Sometimes it takes time, but He is NOT silent!

What a busy time the past few weeks have been for me. I spent the last two weeks in Birmingham attending a doctoral seminar at Beeson Divinity School that dealt with the pastor as leader in local congregations. The class was a great time of learning and growth for me. I am so thankful for the opportunity to study under and with some tremendous men of God.

During my time up in Birmingham I was given the assignment for the next course that I will be taking. It is an "independent" course called Research in Ministry. I have to identify 25 or so books and 15 journal articles that deal with my dissertation topic which is "The Pastor's Role in Revitalization of a Local Congregation in Embracing its Christian Mission." One book that I identified and started reading today was Albert Mohler's He Is Not Silent. I am about half way through it so far and am finding it a very good, challenging read. The premise of Mohler's book is that preaching does matter. It matters because it is the vehicle that God has chosen to communicate to us His perfect will.

Aren't there times in our lives and in our walk with Christ when we really wonder if it is all really worth it? We wonder if things will get better. We wonder when the results will come. They do come eventually, but God forms and shapes us while we are waiting. While it seems that God is silent, He speaks, even when He does not say anything at all. The problem is not God's inactivity but our ability to identify His working among and around us.

I am convinced now today more than ever before that God has His hand upon Calvary Free Will Baptist Church. He has a work for us to do. He is continuing to move and is beginning to reveal a tremendous plan that He has in store for our church. Lives are being changed. People are coming to faith in Christ. Marriages are being restored. We are not packing in the crowds, but slowly we are building the Church. (By the way, Christ never calls us to gather a crowd. He does, however, command us to build His Church by making disciples. When we think on this though, we must realize that we can not do that. Only God can accomplish that. The good news is though that He chooses to use US to to do it. Not overnight. Not with accolades. Not with ease. Not big programs and promotions. He does it by speaking to us through His Word. But I wonder if we are listening.

I am. How about you?

Pastor Aaron