at the women’s retreat this weekend. Ha, ha. Yes, women’s retreat. I was fortunate to be able to play and sing for a few minutes before each session. It was really fun, gave me a good lift up. From what I could tell, the retreat was successful in its’ mission.
What a glorious morning(s). Nothing cheers me up more than beautiful weather. I think that the birds are very much like me, they like the weather too. Their singing in the mornings is so cheerful, no one can be down whilst listening to them.
Now it’s off to church to talk about the positive aspects of lamenting. I think that the lack of lament is one of the problems of the church today.
Lament is a biblical mode of communication, but it is largely neglected in American church culture. Rather than avoiding it, or being afraid of it, we should use it privately and corporately. Lament is appropriate, and we need to begin to change the culture or attitude of the church and to encourage transparency. Jeffrey Arthurs
What is lament? Well, this is the best definition I have found:
A lament is truly asking, seeking, and knocking to comprehend the heart of God. A lament involves the energy to search, not to shut down the quest for truth. It is passion to ask, rather than to rant with already reached conclusions. A lament uses the language of pain, anger, and confusion and moves toward God. Dan Allendar
How many pastors do you know that would encourage this? Not mine.
time for a new pastor?
Time for a new pastor? Not at all. Perhaps my season is changing, so to speak, but the pastor is doing a wonderful job of guiding the church into uncharted waters. It isn’t easy being in charge of anything worthwhile and trying to meet the varying needs of different constituent groups. And I think that being the leader of a church is even harder because of the expectations inherent in the job.
I also think that one of the reasons people don’t lament more, especially publicly, is directly tied to your comment. As I struggle with whatever I’m going through, as I state it publicly, transparently, it is for my consumption and learning as much as anything else. If you’ll look at the last line of the quote above, I think it is apparent that I’m in the confusion lane of traffic right now as I move closer to God.
So, new pastor? Lord, I hope not.
I agree with you…people lament less (either aloud or via blogging) to avoid the possibility of being misunderstood. I totally think your pastor is a man of great integrity who heart is saturated with truth from the Word. I disagree with some of his personal opinions and that is ok. The job of a pastor is the toughest of any profession…and I appreciate anyone assuming this responsibility.
Keep lamenting…