Hey all you metal heads and Rockers!!

As a former Pastor of 15 years who is now a member of small church and trying to support my Pastor, I encourage you men and women of God to get involved in your local church. You have so much to give and you can relate to people in the church who are tied to the music scene. YA I know we all are a little bit different than the average church goer, but remember so were the disciples.

They need you whether they realize it or not. You all are such a blessing to me and I have really enjoyed being a part of this group!!

Tim

I go when I can. I'm off two Sundays a month. And the other two I work but one of em I work 7P-7A the Sat night before. I went to church after work only ONE Sunday. My wife said she was tired of waking me up and made me stay home after that one.

But I get there when I can. My wife is there every Sunday with the kids and attends all 4 services.

Thanks for the encouragement and exhortation Tim. It's definitely needed and well accepted from me.

We have just recently started attending a new church. A little hesitant to jump into all the extra stuff because I am not at all sure we are staying there.

I have had to leave two "seeker driven" typ churches in the last 5 years...I don't wanna have to do it again.

But I completely agree that we need to be an active part of the body!

For 21 years I go to the same church.
I almost go every Sunday to the service.
It's good to be an active member of your congregation.
That's what I try to be.

I've played drums and bass in worship sometimes. It's really fun.

You all are awesome!! I hope no one took offense to what I said. I just know you all are a great bunch of people that could be a great blessing to the church!!!

Thanks You!!!!

Tim

I can't get off from work to go to church on Sundays. Oh, wait! I meant that I am working at the church when I am there! LOL Silly youth pastor!

I was a Youth Pastor for about 8 years I know sometimes it can be a thankless job at the time. But over the years I have had many of my former youth tell they really appreciated all I had done! That meant allot to me!!

So I understand your pain brother lol!!

God Bless you for what you do!! May your budget always be in the black lol!!

Tim

alldatndensum wrote:

I can't get off from work to go to church on Sundays. Oh, wait! I meant that I am working at the church when I am there! LOL Silly youth pastor!

I meant to ask you this a while ago, but do you participate in worship services by playing an instrument or singing?

Just Sue

I completely understand that!! The last church I pastored we tried really hard to rotate people in aand out to prevent that very problem but it is hard to get people to volunteer and be consistant at it.

I imagine that those 4 to 6 yr. olds lost a great teacher!!

Tim

I understand about not being able to get people to volunteer. While we have a large enough congregation to do it, our church has had to ask outsiders to help with VBS. Our VBS is set up where "teachers" don't actually teach. They are more like tour guides taking the kids to different stations like snacks, crafts, or to the room where they see the nightly lesson acted out in front of them. Still, it is sad that we have to ask non-church members to help do this.

Hey Tim, thanks for the encouragement. We all need to be reminded that we 'Are' the church, and when we are not assembling together, then a part is missinig. It's good to be reminded that it's God's desire that we assemble together and be centered around the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not go for ourselves, but because of Him. But we can get a lot out for ourselves as one of the many blessings for being there.

It's amazing sometimes to think of the many excuses the flesh will present to not go.

I attend a very large church, a multi-site church of about 4500-5000 people. I play acoustic guitar, lead guitar, and bass guitar for worship at our newest location, which started about a year ago.

I usually play 3 weeks a month, and take one week off. My wife works in the nursery with 1 and 2 year olds. I lead a small group Bible study on Wed. evenings, where we discuss the sermon topic from Sunday.

Hey pouncerW you are very welcome. It is nice to hear that some of you are inolved in the Lord's house!!!

God Bless ya all

Timshell64 wrote:

Just Sue

I completely understand that!! The last church I pastored we tried really hard to rotate people in aand out to prevent that very problem but it is hard to get people to volunteer and be consistant at it.

I imagine that those 4 to 6 yr. olds lost a great teacher!!

Tim

thanks, Tim. you cant imagine how hard it was for me to leave 'my' kids.
when i first volunteered, i was going into the classroom as an assistant for the sweetest, godliest sister you'd ever have the pleasure of meeting, Miss Mary McGaha. she'd been teaching that classroom for around 30 + years. her dedication was something to aspire to. so many members of that church were her students when they were young and she went on to teach their little ones.
i enjoyed my days teaching with her. we were a great team and i learned so much from her. she did the majority of her years there alone because it was so hard to find anyone to give up their time and volunteer.

for the last couple of years, i had it alone because Miss Mary fell ill and was in and out of the hospital. she ended up going into a nursing home, bedridden and with kidney failure. she finally passed away early this year and it gives me so much joy to know she's in eternal good health, rejoicing with the Lord in His kingdom. i imagine she's in charge of the bulletin board and crafts up there, by now.
she had such a tough life. her husband had been murdered, execution style, years ago. the killer was never found. her kids have put her through the wringer with one upset after another. you wouldnt know it to talk to her. she was so full of the joy of the Lord, upbeat and friendly. she was an inspiration.

she had been living with her younger brother for years and i just got word today that last night, he went to join his big sister in Heaven, so prayers out to that family.

meanwhile, i feel like a failure for not being able to live up to Miss Mary's legacy. i couldnt do anywhere close to the many years of selfless dedication she put into that ministry. i feel bad that i left my church in a bind. i knew, however, that my own spiritual health was in decline. i knew if i didnt get under the Word and the teachings of my leadership, it would soon be the end of me.

You have no reason to feel like a failure. You are not Miss Mary and she is not you. You both have a unique call on your lives. One cannot fulfill the other. Sounds to me like you had enough wisdom to do what you needed to do spiritually!! That says allot, you could of burnt out and left church and backslid but you didnt.

The Lord blessed you with a season of ministry with a true Saint of God!! So do not be down on yourself!!

Tim

You are so welcome Sue!! I am just relating the truth but I am happy it helped!!!

God Bless and have a great night!!! I need to get busy my Pastor asked me to share the Word of God tomorrow and I still do not hve a direction yet!!

Tim

This is a great thread....thanks for the encouragement and exhortation Tim

I have finally renewed my membership in the church I had attended sporadically since 1997, including a 4 year period of completely leaving the faith. It's no longer just Sunday and Wednesday nights for me. I go to many praise and worship sets on Mondays, and I'm about to start trying for some of the Tuesday and Thursday sets.

I'm still in the middle of what I would call my spiritual recovery. After struggling for the last several years with depression and thoughts of suicide, I finally have something to look forward to. The Lord has blessed me with the members of that church, of this I am completely sure. There is a couple there who have been most helpful to me in my darkest hours, and I actually think of them like my adopted parents.

I haven't gotten around to volunteering yet, but that doesn't mean I don't want to. We're there to lift each other up, and I haven't yet gotten the opportunity to give back like they gave to me. After spending so much of my life as an introvert and staying withdrawn from social situations, it still feels weird to be fellowshipping openly with folks.

I am so happy for you Joker that you have found people to help you with your spiritual recovery!! God is so good and He wants the best for you!!



Staybrite You are so welcome my brother!! I am glad someone is getting something from it!!! God Bless you my friend!!!

Tim

I have been a member of the same church since I was in 9th grade many eons ago.I used to go every Sunday until my job had me start working overnight. The last few times I tried going I basically would fall asleep. A buddy of mine would elbow me and I was like "What?",he would say I was snoring. So I went when I was off the weekend. There was one thing That I did every year and the guys at work knew about it and gladly scheduled me off those times. I was involved in the Easter and Christmas musicals we did . The Easter program was called Golgotha (later changed to Passion Play)and the one for Christmas was Carols by Candlelight. In Golgotha I was one of the thieves that was crucified practically every year until the end. In the pic I am the thief on the left side.

One thing that I have been involved in the last few years is VBS. Our church, for the past 2 years, have done a series from Group Publishing that takes the kids on a tour of the Bible. Last year, it was about Jesus through the eyes of Mary. This year, it was several of the stories in Daniel. But, instead of having teachers, you have the main lesson acted out. This year, I was in the skit playing Ashpenaz--head of all captives in Babylon.

We told the stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo. We told about the Hebrews not wanting to eat the king's food. We ended with a 2 night cliff-hanger that told of Daniel being in the lion's den. The theme of the week was "God is with us". The kids loved the skits and were just amazed at the way the stories were presented. We also used *gasp* some contemporary music with the songs that the kids learned hand motions for. Some even danced! Our church might be stuck in older times musically, but the younger generations are primed and ready for a change.

But, the best part of the whole week was listening to the little kids sing and do their motions for "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)". It literally made the hair on my arms stand up as I felt the spirit of God draw near. That's just a beautiful thing to experience.