Get Back To Jesus

Get Back To Jesus No matter who in the ministry or what church may have done something to upset you, don't give up on your relationship with Jesus! Don't let it make you anti-church like it has several people that I've met in recent times. Remember that 'the church' is actually all of the children of God, not that brick building out by the highway where you got hurt. I encourage you to find a home church that fulfills your needs. Visit several church houses before you settle on one. 'Church' is by no means a bad thing! Unfortunately, there are some bad people in them sometimes. Don't let them keep you from God though. The enemy has won when you allow that. Don't let the enemy do that to you. Even if you don't get back into a home church, get some friends together for some bible study and discussion. Small groups are a something that is really growing now and can be done in your own living room. Some other things you can do in order to keep Jesus in your life, are to listen to Christian music in the car or while working around the house, watch faith-based movies instead of so many of the hollywood movies drinched in sex and violence, or get The Bible on CD to listen to. All of these can get more Godliness into your life. Find a way to get back to Jesus! This writing was inspired by recent events in my life. I think many of you who have been involved in the ministry for any amount of time will know where I'm coming from. When working in the ministry you will have very uplifting experiences and you will have very disheartening experiences. I have recently gone through one of the more unpleasant times. Myself and New Disciples Ministry had been partnered with an evangelical ministry traveling the southeastern U.S. for most of 2009. It was an amazing experience to be a part of. We really reached out to people where they were at in their walk with God. As our schedule was winding down for the year, a few of us discussed having a permanent location to be based out of and to have regular meetings at in order to reach out to a group of people we felt needed to get back into their relationship with God. These people had been hurt in their lives at some point by what were their home churches. Through church politics, feelings of judgement and condemnation by their peers, seeing mishandling of church funds, or ungodly behavior by church officers, they had been hurt and pretty much given up on 'church'. We knew several people who had been through this, some even were part of our ministry, and we wanted to give them a 'church alternative'. The oppurtunity came up to get a building at a reasonable cost each month and we jumped on it. Within a week of the idea, we had moved in and set up our ministry. There was some uneasiness from the beginning though. Some people were already calling it a church, which made some people uncomfortable for some reason. I didn't see why it mattered. Anyway, the first weekend we had our meeting, we had 19 people in attendence, 7 people the second, and by the third weekend we only had myself and another member there. It was to say the least, disappointing. I understood why some people couldn't be there because they had obligations to their home churches and their families, but some of the people who were talking about what a great thing it was just simply didn't show up. You can't keep a ministry going in a rented building when no one will be loyal and show support by being there and helping with the offering. So, I took it upon myslef to pack up the ministry and apologize to the building owners who had so graciously been giving us time to raise the rent money. I was let down and some hard feelings came out of it amongst some of the people involved, but I didn't let it hinder me in my ministry. During all of this, God put it on my heart to get that ministry going again and to get back to concentrating on the online ministry which I felt I had been neglecting. Therefore, I had to leave the evangelical ministry that me and New Disciples had been involved with in order to do what God had put on my heart. To everything there is a season. Right now, the season for me traveling is over and the time for rebuilding and sowing the seeds at home is come. I have started getting ideas together for the future of the online ministry and updating it, myself and some of my family in Christ are getting our ideas together for 'The Gathering Ministry', and I'm trying to think of ways to help build back up my home church that I had to step away from while traveling. So, even through the disappointment of having to temporarily close a ministry and the heavy heartedness of having to leave another ministry to pursue another path, I didn't give up on my relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ. I'm using this as an oppurtunity to get back to the very deep and intimate realtionship I've had with Jesus throughout my life. So, that's what I encourage you to do, no matter how you've been hurt, Get Back To Jesus! John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me. Your brother in Christ, Rev. Norman Lynn Morrison aka Rev. Pete. Pete 12-15-09