Get Out of Your World!

That's the phrase that I have heard so many times. And as I sit here thinking and praying about my future in Japan that phrase repeats itself. There is some uncertainty to my life in Japan. I don't have an exact date yet, I don't know what school I will be teaching at, or even where I will be living.

The selfish part of me wants it to be near where I have friends. Yet that phrase get out of your world interrupts my thoughts. Now, I feel must define what I'm talking about here. Get out, for me is a calling that I feel should be enacted into all of our lives. Far to many times people live in their own little bubble. They see the same people, eat the same foods, go to the same places. That's just not for me! I can't just stay and be still, especially as a Christian. Christ never commanded us to sit and wait around for Him to come back. He said go! Get out there, get dirty, mess things up!

So, that's my plan. To get out. And honestly I don't know where I will be teaching in Japan. But where ever it is I pray that this Ohio born, Texas raised, Detroit hardened, Amish town living man can make a difference.

Higgins

Of All The Accomplishments Of Man…

Look around the world that we live in. Take just 1 minute, I’ll wait. If what you are looking at is made by a human then what you are seeing is amazing!

We have found a way to harness the power of electricity to light our houses. Indoor plumbing has saved millions of lives by cutting down on our contact with waste. We have heating in our houses to keep us warm when for thousands of years people had open fires in their houses.

Take the complicated. Medicines that keep us healthy. Doctors that can operate on a patient thousands of miles away via a robot.

Yet, of all the accomplishments of man…it seems like replacing the toilet paper on the roll is HARDEST THING TO DO!!!

I MEAN COME ON! WE PUT A MAN ON THE MOON!!!!!!

 

“Part Time” Ministry

There is a fundamental disconnect between the church and the people they hire. I’m not saying there is a problem with the people they hire. I’m saying that there is a problem with which the way they view those they hire.

There is no such thing as a part time pastor, or part time youth pastor. It honestly is a…well I’ll be blunt, it’s a way for churches to hire someone and pay them at half the rate and half the benefits (or none at all) of a full time employee. I’m hesitant to call it a scam but it is borderline.

A youth pastor or whatever you want to call it that is paid based on half time is a joke. I say this because the work of a minister cannot be based on  time. What’s worse is that it’s a slap in the face to say that a youth pastor only works half the time that anyone else in the church works.

As a pastor your work is never done and cannot be measured in hours or checked off in a list of things to do (yes you can have a job description of expectations) . My problem is that churches get away with paying minsters half and knowingly work them for usually more than 40 hours.

I’m not sure why or when we allowed this to happen. Some churches get it right, yet others tend to only see youth pastors an a non essential piece to the ministry puzzle.

Think about it…being a pastor is a 24/7 job…and churches take advantage of it…just saying.

Higgins