pastor john's resume

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resume

who is pastor john

here we are at my philosophy of ministry. for me, it's simple and just part of my dna. nut for others, it takes time. read, enjoy and let me know that you thing.

:philosophy of ministry

To Reach-Up {reach God - WORSHIP}

To experience God in Worship, and in our daily lives – Barna writes that over 40% of people attending church today do not experience God in the Worship Service – heartbreaking. Reaching Up to God needs to be part of a solid Worship Service, contemporary in nature and Christ centered. Our Reaching Up needs to be under the following Scriptural Guideline – “Suppose some strangers are in your worship service, when you are praising God with your spirit. If they don’t understand you, how can they say ‘Amen’? You may be worshiping God in a wonderful way, but no one else will be helped.” (1 Corinthians 14:16-18). Worship must be God Centered and understandable to those who are not-yet-believers – so they can become a believer. Music must be upbeat and relevant to the times. Drama, Video and the Life Application Messages needs to meet the people where they are, not where we expect them to be, and bring them to where God wants them.

To Reach-Out {reach others - OUTREACH}

Ministries and outreaches need to reflect the current times, without compromising the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 9:22-23). Leaders, not teachers, lead ministries – Looking outward means we have an honest Christ centered desire to grow and share the Gospel with those around us. We need to replace the battle of words and requests with the vision of actions and ideas. We need to develop leaders, creative people who accept the vision and are willing to do what it takes to implement the vision, to develop ministries. We need to develop all ministries with the intention of growth and outreach. Every ministry must have as it basis the intention of transforming people and lifestyles. Planning for intentional growth of the church, ministries, activities and events is very important for us to bring Christ to the community around. If not, if we have no goals, we are set for the fall; we find ourselves dancing with compliantly and procrastination, remember – excellence honors God. In Matthew 10:1-16 Jesus sent out the twelve to minister – when he did he gave them a plan of action, we must do the same. To say it boldly and plainly – NUMBERS MATTER, BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD, and stop playing the “numbers do not matter” game based on failed vision and lack of leadership.

To Reach-In {reach self - DISCIPLESHIP}

We must be an influence to others – We must look inward to see who we are in our walk. Christians must confidently and without fear live a life that is reflective of our faith. This means that we as Christians must clearly identify ourselves as Christians and demonstrate clearly that our faith is practical to life today. We do this by our daily decisions, relationships and behaviors. To influence others we must truly hold honest and sincere friendships with those who are not in relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus eat, drank and lived among the sinners of the world – loving and caring for them with all His heart, yet he did not become one of them. We must be what I call, a “withness” to others. A witness is one who states the facts and moves on, while a “withness” is one who states the facts and walks with the person and help them seek answers to the questions, and is an example of the faith (Romans 12:1-8). When we are a “withness” people small groups become an important dimension to the church. Developing people into disciples, visiting the sick and doing home visits is not only the responsibility of the Pastor, it is the responsibility of everyone who calls him or herself a Christian. I do not believe in “Pastor as Chaplain.” I believe that the responsibility of the Pastor is to develop leaders, and in turn encourage others to develop ministries that “chaplain” others. Whole people make a whole church. For this to be done, all Christians must take the responsibility to grow as Christians by being in God’s word, and participate in study at a deeper and meaningful level.

other pages dealing with pastor john's resume:

:: main | education | experience | philosophy of ministry | doctrine::

My Conversion:

I find writing about my conversion simple; unfortunately I do not think it is what others expect. Most people are looking for an exciting story packed full of emotions, superior preaching and quality gospel singing; a story where bright lights and blinding faith play a key role. But, that’s not my story. You see, I didn’t have a “road to Damascus experience.” In fact, my story is more like, well “following the yellow brick road.”

I was born in the summer of my 27-year; no wait, that was John Denver. I was born in a small log cabin in the heart of Brooklyn New York; it was not a Christian home; it was not filled with Christian teachings; I was not surrounded by Christian influences. In fact, I had no, or little, religious experience at all – I am not counting all the “god terms” my father shared with me after a bad report card, or broken window. While my family professed to be “Catholic” we seldom, if ever, attended church. I grew-up as what I call “a neo-reformed pagan” a blank slate looking for spirituality in my life.

I searched all forms of spirituality I could think of – Buddhist, Hinduism, Krishna and others – looking for God and not seeing him. I even spent a stint as an “Atheist” because I saw the hypocrisy of the church and those who claim to be Christian. Looking back I am amazed at all the people I knew who claimed to be “Christian” and their total lack in sharing with me the story of Jesus Christ. One day I found myself at a point of spiritual bankruptcy and hurting so deeply I could hardly stand the pain. I had tried church, but was never made to feel welcomed – I was told I would not be welcome in “god’s house” until I got my life straightened out. I was so lost, so hurting, so broken and so mad I had no idea what to do, then I did the only thing I could think of, I opened a Bible my mother had in her home (I first had to blow off the three inches of dust. My mother got all upset, it seems I was not suppose to read “that bible” because it was for the “family.” Go figure – what did I know)

Wow, smack me with a wet tuna and call me Sally. I found that this “Jesus person” was not at all what I thought he was. To my blessings, I read the Gospel of John (yes, I started there because my name is John) and did I ever have an awakening. As I read I came to the story of Lazarus and realized – Jesus was so concerned by the emotional state of others, he wept; He understood their brokenness, and I needed to know more about the God who understood my brokenness. I started to look for a church that would share with me more about Jesus, God and all this love I read about. Boy was that hard. I kept running into churches where people were more concerned with my cloths, my earring, and my hair than they were about teaching me about Jesus. Other churches wanted me to “pledge my allegiance to the denomination, for which they stood” and not teach me about Jesus. It took me two years to find a church that would welcome me without demanding I become something I was not. Than, with the help of my sister, my brother-in-law and my wife I found one, Central Christian Church, a Willowcreek styles church in Las Vegas (there were 300 people at Central when we started to attend today there are over 6,000 attending). Keeping in mind, I did not have any idea what “Willowcreek” was or meant – nor did I care. All I knew is I was welcomed, accepted and encouraged to ask questions. I started with 101 classes and soon found myself joining in at home fellowships. No questions I asked, or mistake I made, was ridiculed or made light. Over a one-year period at Central I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I accepted Jesus into my life in October 1988, and it’s been a life of commitment and study – I am always learning.

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