"The charge to Peter was Feed my sheep; not Try experiments on my rats."

This gave me pause as I thought about my ministry as a pastor-teacher to the wonderful flock at Calvary Church. Keith Higginbotham taught me to ask, "What are you doing with these people?" You see, I realize I have the solemn and sacred responsibility to feed and not experiment. The church is not my personal playground in which to invent games just to keep the rest of the kids entertained and interested so they won't leave for a bigger and better one. No, the church is the bride of Christ and I have the awesome responsibility of co-nurturing her through the Word of God, not through tricks, techniques and strategies.

And what about the bride herself? What is Calvary's (and every other church out there as well) responsibility? Well, I can tell you that its not to be like a patient in a comma and be force fed through a tube. Nor are you to take every bite indiscriminately. This means you must get up (literally get out of bed and go to corporate worship) and eat. Enjoy the meal served. Eat to your fill and then sit back and let it digest. I believe we digest God's Word best when we act like a cow and let it keep coming up as we look at the Scriptures for ourselves. The Bible calls this meditation. And to be afraid to ask the question, "Did what Scott (or put any pastor's name in there) taught jive with other Scriptures?"

If you just swallow everything you hear you will become constipated spiritually (pretty painful)! And people in this state can't do much of anything--they are immobilized. I would encourage you to follow the example of the believers in Berea who "received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11).

Grace & Peace,

Scott