What kind of example

Kind David was called a man after God's heart. King David messed up many times, then he would repent. At one time I made excuses for my behaviour, I'd look at King David and think he messed up and yet God called him a man after his heart. Acts 13:22 "And when he removed him (Saul), he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom he also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jessie, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will."  I used King David as an example to follow except I used him in a way to justify actions that were not pleasing to God.  David suffered consequences for his sins. Some times we fail to look at the consequences of our sins. Where am I going with this? What about the people that follow after us? If they look at our example and follow us will they also suffer consequences for following  in our foot steps. I think of us as the older generation and the things we allow in our lives, if those following us will they suffer consequences for sin? They may look at me and see a good man, a somewhat imperfect man. If they follow some of the things I allowed in my life and made excuses for, will they be hurt or blessed by following my example. I wonder if we think through the consequences for things we allow? I heard some gossip recently, I am not going to call it anything else but gossip because I don't know anything for sure. If this older Saint is allowing things in their life that if we checked with the word of God we would know it's not right. What affect will it have on the younger ones following behind that may be watching what this Saint is doing? Will they also allow things in their life that are contrary to God's best for us? If they see us make a decision to follow God and turn away from things that are contrary, would we not help those following to make better decisions as they follow our example? In a way this sounds legalistic and I don't like to sound legalistic. But do we consider what example we are leaving for those following us?  I remember seeing some foot prints in the sand on one of my road trips and thought what kind of foot print am I leaving behind for others to follow? Sometimes I wish I would have thought more about the consequences King David suffered for his sins.  David repented and so have I. May I leave a good example to follow. God bless LVZ.

About these Races

We probably all have heard about the tower of Babel in Genesis chapter 11.  The people were all of one language and were about to build a tower to reach to the heavens. Perhaps they were ambitious beyond their knowledge, because we know today that tall buildings require as much below ground level as above to be stable. They were going to make brick and slime for mortar according to chapter 11. Perhaps they would have gotten injured in the process, I'm just thinking, not trying to start any new theology. Verse 4 states let us make a name lest we be scattered abroad. God wanted them to be covered over the whole earth. This was not God's plan, it was the peoples and it was contrary to what God wanted, and he put a stop to it by confounding the language.  As I think about this, the way God brings opposites together in a marriage, and how they have to learn to get along. They think differently, and have to compromise and if they are really smart they learn to use each others strengths to their advantage. One thing I have learned is people are the same regardless of race. You have good and bad. You have controllers and others that will sit back and do nothing. We have learned to be prejudice. I have heard it over and over, if he was a white man or if he was a black man. There are patient black men and white men. There are fools on both sides. I have heard statements from relatives, like if he was a black man he would have killed you by now. The black man was speaking of his daughter who was acting the fool at times. There are patient men on in any race. He should not have talked to a white man like that, speaking of an incident between a black man and a white man. I believe that the confusion of the languages had a large part in the races developing, because God used the different languages to scatter people over the face of the earth. If they would have followed his plan and his will, it may not have been necessary. We need to learn to work together as one people according to God's will. We see that Jesus didn't hold to the different races. He healed ten lepers in Samaria, he talked with the Samaritan woman at the well and asked for water. Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans. Jesus didn't hold to the different races as the people of the time did. God works things to his plan and it is his plan that people be scattered over the face of the earth but it is also his plan that we be one people. I believe God just wants people to work and live to his plan. They could have built a tower in Genesis 11 but did God do this to protect them also? The knowledge that we have today is much more advanced that in was in the day of the Tower of Babel. God says they could do anything if they worked together. Perhaps until the knowledge increase to a point where it could be done safely, God stopped it to protect the people as well. We can experience a lot of difficulty in not following God's plan. We started off in this world as one race and we need to act like it, like one people. God bless, LVZ.

My Blog

I like to blog. I state my opinion and most times I try not to offend anyone. Not everyone thinks alike, so sooner or later I am sure I will say something that will offend someone.  Many times I have rewritten to be more careful about how I state things. We do not think alike. That is why there is a Democratic Party, a Republican Party, Libertarian and others. We were raised differently. We grew up in different denominations. Even  here there are two factions of the Republican party promoting their favorite  Senate candidate and they say awful things about each other. There are political action committees that also don't see eye to eye.  On this blog I state my opinion about a lot of things and I really do try and be careful with my wording.  It doesn't mean I am right and if you disagree with me that you are wrong. Many times I am simply stating my opinion on a given subject. I like to write. I didn't use to but I do now. Maybe I'll get better as I practice to be more correct in my grammar and punctuation. What I write makes sense to me when I write it,  but it probably doesn't always come across the same to the reader. It's my blog, I try hard to not be offensive, but I am sure that sometimes I  will be offensive.  It's my blog, my opinion. What else can I say. God bless, LVZ.

One Race

For years I have thought about how any person alive on the face of this planet could trace their ancestry back to Noah. I don't know how all the races as we call them came into being. How much difference is there between a German and a Swede? We all see family resemblance in some fashion. A while back someone saw me and my oldest cousin together and asked if I was his older brother. My oldest cousin is probably 8 or 9 years older than I but hardly any gray hair. I was asked if Barbara's niece looked like Barbara or her Niece's mother. To me this niece looked more like Barbara. I have never met Barbara's deceased Brother so I couldn't judge by him. But the niece did look to me more like Barbara than the mother. I was watching two men in front of me in Church. I don't know if they were brothers or not, I was looking at the back of their heads. One had white hair and the other had dark hair with a little gray filtered in. They were the same height, and weight. As they were standing there with their hands behind their backs they were both fiddling with their fingers in a similar manner and that made me thing they might be brothers more than any thing else. Some time back Pastor made the statement that God only created one race. I have thought about that and I agree. Noah and his wife are the common ancestors of everyone alive. They were one race. Both of them could have traced their ancestry back to Adam and Eve. I cannot answer how all the different races we we call them came into being over the many centuries. I do not know how different Noah and his wife were from each other after the centuries from Adam and Eve.  Some migrated to sunnier climates and others to colder climates. I know I am browner being in the south, at least the parts of me that are open to the sun.  I do believe God created only one race, too bad we don't act like it. We need to act like one race. We need to act like one country regardless of political beliefs too. I believe God has been working on me a long time to bring me to this place.  I do believe God created just one race, the human race. Genesis 1:27 "So God created  mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."
Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all in Christ Jesus."  Everything God creates, recreates itself. What man mass produces is a carbon copy of each other. No two trees or animals, humans or flowers that God created are carbon copies of each other.  Yet we are all in his image, but unique. Even when men clone something, they start with something God created. God even created dirt.    God bless, LVZ.

I can't go back*

Sometimes I wish I could go back and change some of my bad decisions to what I view as a better decision today. I can't go back and change the parenting I had, I have to live with it and go from there. I have made some good decisions, they haven't all been bad. I can't go back and be a better parent than I was. There are some things I don't want to go back to. My first marriage, I would not want to repeat that. Do I follow the good things I have been taught? I could plan my day for tomorrow and set some goals to accomplish day by day until things turn around or until I just feel better about my situation. I hold the key to my life more than I want to admit to. I can do little things to at least change my attitude about where I am at. I feel I am where God wants me to be. Where do I go from here? How do I be a blessing where I am. I want to be an encourager. How do I do that when I am feeling down myself?  I try to blog about God's word and how it relates to my life and be a blessing at the same time. How can I do that when I feel discouraged? I think it is some of the stuff I am coming in touch with looking back to the past. I only need to look at it to try and do better in the future, not to let it drag me down. Psalms 42:5 "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." The Christian life is not perfect, we will not always be on the mountain top. But when I look back, I see God's hand. I see his deliverance over and over again. I have been blest, its God's blessings that have allowed me to make some of the bad decisions I have made. Some of the sweetest times I have had with God have been in the valleys. I some times didn't see that until I was climbing the mountain on the other side of the valley. Everything is not perfect since I have tried living a Christian life, but I do know I wouldn't want to go back to Pre christian days. Some of my theology has been tainted with the past, but I have been going in the right direction. God has never left me even in the valley, he has helped me thru situation after situation all thru my life. For that I am thankful, if the past is any indicator, I will look back and see God's hand, perhaps changing me in some area of my life. I have so much to be thankful for. How many people can retire at my age? I am blest. It was something I wanted to do from way back. My Grandfather retired from farming at age 60 and I thought I too wanted to do that. I don't know a lot about my Grandfather. He wasn't perfect, I probably know very little but I do know he believed in God and at least as much as he was able, tried to live a Christian life. My father before me also followed somewhat imperfectly as a Christian. But that is just it, Christians are not perfect, they begin the journey from where they are at. They tried anyway, imperfections and all, they still tried. If its relationship, then does it matter what others see or do not see? It's my relationship with God, just him and me. God bless, LVZ.

Freedom Isn't Free

We have all heard the saying freedom isn't free, and it is true. It has cost many lives over the years. Today I heard these words, "Let us nourish and handle with care the freedom for which they fought." It made me think of the Vietnam War years when many of our service men were disrespected for following the orders of their country. I know there are many that disagree with war, any war. I think those words are true, "Let us nourish and handle with care the freedom for which they fought." Many service men gave their lives over the more than 200 years of this country. There are at least two sides to any conflict, let us just honor those men for laying down their lives for us. If we agree or not, they still did it for our freedom. We used to be a proud country, people willing to work hard could make good in this country when they could not in other less free societies. Now it seems half the population is looking for a handout. People laid down their lives so everyone regardless of how brown their skin tone was could vote. I believe it is still true that many come to this country legally or illegally can make good here more than any place on earth. If that is still true it is because of the many lives that gave the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. They are worthy of our respect regardless of our political views. I love the commercial seen in the recent past where a young boy asks to have his picture taken with a service man. A Vietnam veteran is watching this take place and looks at his Vietnam Tattoo and the next moment the service man is leaving and the little boy says to the Vietnam Vet, can I get your picture too. That man says you are a vet also. "Lets nourish and handle with care the freedom for which they fought." Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." God bless, LVZ.

Political ads

These politicians must think we are really stupid with these political ads. A negative ad about Thad Cochran says he's been in office for 5 decades. Then it tells us he voted for a pay raise for himself several times. He's been in office for decades, I hope he voted for a pay raise, everyone else I know makes more today then they did 40 years ago. Do they think we can not think for ourselves. Or the Chris McDaniel negative ad, as a lawyer he received all this money for defending his clients, I hope so, that is what a lawyer does and if he is good he may make a lot of money. Are we that stupid that they think we will vote against Thad because he voted for pay raises in 50 years? Or that we won't vote for Chris because he successfully represented his clients? I think some of the political action committees are the worst. They took pictures of Thad's wife in a nursing home. I think it backfired and now the other side is using that as one of the tea party backers has been arrested for taking the picture. Tell me what you believe and stand for, leave the negative ads about the other guy in the garbage can because that is where they belong. God bless, LVZ.

Imperfect Christians

My blogs of late have not been ones I want to share. I want to be an encourager. So when I am dealing with discouragement it may not be something I want to share. Christians are not perfect, they are not always on the mountaintop. Sometimes they go thru valleys. Sometimes they face discouragement. I have had some imperfect ancestors in the past that claimed to be Christians. My Father and both Grandfathers were considered Christians. We end up knowing too much about their struggles and perhaps question them. That's just it, God takes us from where he finds us. There are no perfect Christians. Some we would judge harshly, knowing what we know. Could I have done better in my own life if I'd had better parenting? I'd like to think so but how many people do you know that had good parents and still did not follow the example set before them. How many have had bad parenting and turned out to be a blessing to others? It ends up each generation  has to find God for themselves. I cannot live off my ancestors relationship. Nor can I carry my children with me.  I need my own, I have my own circumstances to deal with. People have been imperfect since the first sin in the Garden of Eden and it has gone downhill from there. I would not want to discuss every failure in my life, but I would be willing to discuss God bringing me thru. God has helped me thru many many dark days. Am I better today than 20 years ago? Yes, I was going thru or at least trying to recover from my first divorce 20 years ago. 10 years ago, I was going thru my 4th divorce. Do I want to go back, No way. Has my theology always been correct? No, I think not. I think the legalistic, perfectionist beliefs of the past have clouded my thinking. My ancestors, be they Biblical or post Bible days have not been perfect. I am glad I got beyond my legalistic thinking, much of my discouragement in early days was because I couldn't live it to my own legalistic beliefs. Christians are not perfect, but he that endures to the end shall be saved.  I cannot live to my grandfathers standards or to my fathers, I have to have relationship with God on my own. Work out my own salvation, my own relationship. It may not be as good as the next persons, it may be better than my fathers. But its mine, its suppose to be personal. God bless, LVZ.

communication

Miss-communication is so easy to do. For example, the other day I was to pick up my wife from her way back from Oxford at the Love's Truck stop. She called me and said I am almost there. She was about 5 minutes away. I was about 6 minutes away. Those words almost there,  could mean 5 minutes or 15 minutes or even more depending on how far you are traveling. It's a word that is not exact. I drove into the Love's Truck stop past the front of the building thinking if she was there she'd see me and parked where I could watch the cars coming in. When she arrived just ahead of me, she went in to use the bathroom. I must have pulled in while she was in the bathroom. Where I parked there was a tour  bus between me and the building and you couldn't see me from the building. I waited and she waited just a few steps apart with a tour bus between us. After some time I called her, I thought you were almost here. She said I am here where are you. We were both a little upset. I guess if she'd said 5 minutes instead of almost there, maybe I would have looked inside the building, but I didn't. Simple clear communication saves some feelings. I thought about Matthew 5:33-37. One of those verses says let your conversation be Yea, yea; Nay, nay. Simple clear communication. I learned in my family of origin to use what a marriage counselor called halfway words. They always gave me an out. They were not precise, it was a strategy to protect myself as I was growing up in a dysfunctional home. When I became an adult, I didn't depart from it, I still used that strategy. One incident from my working years, when I hid a phone on the job that was in my work area. A lot of people would use that phone because it was in an out of sight area and had an outside line. I didn't like that, and I hid the phone. Someone reported to our lead that the phone was missing. The lead came to me and asked me if I knew what happened to the phone. I didn't want to say I hid it, I beat around the bush but would not answer directly. Finally my lead said just give me a yes or no answer, if you do that I know you won't lie to me. Yes I know where the phone is. OK and he walked away, I guess he had a pretty good idea what was happening and didn't say anymore. Simple communication is best, the person hearing us needs to understand the same as us. God bless, LVZ.

leaders

A while back I blogged about Elders and Deacons. I have been thinking about that some more. Some times you hear stories ( I guess a less nice way of putting it is plain old gossip) about different leaders in Churches. I like what I see in the leadership where I go. Reading in I Timothy chapter 3, I get the feelings leaders need to be examples to those following. What if the leadership does not give a good example to follow? What if Deacons have the morals of an alley cat? Sometimes when it is found out, they may be asked to step down. But what about the younger generation that is looking to the older generation for examples to follow? If they see Deacons fooling around with women other than their wife, don't they give the perception that that behaviour is acceptable? I heard a preacher one time say what one generation allows in their life is the starting point for the next generation. We see a generation coming up that doesn't see the need to get married anymore. One recent television program was talking with a couple and about the difficult time they had in conceiving a child. As the program goes on, it cost them a lot of money to have this child and then it was revealed they were not yet married. They spent all this money to conceive a child yet had not married. We see this again and again. I know of a couple that have been together 20 years, but the man is still married to his wife. The have been separated for the 20 plus years but never divorced. Yet he is living with another woman for 20 years. The property he possesses would go to the wife he has been separated from for the last 20 years instead of the one who has been supporting him for the same 20 years. It just doesn't seem right. I have heard when a past president had the morals of an alley cat and he was popular with the liberal culture in this country, they want you to leave him alone, its his private life. When it is a conservative Judge, they want to crucify him and get him out of office. When corporations find this activity in the life of their CEO, they fire him because it shows poor judgement. Why would it not show poor judgement in the life of a sitting president? The popular president lied under oath, but when a sports figure lies under oath, he is disqualified. If we don't show consistent thinking and responses, what can we expect from the generations following? Anythings goes if it is what you want? I think that is what we are seeing and I believe we are headed for trouble. We need a moral compass. I know all have sinned and fallen short, but the Bible tells us to have leaders that have personal convictions and are examples to those following. I believe more than ever before we need good examples in our leaders both in the church and in our government. I am trying to say what I have to say without developing a legalistic attitude. We need good examples and we need to show mercy, and develop a forgiving spirit. All this needs to fit together without becoming legalistic. Perhaps there still needs to be consequences for bad behavior. Did I really say that, I even prayed for crop failure. God sees the heart of people, he is not deceived as we are. It stands to reason we need his direction. Hope this makes sense to anyone reading it, it did to me as I was writing it.  God Bless, LVZ.

Tupelo Cleanup 2

After yesterdays blog, I was hearing on the news that there are no rentals available in Tupelo. One couple from the Luxury apartments found an apartment in New Albany. One of the residents of the projects that I know is back in her apartment. I drove through the projects last night and down Jackson Street. Many buildings are still dark but it seems the power is restored. There are still telephone and comcast cables hanging on the ground.There are cut up trees everywhere along the sides of the street in the areas that were hit. There are still so many homes, apartments that are still torn up. They were talking on the news that they need to get FEMA trailers for people to live in to get them out of the shelters. Proverbs 22:2 "The rich and the poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all." I guess this Tornado shows that it hits both the rich and the poor. From large homes, and luxury apartments to the projects, many are too damaged to live in. I thought about my last blog and how I wrote the rich had more resources to deal with this situation and to take care of the poor first. When there is nothing available to rent even the resources of the rich are not enough, when there is just nothing available. I do know of at least two empty houses in my neighborhood and if I could just get into my new house, I possibly could do something with this house to make it available. I am just not there yet, but I wish I was. Many houses that have roof damage have tarps over them and I believe people are making do until they can be repaired. It is going to take a long time to clean up from this storm. I do believe it is by the grace of God that no more lives were lost.  After Smithville was hit 3 years and a day from this storm, many are more ready to seek shelter when they are warned. I heard stories of people that were warned again and again before Smithville that did not seek shelter and now are gone. It was heeding the warnings given this time that saved many lives. I saw much more damage going north east of Tupelo in the country yesterday. Tupelo's tornado was an EF3, Lousiville's was an EF4. If I remember correctly Smithville's of three years ago was an EF5. The devastation of a Tornado is just unbelievable, what it can do in just a matter of a few minutes. God bless, LVZ.

Tupelo cleanup

It has been a week since the Tornado. There was a lot of damage, business facilities and personal homes a total loss. Electric wires all over the place, trees and brush everywhere in the hardest hit areas. There is an area off green street that is project apartments for low income. It was in the direct path of the tornado. Just down the hill from these projects are what has been described as luxury apartments. Both sets of apartment buildings were in the direct path of the tornado and heavily damaged. There has been a lot of complaining that the recovery in the projects is not happening fast enough and people feel it is because they are poor. The recovery in the luxury apartments is not happening any faster, but the people in the luxury apartments probably have more resources to pick up and move elsewhere. They have been given 30 days to move out of the damaged luxury apartments. The poor people in the projects do not have the resources to move. Most if not all are subsidized by the government in one way or another. I have seen a lot of activity in the area of the projects but the luxury apartments are behind a gate. You can see the luxury apartments from the freeway and the Projects up the hill behind them now that the trees have all been topped by the tornado. The city of Tupelo seems to be putting a lot of effort into the cleanup and repair of the projects. However the Luxury apartments will probably be done through insurance avenues. So are the poor really being neglected in this case? From what I see, I don't think so but that seems to be what you hear. The real difference is the richer have more resources to move to a different place, the poor do not have that option. To repair and replace all these buildings cannot be done in a week or two. How do you take care of the poor, shelters relatives, churches are probably the most common.  Some people have been camping out at our church and probably other undamaged churches in the Tupelo area.  Once again I don't see this as discrimination against the poor. I don't know what the correct answer is to help but possibly to work the project area first simply because the people living there have limited resources to do anything else.  I don't see this as being discrimination to help the helpless first. Even in a hospital situation, don't they treat the heart attack patient before the broken arm? The heart attack patient is helpless, the broken arm patient may be in pain but not in immediate danger. I see this in a similar light, the project people are helpless, the luxury apartment dwellers are hurting.  That's my take on it, right or wrong.  God bless, LVZ.

1-800-IM-STUCK

1-800-IM-STUCK is the phone number for a local tow truck. Recently I was talking with someone about their church and I thought about the church I grew up in. I was stuck at that time. Loyalty to ones Church is a good and a bad thing. What we really need is to be stuck on God. I know with hind sight that some 30 years ago God was trying to move me but I was stuck. It wasn't a good kind of loyalty, I was stuck. We have a responsibility to watch what we eat spiritually. There have been places like Jim Jones and his church that have been unhealthy. Most people will not go beyond the leaders that they follow. I repeat, we have a responsibility for what we take in spiritually. I think that is what God really taught me with that move almost 30 years ago. I need to be stuck on him, not on a particular church or denomination. The Bible also tells us to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, but even more as the end time draws near. My version from  memory. So this is not saying we do not need to be loyal to a church some wheres, we do. When the leadership is not a good example to follow, it may be time to move on. I like churches that teach us to be responsible and check out what they are saying for ourselves. Does it line up with the word of God. Loyalty can be a good thing. Being stuck where we stay with an unhealthy church is not. I am loyal to my church and I actually think it is the best Church in my city. But I prayed about where to go and this was God's answer to me. There are a lot of good places and what is right for me may not be for everyone else. Still I would recommend it to anyone. I believe they would be spiritually feed with good things. Many are stuck for various reasons, this is where my family has gone for years and years. One persons grandmother told him not to leave this particular church, but I think if she had been spiritually correct, she would have told him to stay with God.  We need to be stuck with God. Psalms 28:8 "The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed." God Bless, LVZ.

the design

As I build this house I sometimes get overwhelmed by the stuff that still needs to be done. It could be done so much faster if I just paid a bunch of people. We or I am much more complex than this house with our automatic breathing. Our blood vessels that flow through our veins. Credit needs to be given to Bill Wolfson as I was just listening to a sermon of his. I guess that got my thinking started. Many blogs get triggered by something someone said or something I read that someone else wrote. I had a guy stop by the other day to look at the house and he was really impressed by it. He said a lot of thought went into the design of this house. Actually I saw something similar on the Internet as I typed in dogtrot one day.  I was thinking about the Dogtrot houses that were built around here around 1850 or so. But there was a plan drawn up. there was a carpenter that nailed 2 by 4's and other boards together and it went up. There was plumbing laid out prior to the slab foundation being poured. There was electrical wiring and more plumbing installed, and gas lines installed before the insulation and sheet rock went up. But when you think about it a lot of thought does go into building a house. Certain things have to be done before other things. We would have had a difficult time putting plumbing and wiring in the walls after the sheet rock was installed. We would have had a very difficult time putting plumbing and water lines under the concrete floors after the floor was poured with concrete. So yes a lot of thought went into the design of this house as well as any house or building that is built. So back to me and how complex a being I am. I have blood flowing through my veins that takes oxygen and food nutrients to all parts of my body. Waste is removed with very little thought on my part. Much is automatic, I don't think about breathing, I just breathe. Some would discount the big bang theory and say we just happened. When I think about how complex I am I want to believe someone gave a lot of thought to the design. I can't imagine what a house would look like if me and others did not give a lot of thought to the design ahead of time. I am a spiritual being as well. Emotional being, I have feelings. I have a brain that allows me to make choices in my life. I don't have to be like I was 30 years ago. I can make changes, and I have. I process information not only to make changes in my life but even as I was building the house I made choices such as slab foundation or conventional foundation. I chose a metal roof over composition. I chose color of paint. I was created with a brain that allows me to make choices. Surely something as complex as me or another human, even a horse or a cow had a designer, Think of all the complexity and some would have us believe it just happened.  I believe, I chose to believe there was a designer. That it just happened  seems too much to believe. I wish my house would just happen. God bless, LVZ.

Qualifications*

I have attended many churches in my lifetime. I have learned that Christians are not perfect. I was thinking today about the deacons and elders at the church I attend. They do something different here than any place I have been before. Elders and Deacons are elected for a 3-year term. At the end of that term, they are in an inactive status probably with varying times of inactive. As I have thought over this in the past few months, I think it is a very good idea. I Timothy, 3rd chapter gives the qualifications for Deacons and Bishops / spiritual leaders in a church. Different churches operate some of these offices and not others. Some people do not handle authority very well. I have been in churches where a deacon or other officer of the church did not handle his responsibilities very well. I have seen where they may have gotten discouraged after serving a long time. Most places treat this as a life long calling, But I like what this church does with the three-year term. If you get someone in there that does not handle the office well, his term is up in three years. He never has to be voted in again. The other thing I like is it gives servers a break. After a three year term, you have a chance to just be a normal member again and perhaps recuperate. I have been so used to these offices being for life that I wasn't sure of what to think about it at first. I have heard many stories of less than perfect leaders, and this method of using terms for these Church officers makes a lot of sense as I think about it. I have heard of Pastors that also consider their callings for life. Some have also gotten discouraged and took a back seat for a while to recuperate. Serving hurting people can take its toll on those trying to help. I have also heard stories of leaders that got old and perhaps not able to carry on their duties but do not step down. I think it is a healthy way to operate. We still need to consider the biblical qualifications and carefully choose these leaders. As members, we also need to regularly pray for our leaders in the church. We should also pray for our political leaders regularly. God bless, LVZ.