Yesterday on my way to church I started thinking about my life and where God has brought me to. About 30 years ago as I was just really beginning my walk in church, I was what I would call, “a good pharisee.”
I had been introduced to Jesus and accepted the proof I was able to see, that Jesus is God, that God came among us in the form of Jesus, died on the cross, and took the place I deserved, He paid the penalty for my sin. I accepted all that. However, I somehow got that God was angry at us and that He was waiting for us to mess up so He could give us a good whack and get us back in line. It may have had something to do with the churches I became part of but most of all I believe it was just part of the process I was allowed to walk through.
Through the years I began to meet a lot of people who wanted nothing to do with the church and with God because they had been hurt in churches where these same kinds of things were actually taught, that God was really angry. At some point I knew God had called me to preach so I was really hard on myself to do all the right things and I was equally good at requiring the same things of the people around me. I have apologized to one of my best friends (you know who you are) for being an absolute jerk.
Through a series of circumstances, a lot of Bible study, and truly getting to know this Awesome God we serve, I came to see God as who He really is. He loves us, as a matter of fact He passionately pursues us and longs to be in communion with us. He is not mad at us. No doubt He gets disappointed as we do as parents but we are His children and He will never disown a child of His.
This is one of the HUGE reasons a place called Out of the Box was born. God gave me a mission to reach the people who are far from God, the people who believe or have been convinced that God is angry at them, the people that are done with church if they ever started and those who vowed to never darken the church doors because of what they have heard and seen.
When I went to Bible study yesterday morning God drove this point home. Every man in the room was honest with me “a preacher” they shared where they are and how they are not totally bought into this church thing. Some are living in ways they know need to change and they feel safe sharing that with “the preacher.” At the end of the study I told these guys how excited I was with their sin, their unbelief, their skepticism. Yes, “the preacher” just said he was excited about all those things.
Don’t write me letters and tell me “the preacher” is going to Hell. I’m not the least bit worried about that and I’m not worried that my brothers who had the guts to be honest are in danger of Hell either. But you can write me letters if you are where we all have been. If you are tired, weary. ready to hang it all up, write me a letter. I would love to hear from you.
Out of the Box is a church for the rest of us, those of us who don’t fit into the mold of doing church right. We sing some fun songs, we laugh, we have a lot of fun, but most of all we are in love with the God who loves us and He loved us so much that He gave it all to make us understand just how much He loves us. We are not your ordinary church. As the pastor, I don’t do politically correct, I am not “church broke,” I won’t bow when someone tells me I shouldn’t preach on a certain topic. Matter of fact if you tell me I can’t, I will.
I love my church because Jesus loves me. Do me a favor, tell all your friends about Out of the Box, dare them to come and give it a try, they don’t need to believe what we believe, they don’t need to dress a certain way, there is no need to cover up the tattoo’s and hide the piercings. Just get them there and Holy Spirit will do the rest. And by the way, if Holy Spirit doesn’t make the change your attempt to do His job is useless.
I am a recovering Pharisee. I am so much better than I once was but I will never be good enough to earn God’s love and Praise God, I don’t need to be.
I love you Out of the Box, I love you Carroll County, and I promise if you come, you will be welcome and there will be no pressure on you to do anything you don’t feel called to do. We just believe if we do our part God will do His part and He will reveal Himself to you.
Pastor Ronnie – “the preacher”