reformed folks to grow… I do not believe that one has to be reformed to communicate the Gospel… again, they may not communicate Spiritaul truths as well as you but that doesn’t mean that they can’t - or shouldn’t!

2. Once the campers are gone, there are no familiar faces.  This is very easy to remedy.  Invite your church to get involved and particape with the songs, snacks, and Bible study.  They can come and “hangout” with the campers and at the stations.  This way when the kids do return they see some familiar faces, not just new ones.

3. The church could use this for a crutch. This is designed to help churches get a start on VBS and not use this as a crutch for laziness.  I was very up front with my church about this… saying that we are getting help so that next year or the following, we will conduct our own Bible study.  It is good to make this clear at the begining, and not to have M-Fuge conduct your VBS for more than 2 years. 

When it is over, I will make some updates and let you know how things went… until then - Enjoy!

You got it… we are having our VBS this week and boy I mean to tell you I am tired!  We just finished our first day.  The kids seemed to have had a blast, the adults seem to have been hit by a truck of some sorts, and the Pastor (me) is praying that he will make it to the end of the week without any injuries to himself or others…

God Bless…!

John MacArthur gives 10 reasons why he still preaches the Bible after 40 years…

1. It’s message is timeless and truly powerful

2. The Bible is the good news of Salvation

3. It sets forth divine truth with clarity and certainty

4. It stands as the authoritative self-revelation of God

5. It exalts Christ as the head of His Church

6. It is the means God uses to sanctify His people

7. It rightly informs our worship and our walk

8. It brings depth and balance to One’s ministry

9. It honors the necessity of personal Bible study

10. It makes my ministry dependent on God

J. MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, (Chicago, IL: Moody Publisher, 1991, reprint 2008),  306-17.

1. Make decisions based on emotion and without counsel (i.e. be impulsive)

2. Make every decision or conversation a hill to die on (i.e. you are right and that’s what matters)

3. Always seek to take credit for everything good and deny responsibility of anything gone bad

4. Write people off

5. Spend all your time “doing ministry” and give very little time to your wife and kids

6. Don’t listen (to other staff members, church members, and especially to older Saints)

7. Always say what you are thinking and pay no mind to what you say, who you are saying it to, or how you say it

8. Don’t read and study as little  as possible

9. Only study - never visit church members, visitors, home-bound, or those in the hospital

10. Don’t Pray (not for yourself, your family, your church, or the lost)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsjLPH23uEc

My fellow blog readers, I have to say that I have missed blogging lately.  I thought that would be away from my computer/blog for just a few days but it has turned into two weeks.  I have been extremely busy with study, building a patio, being on vacation at the beach, visiting with family, etc…

I have been trying to keep up with reading all of the blogs that I can but much of my time has been spread thin.  However, I have been out and about, but now I am back in the saddle!  The next big thing that will consume much of my time is our church’s VBS this June 24-27, but that shouldn’t keep me from writing more post…!

I will leave you with one last thought… I came accross a drink that I normally would think it is discusting, however I love it and may need a program b/c I might be addicted !  Here it is!

I know what you are thinking… but as the saying goes - “Don’t knock it till you have tried it.”  Enjoy!

[Picture (courtesy HRCBM-Dhaka): Adv. Rabindra Ghosh of HRCBM-Dhaka talking with victim of brutal gang rape Mrs. Anima Bhattacherjee. Terrorist has also killed her husband. She is currently under treatment at Khulna Medical Hospital.] 

The Alabama Baptist Newspaper reports, “DHAKA, Bangladesh– Muslim villagers in Mymensingh district eager to rid the area of the Christian work of a local pastor have gang-raped his 13-year-old daughter.  Pastor Motilal Das of United Bethany Church said the villagers sexually assaulted his daughter, Elina Das, May 2 and left her unconscious in front of his house in an attempt to drive him and his Christian ministry out of the area.  Local residents have long been angry with him for his ministry and evangelism, he said, and he has received death threats. “I did not pay attention to any of the threats of or hindrances – I continued evangelical and pastoral activities with prayer,” Das said.  “When nothing stopped me, then they wanted to leave me scarred for life, so that I would be upset and not be able to show my face to the society for shame, and therefore I would leave the village.” 

This is a worse case scenario of persecution on the mission field.  I would rather die, be tortured, or suffer the lost of limbs, than to have one of my children suffer through being gang-raped.  This happens often in our country as well.  Somewhere in America, a woman is sexually assaulted every 2 1/2 minutes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (2003), as reported by RAINN (Rape, abuse, and incest Nation Network).