Tag: church

How to Gain a Voice with Your Pastor

By Asher Witmer Ecclesiology
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Thanks so much for your feedback after my last post!

Many of my readers feel held back by their church. They want to be fruitful for Christ. They want more of God and His blessing, but because of traditions or structure, they feel restricted by their church. Not empowered.

In my last post, I shared how I used to think my church held me back from being a better Christian, but now I know it’s my focus. I said there are times we bump into irreconcilable differences and suggested we can’t ever avoid those. But what we can avoid is a wrong focus. In this post I’m going to share how to gain a voice with your pastor and become an agent of positive change in your church.

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What Happens in Church When Christians Hide Their Failures

By Asher Witmer Ecclesiology

Our churches have become too perfect for handling messy people of the world.

The worst part of it is that at the core, we have become too perfect for ourselves: we no longer share with others about our struggles because people don’t know what to do with them.

This years’ fifth most-read post was No Broken People Allowed, and I think you’ll understand as you read why this resonated with well over three thousand viewers. Check it out, leave a comment and share it with a friend. Let’s become people who care for each other in our brokenness.

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7 Powerful Principles for Taking Your Pastor Under

By Asher Witmer Ecclesiology
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October is pastor’s appreciation month, the time of year everyone lays down their agitated opinions of leadership and pretend to actually like the ones that lead them.

But what if you don’t like your pastor? What if you’d rather take him under and replace him with someone more in line with your ideas of church?

I’ve been blessed with great pastors in my life and as I have gotten to know their hearts I’ve observed several things that really get them down. For those of you not interested in pretending anymore that you actually appreciate your pastor and would rather watch him perish, I have neatly organized my observations about pastor depreciation into seven powerful principles for doing just that.

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Nonconformity: A Dangerous Alternative

By Asher Witmer Popular Posts, Spiritual Formation

Until our relationships accurately represent Christ, our doctrines will always be held in suspect.

Not everyone is rebellious, wanting to do their own thing. Many know the Bible and the God of the Bible and how He relates in love and grace, and when that isn’t being lived out in a community that focuses so much on trying to be like Christ, we feel something is missing.

But what if we’re chasing relationships at the expense of faithfulness? What if in our desperation for Christ, we completely miss Him?

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What Does “Assimilating to Culture” Mean?

By Asher Witmer Spiritual Formation
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What are we talking about when we say we shouldn’t be conformed to the world? What do we mean when we talk about being transformed, or “holy.”

Can I tell when you are being assimilated to an earthly culture? Can I tell when you are assimilating to a heavenly culture (or mindset)? Is holiness something we dissect from looking at each other? Is worldliness something that can be prevented by keeping the external in order?

Does what happens on the outside actually reveal what’s on the inside? Is the heart the only thing that matters?

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How to Know Your Calling

By Asher Witmer Spiritual Formation
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We all long for a sense of meaning. Until you and I get a picture for how we individually fit into God’s plan of reconciliation, we will always settle for lesser pleasures that give just enough fulfillment for us to sense deep meaning.

Knowing a lot about God and what He created us to do doesn’t motivate us to actually do it anymore than knowing how to churn butter motivates us to churn it ourselves. Knowing our calling isn’t so much about learning facts as it is discovering God’s work in our lives.

Until we discover His work in our lives, the pleasures that following Him requires us to give up will always have a greater pull on our hearts then Jesus Christ Himself.

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Radical Love: how you can tell a true Christian from a fake one

By Asher Witmer Spiritual Formation
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If God did create, then His plan for my life is the plan that is most fulfilling. Because I am born with a fallen nature, I constantly trying doing life outside of His plan. I need saved. When I am saved, I become a part of a family that far transcends my immediate friends and connections. Experiencing more of God requires my continual engagement with His people.

Creation and salvation are absolutely fundamental for understanding life as God designed. Church, the body of Christ, is a critical part of going deeper with Him. But understanding creation, experiencing salvation, and participating with church are not enough to live a life that truly matters.

True meaning comes from radical love.

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What I Believe About Church

By Asher Witmer Ecclesiology
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What is the point of church? With as many frustrations and variations in the Christian church today, is what we know as church really what God intended? Did He anticipate there being so many different denominations, different approaches to Scripture, and different ways of living out faith? Or this all some grand mistake? Is the church as God designed lost?

The Christian faith is a romance story. God refers to it as such throughout all of Scripture. Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, relentlessly pursues His beautiful bride, the church.

Do you see the church as a place you experience the agape love and redemption of God, or is church to you a place where you experience the brokenness of man? Does engaging the church of Christ feel like a natural overflow of your commitment to Him, or does it feel like an obligation of the Christian faith?

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The New Conservative

By Asher Witmer Spiritual Formation
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We like to throw around the labels conservative and liberal as if they’re two different camps of people. But what does it actually mean to be conservative or liberal? Can I accurately assume what someone stands for just because they’re labeled conservative?

Labels are often vague and worthless. What does it actually mean to be CEO of a company? What does a Coaching Consultant do? Pastor how does one know a good pastor from a bad pastor or a good Dad from a bad Dad?

I’m not sure we can ever rid this world of labels—that’s really not the point. Too often, however, we stop at them, as if being conservative completely describes who we are and what we stand for.

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What to Focus on When You Feel Held Back by Your Church

By Asher Witmer Popular Posts, Spiritual Formation
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What if it is possible to move through frustrations with church and live vibrantly for Christ? What if there was a way to align our focus so that no matter what church situation we are dealing with, we can respond in loving, Christ-exalting, God-honoring ways? What if we could be free of the bondage of feeling held back? Free to live as Christ calls us to while not needlessly fracturing relationships?

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How the Emergent Movement Impacts Us

By Asher Witmer Church Issues
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Has the emergent church movement impacted Anabaptist young people? Does it matter if it has?

In recent years, I have noticed an increasing amount of people who struggle with faith, God, confusion in their walk with Him, or disillusionment with the church. Is this the result of the emergent church?

While I don’t like naming specific people in criticism, I was recently asked about my take on the emergent church movement and how I thought it is impacting Anabaptist youth and decided to write about my concerns with Rob Bell and Brian McLaren’s teaching.

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