Broad or Narrow?

We are so guilty of only allowing ourselves to be around people who believe like we do. How will be ever help people come to know Christ as Savior? We won’t until we come out of isolation.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

When I decided to blog again, I was faced with some questions I had to answer. Was I going to change the focus of the blog? Was I going to target a specific audience, or was I going to paint with a broad brush? After having over 1,600 followers on the old blog, was I going to try to rebuild and regain a large audience like that or be content if the audience was smaller? I decided to go broad and narrow.

My writing style tends to lean on the encouraging side with the occasional rant that challenges status quo Christianity. If you want someone who will crusade on preferential issues or controversial doctrinal stances, you don’t have to look far to see them. In my broad-narrow approach, you will find me crusading one thing – the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some may ask why I don’t spend time hard-hitting some…

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Church Direction: Will of Man or Will of God?

The will of man can destroy something quickly. God’s way is always best, but the selfishness of man is quick to resist it, especially in the church where God’s will should be the only thing happening.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

The direction of the church is a sensitive topic. If 100 people attend, you have at least 100 different opinions about how the church should function. Should it have pews or chairs? Stained glass? Contemporary, traditional, or blended music? Sunday School or small groups? Then comes the bigger schism – should the direction be set by committees, the congregation at large, or the pastor? I can already sense the steam rising with some of you who are reading this. While God should be setting the direction for His people to follow, this is not always the case.

This post is sparked by a church that recently exercised its will over God’s. The church has a history of heartless tradition funded by old money. After years of a pastor who pacified the people, it voted to be ushered into a new era. With lip service, they vocalized their desire for change…

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Does God Instantly Smite and Rebuke?

Some of us base God’s nature on a single verse of Scripture or people’s opinions. We must have a balanced biblical view of God. The book of Job helps us with that more than we realize.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

Many of us were raised with an extremely judgmental view of God. We were told all the stories of God smiting this person dead and rebuking another with fierce anger. While God did do those things in some cases, they always followed warnings from God. God didn’t just wake up one morning and say, “Who am I going to smite today?”

I know some of you are already thinking I’m a compromiser and don’t believe in the full counsel of God. How quick we are to base an opinion on an isolated statement rather than receiving the full intention of a statement! I believe in God’s justice and judgment. He does punish sin. Now that this is clarified (at least for some😀)…

The book of Job really does give a good thought process relating to God and life’s difficulties. Job had it worse than most of us ever could. He…

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Rebuilding Strength After a Setback

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

Photo from Men’s Journal

If you and I are honest, each of us has had at least one setback in life. It may have been a financial setback, a flight delay, or a sickness. Setbacks don’t have to be very detrimental, but they often are. How do we rebuild strength after a setback? The biblical prescription might shock you.

When we experience a setback, most of us don’t want to stay where we are. We want to make a comeback. In fact, the quicker the comeback, the better. We get so discouraged in our setback, but many of us don’t want to do the grunt work or follow the “doctor’s orders”. When you read the biblical prescription, you will most likely want to do something different.

Isaiah 40:31 gives the prescription. Many remember the part in the verse about soaring like eagles. Who doesn’t want that? Some remember even more…

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Ministry Update Newsletter – Sign Up

I have sent out nearly 50 of the first newsletter and am receiving some great feedback. Please go sign up for the newsletter so I can send you the initial one before I send out the one for March. Read how in this post.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

I am now updating people about upcoming things in ministry through a monthly newsletter. If you would like to receive it, you can go to my “contact” page in the menu on the blog or email me at matthewwinters1980@gmail.com. I look forward to sharing something new God is doing in my life.

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IN Everything Give Thanks

You don’t have to be thankful FOR everything, but you can be thankful IN everything. Read how a deer and a driver’s side door that won’t open reminded me of this biblical lesson.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

The last almost 24 hours have been action-packed. Last night, my mom called with a medical concern and ended up in the ER. We got her back home at 11:00 pm, and I was in the bed at 11:50. I was awakened by a 1 year old at 3:45 am, and I could not sleep after that. I got out of bed at 5:50 am to meet someone for breakfast at 6:30. As I was driving, I got in the way of a buck who was trying to cross the street, and the picture above shows you some of the damage he did. There was a mixup with the person I was to meet for breakfast, so I ate alone (which was probably best since I was a little shaken). I will leave work to spend time at the church getting ready for Sunday, so I will probably crash tonight…

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Passion, Love, and the Holy Spirit

Three necessary ingredients to the Christian life and ministry.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

Each of us is passionate about something. For some, it’s sports. Others are passionate about yard work, hunting, or fill in the blank with one of your favorite things.

Today, I had the privilege of attending the Creative Evangelism Summit at Southern Wesleyan University. It included three generations of the Clyde Dupin family. Clyde is the patriarch. His two sons (both are pastors) and three grandsons (two pastors and one who is not in vocational ministry) were all on stage. My friends, Pastors Mark Wilson and Heath Mullikin led the discussion. They shared several things about this often dismissed subject of evangelism. Many pastors and churches have emphasized discipleship to the point that they fail to remember that disciples share the gospel and led unbelievers to Christ. There were three key elements that kept popping up to me in this event: passion, love, and the Holy Spirit.

Passion is contagious…

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Why Friends Come and Go

This post will help bring some perspective about why some friends can’t stay in your life. It may not be what you think. Go read this and follow my new blog site.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

Friendships are much like a revolving door. I have had a ton of friends come in and out of my life. Think about it. It’s going to happen when you serve 11 churches in 24 years. (Gotta love when the nature of your ministry is short-term!😂) I made some pretty close friends that I wish I could have held onto moving into the next season. Most of those now are acquaintances at best, or we no longer communicate. Why is that?

Location – Out of those 11 churches, 4 of those are in the area in which I live now. So 7 of those are in other states or other parts of this state. Unless you have plenty of money to travel, most of these friendships will decrease in intensity. That’s just how life goes. Other people close in proximity are more convenient and can better provide a depth of…

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Coming Back to Life

If you have lost your enthusiasm about life, you need to read this.

Honest Thoughts from a Pastor

Tears easing out the corners of my eyes, I sat there and listened to a man who had given his entire life to ministry speak passionately about his love for the Lord and serving others. Something awakened within me that had been buried for quite some time. I had allowed life’s circumstances to suppress the fire that once burned within. For the last several years, I have been in survival mode because striving to get back up might cause disappointment. Have you been there?

Such is the story of my life. The year 2012 was a year of struggle and victory. It was the most passionate year of ministry I ever had. I went into 2013 with that same passion, but the circumstances that lurked around the corner were some for which I was not adequately prepared.

The demise of my family had been long in the making. It was…

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