A church is like a...

I heard a pastor make this analogy the other day.  He went on to say that a church is to its members like a barn is to a horse. 

It made me think back to those standardized tests we all had to take in school.  Each state calls theirs something different.  My guess is we can thank the state of Iowa for creating the first one. 

Actually, I have never been a big fan of standardized testing, but there was one section of the test I honestly enjoyed. It was the part that tested how well you could connect ideas.  I like ideas.  I like to create them and connect them and even dissect them. The test question would begin with "A is to B" like "C is to..." and you selected the best answer from a list of multiple choices. Remember?

This pastor illustrated his statement by saying that the barn is where the horse is prepared to go out into the field to collect the harvest.

I hadn't heard it put that way before, but it made sense to this horse-loving farm girl. That's when the idea started taking root in my brain and I started extending the analogy. It got me thinking...so now I'm going to gallop with it.

 I came up with a few thoughts that I have learned to be true back on our farm...

~the harvest is not in the barn, it is in the field
~our horses grazed on grass out in the field, but they were treated to grain and hay in their stalls
~when grass was scarce out in the field, we stored hay in the barn to feed them
~our horses spent most of their time out in the pasture and fields, but we brought them into the barn to shelter them when conditions were severe, they were ailing, or we were preparing them for something

~if horses spend too much time in the barn, "you know what" starts to pile up and someone has to muck it out
~horses are the most content when they are doing what they were created to do
~horses need to be excercised
~some horses were afraid to go into the barn; others didn't want to leave
~the barn contained all of the necessary gear to feed, groom, and outfit a horse to serve its purpose on the farm
~horses are social animals
~horses hurry to an open barn door
~the barn and the harvest belongs to the farmer

I think it is safe to say that his analogy holds up! I think I will make like a horse and high tail it to that barn on Sunday.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-13

A New Direction?

To be honest, I'm not sure about this one.  I think God may be asking me to do this, but I can't say that "I know that I know that I know".  So, I'm taking a step and seeing if He confirms or denies it. 

I recently had a  rack card printed with ideas for speaking topics I feel God has equipped me to speak about.  Interestingly enough, they are not areas that I have experienced great success--on the contrary, they are areas where I have failed terribly. 

My first prayer is that if this is of Tonya but not of God, that He will put a stop to the whole thing.  My second is that if it is His idea, that He will open my ears to hear His directions.

I won't go into details here, but if you want to hear more, let me know and I'll be glad to share them with you.