Well it seems to lean toward A flat....

     It was a great first Sunday.  I can't believe I had enough senses left to hear the bell ring and register the tone and take it to the piano in the sanctuary.  It leans toward A flat according to that instrument.  

      This has been a week of listening.  I think this might be a month of listening.  I am observing and learning a congregation's way of life.  I am not only a newbie but throw into that being a part of a church that is not of the denomination you have been with for 28 years so this switch also doesn't have that familiarity from church to church.  So this is a time of learning.

      The book of Titus calls us to God's standard.  God's standard about the senior pastor.  God's standard about the spiritual leadership of the church.  God's standard about the members of the church.  God's standard about the church as a whole.  The question is:  Does God's standard matter anymore?  The answer is that it does by Scripture but we live in a world that has replaced it with "how we feel" rather than going with "this is what God says."  The church is the last stronghold on this and many are waning in this area.  

      I hate or am hesitant to say that we strive for God's standard because I think we need to just accept it and live it without this idea that we might live less than it and it is okay because at least we are trying.  With that thought pattern, we will always live there instead of going all the way with what God says about how we should live.

 Some challenging passages and messages in this little book called Titus.

 Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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