June Update
/A message from Pastor Bill............
Brace yourself! This may not be the type of update that you might have expected. Hold on for a couple of paragraphs and you will get to the cause of my warning! It’s a little long, but worth it!
A little over three months ago at my home church, First Baptist Church of Boerne, Texas, I was officially licensed to preach The Gospel of Jesus Christ and officially licensed so I would be able to perform a very special wedding early next month. After eight years of intently seeking to pursue and know God in a much bigger way, I really didn’t see the need for the official “status”. After all, I was a business man for almost thirty years and that was my former identity for much of my life.
In these eight years I have been able to see the Bible come alive in different cultures, races, educational and social backgrounds. God has become so much bigger to me than I could ever imagine! But recently and mostly since the official licensing I have had a different experience. God promises us an overwhelming victory, yet for these few months I have been feeling the overwhelming minus the victory.
Ok, here it comes. After officially being a licensed minister for just over three months, I can say sometimes it “kinda stinks” There, for all of you Pastors out there who have been a Pastor for much longer than me, I said what many of you think. Now, before you push the “DELETE” button, please let me explain. There is no doubt that Paul and all of the disciples in The Bible felt the same way at times.
What does a normal day for me as a Pastor look like? You have got to be kidding? Very little about it is normal.
Much of my day is spent in the inner city of San Antonio and it is a dark place to hang out. Daily I am subjected to exclusion, on the receiving end of racism and hustling of the “white boy”. I am trying to become more and more humble but I do sometimes have to remind the hustlers that I came from the business world and their skills are those of an amateur. Many locals question my motives for helping or even being in “The Hood”. However, I have formed many really great relationships and have learned much more about The Bible by watching it actually come to life! God is getting the glory in some unlikely places!
At Moment of Truth Ministries, we are working very hard on a CHRIST-centered teaching that consists of GRACE that can not be earned, accompanied with taking ACTION which is required to follow Jesus. We spend a lot of time teaching accountability and responsibility (man likes to think he created these but they are actually great gifts from God). We teach these great principles through the operations of Kingdom Works Community Store, our ministry homes, our job ministry and day to day outreach. These teachings are under attack daily by the enemy and he has many strongholds!
So I have been asking God for a few months what I individually or Moment of Truth Ministries as a team needs to do to get back on track, to see the fruit, to experience the peace and joy that seems to be slipping away. Surely somewhere we have jumped the tracks and this overwhelming feeling is the end result. I clearly remember how God brought me out of a life of going through the motions of following HIM, yet I was finding it harder and harder to get motivated. Do we need to speed up? Do we need to slow down? Some of our financial partners have pulled away (including a couple of churches). Some have remained faithful from the very beginning eight years ago, yet we find our income at just under 50% of our operational costs compared to 2015 year to date. This update is not about money although we are being forced to consider cutbacks of what we believe God has called us to do, simply because of economics. We would love for you to financially partner with us but whether we are rich or poor, we will still serve and trust our Lord Jesus!
The biggest sounding alarm for me recently has been the fact that three different people of different social backgrounds have told me in the past couple months that they “are not good enough to go to church yet”.
WHAT? Needless to say, since my becoming an official Pastor, my congregation has now grown from one heroin addict to four, make that five screwed up people counting me!
So what’s your point Pastor Bill?
The only answers that I have sensed from the Holy Spirit to my questions above are in the form of questions. What makes me think these questions are The Holy Spirit speaking to me? Well, I wouldn’t ask these questions of myself. Here they are.....
What makes you think that because the attacks are getting stronger and things don’t look the way you (Bill) think they should look, that I, (GOD) don’t approve?
I am used to getting this reminder. It is not about me, what I think or how I feel. The second question threw me for a loop though.
What is your exit strategy?
Coming from the business world, I understood an exit strategy. But, why after eight years of investing in relationships, building some infrastructure and with so much to do, would we be thinking about leaving? None the less, a couple weeks ago we had a meeting with some of the ministry leaders in the inner city and posed the question “What if we were to leave the inner city today or leave this area of focus, what would carry on in Christ’s name? To my amazement, more of the locals are already stepping up to take their role in what God is calling us to do there. It is not about organizations or buildings!
First and foremost, you must to have an exit strategy of security for yourself. (SALVATION)
Secondly, take as many to Heaven with us as we can (Love them and tell them the TRUTH and then LET GOD DO THE REST!)
Finally, equip as many as possible who will stay behind to do the work. (Make Disciples)
I feel that motivation returning along with some PEACE and JOY!! Thank you Lord!!
So for now, WHAT IS YOUR EXIT STRATEGY?
Stay tuned for detailed updates of what God is doing in and through
Moment of Truth Ministries
1730 E. Commerce Street 7 Daisy Lane
San Antonio, Texas 78203 Boerne, Texas 78006
210-212-6007
www.momentoftruthministries.org
P.S. Please be praying especially for our special city next week as Bill will be joining the San Antonio Police chief and a few community leaders on the eastside this Wednesday to meet privately with leaders of some local gangs. This meeting is scheduled in an attempt to curb the deadly violence that is rapidly increasing in our inner city and to firmly seek solutions. Well, we know the solution. (JESUS). Please pray that hearts are softened enough to meet HIM.