Hello Folks,
It is amazing that we are already in March. It seems that time really goes by qucikly and before you know it you are in a different season. Here in East Tennessee we have had very little winter, no snow to speak of, and the temperatures have been very moderate most of the time. This is one of the reason I love living here as I prefer warm weather over cold any time of the year.
This past Sunday we had a marvelous time of worship here at Greeneville First Church of God. The music was great with about 9 different instrumentalists, a choir and wonderful congregational singing. Dale Gruver sang the song, End of the Beginning, and it was blessed by God to move the hearts of the congregation. After being gone the previous Sunday I realize much more than normal how blessed I am to get to worship here. I know that God does not have to have a choir or instrumentalists to speak to our hearts. Yet last Sunday the worship seemed to me to be rather stilted but it was not a music issue. It was all the time that was used to just talk. Why must we take 10 minutes to receive requests and spend 2 minutes praying? Why interprupt the worship with announcements and wasted time waiting for someone to get ready? Maybe this is more about my own personal tastes but I see numerous congregations that are slowly dying using those methods and wonder if there is some correlation?
One of the great dangers that we pastors have is the difficulty to sit in the pew and allow other people to make the decisions on how things are being done. It is easy to become rather critical because I think I know how to do it and that if everyone would listen to me it would be fixed. I pray that I my heart will be open to God doing what He would do using the instruments that are at hand. He does not need me to accomplish His will so I am going to work very hard at jsut being in His will. I pray that you will do the same.

Pastor H. G. Rudd