out with the old, in with the new

Image by GeekMom Heather via Flickr

This post represents to last post here at Returned Sheep. But don’t worry, I’m not totally closing up shop. My blogging is about to take a new direction.

This new blogging venture can be found at onenewbranch.com. The purpose of ‘one new branch’ is to help cultivate the call to pastoral ministry in the lives of those who are serving and those who love the church.

So head on over to the new site and have a look around. We are in the early stages so be patient as more content will be arriving soon. Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed in your favorite reader!

p.s. – Please tell your friends about the blog on facebook, twitter, and on your own blog. I would really appreciate the promotion!

Two Things

I’ve got two reasons for this post.

1) I’m testing out Windows Live Writer for the first time. I’ve been looking for a desktop based blog editor and have decided to try this one out for a bit. Other suggestions are welcome.

2) I just came across a new blog called Devotional Christian. If you are looking for devotional suggestions, check it out. (You might also want to enter their giveaway for 22 books that make up their “Ultimate Reading List for Devotional Christians”.)

w.bloggar

If you can read this then I've managed to get w.bloggar to work.

A place to dump my unused thoughts

I suppose I created this thing to share what's on my mind with anyone willing to read it. I've been reading enough blogs over the last few months to know that its really hit or miss when it comes to various entries. Some things people write are down right pointless. Other things tend to be quite thought provoking. God only knows what my entries will amount to.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the same way with my preaching. For a while I never imagined that I would ever be standing behind a pulpit one day. Now for the past 2 1/2 years I've had the opportunity to deliver a message almost every Sunday (yes, even pastors go on vacation once in a while.) There have been countless Saturday nights when I've been scared to death about what might leave my mouth the next morning that would be passed off as a sermon. The strange thing is that no matter how I feel before a sermon, most of the time I feel pretty good after a sermon. I'm usually exhausted by mid-Sunday afternoon, but I'm often at peace at what I've said. That's because I've learned to trust the Holy Spirit. I can never tell how the Spirit will communicate with another person's spirit in cooperation with the message I've given. Its weird that the points I intend people to walk away with may not come up again, but something I don't remember emphasizing does.

Preaching (and pastoring) is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Right now I can't imagine doing anything else. Some times I can't believe that I'm getting paid to do what I love to do anyway, that is to read and study God's Word daily and to share the Scriptures with others who need to hear it too.

If anyone out there in blog land ends up reading this, I suppose I would want to encourage you to let your pastor know what spoke to you from his latest sermon (that's assuming you have one; maybe a topic for another entry.) Not that he (I) needs his ego rubbed, but its always nice to know that what you've spent the week preparing for others to chew on was actually digestible.