I came home today so excited, bubbling in fact. We had a great talk with our musicians today, initiated by them. They encouraged us so! It’s funny God always has a way to encourage you through people when the enemy finds a way to discourage you through people. Hallelujah. They told us how God has been using the church to help them understand praise and worship, how they are growing and how they look forward to coming to service to have "chhhhurcch". The entire discussion was about 1 1/2 to 2 hours after service. What finally ended the conversation was my starved husband who was fasting the day.

The discussion was of course, much deeper than my recap above but one thing they said reminded me of what Ed Stetzer wrote in his book, Planting Missional Churches (which if you are thinking of planting you just gotta buy, please!! It will save you lots of head and heartache). He writes how people underestimate the worship experience in new churches, "one of the most effective methods a church can use is exposing the unchurched to the authentic worship of God. Music as well can relieve anxiety and create interest for unbelievers who have not attended church for years. When people enter, they have no idea what’s about to take place. Spiritually empowered music can relieve their anxieties and stir their hearts to hear God’s voice."

As I’ve mentioned previously, Wounded Healer has begun a study on praise and worship and everyone except a few have felt it has been a blessing. Our musicians said this is the first time they are really learning about the differences! We know that now that our "theology" on the importance of praise and worship "is out of the bag" some folks may not come back. Hopefully they will find a church to their liking (by the way, pick up Leadership Magazine for their issue on iChurch, consumerism in the Kingdom…it was totally on point!). Our hope is that they grow wherever they go because a non-worshipping church is a "dead church" or as Judson Cornwall said "a lukewarm heart cannot perform boiling hot worship."

Many people think churches that are emerging only do the "candle thing and the monk music" (don’t you hate it when people put others in a box). Brian Mcclaren has stated numerous times that churches who consider themselves emerging express themselves in various ways. As I’ve said before, Wounded Healer is a sancocho (mixture) of many styles. There is no label for us yet but all we know is that we are teaching our people about the importance of praise and worship, because whenyou think about what God has done, how CAN YOU NOT PRAISE AND WORSHIP HIM! Louie Giglio says "Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is and what He has done, expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live." Worship 3-6-5.

Why do people need to know everything upfront? I mean, as a church planter, it seems that many people "think" they can be part of a church plant but when things are not definitive as in not "figured out just yet" people get frustrated. Is it me or isn’t that what happens in the emerging stages of a new church? Why is this discussion important? For me its important because it is easy to just do what you’ve always known and sometimes, that is not always a bad thing (i.e. my home church was a worshipping church and we are working to be that as well…not because they were but because God loves for us to praise Him). Yet, when you want to introduce something new, you just don’t do it 1) because everyone else is doing it or 2) because it sounds like a good idea and you read it in a book or worse 3) because all you know is that you want to be "different".

As spiritual leaders, we have the souls of other people in our charge. As shepherds we HAVE to discern everything. Including when to do introduce something to the congregation. The first stages of developing a church you are still figuring out what you are going to become. Yes, you may have a mission/vision, yes you have ideas about what you think is important foundational items for the church but you still don’t have it down to a science. I venture to say, you’ll never have it down to a science.

Yet, there are people, even people who believe they are called to journey alongside with you, that want to know everything up front…your theology (which for the most part for me has some non-changing beliefs but I have noticed that as I know God more, it changes..isn’t that what is supposed to happen? We think we "know" God and then we find out we didn’t "know Him that much at all"?), some want to start a million ministries and there are only a handful of bi-vocational leaders (as is our case) and feel if you can’t do something for everybody then you are no use to anybody. I come from a pentecostal tradition that had pastors burning the candle at both ends, losing their families to please the church. Is that pleasing to God? We don’t think so. Thus, as we go into our 2nd year of planting a church, we continue to strive to hear God’s voice amongst all the other voices that want to tell us what to do. Some that even say, we are not "people-oriented" enough because of the lack of multiple programs. Hello, we are a small church with a small leadership team at the moment. 

With all ‘that’ going on, STILL God is doing something in our lives and in the lives of those who have given themselves fully to what God wants to do in their lives. Those who have been coming and the people they’ve been bringing have been sharing how they feel God’s presence, how they are challenged to rethink many things they thought was a done deal in their lives and how sadly, they’ve been in church but they’ve been frozen. Hiram as the lead teaching pastor has been preaching every Sunday and I gotta tell you, God has been using him tremendously. Today was Pow-er-ful. I wanted to jump out of my seat but opted to PRAISE…since its a visual/audible commandment.

Definitive while in the beginning stages of a church plant is hard to do. I mean, the basics are the basics…LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, DO JUSTICE and 365 WORSHIP & PRAISE your creator. Beyond that, why can’t we see what God is doing? Now understand that for me that statement is a miracle. I am an organizer. I like to control and know things in advance. But in church planting, you just have to trust God. Yes, you still plan. Yes, you still develop a team and meet around your plans for the year but we always have to remember, God has the last word.

The funny thing is this, and read this really well all of you out there that believe God is calling you to plant, most of the people that think they are called to plant are not. Most of the people that you think will flow will not. Most of the dream team people you think will just blow your socks off in ministry end up being lackluster. So all that to say, you don’t know how you are really going to be, what you are really going to be capable of doing, and how you are going to do what God called you to do until you ar actually doing it…as either the lead or as part of the core team. Other than that, all you have is an opinion and they are a dime a dozen. God doesn’t run his Kingdom on any of our opinions.

I say, can we just commit to authentic worship, learning more about the God we serve and being healthy disciples? The rest, will happen…naturally and it will last long because it will be strong. And you’ll look back and what the Lord has done and say "at first we thought it was taking too long but it was just the time we needed to build strong people of God". Can I get a witness?

I live in one of the best places to live in the U.S.–Pembroke Pines, Florida. Actually, we are 51st on the list of 100. Who would have guessed that! Thank you God for the blessing. We moved here not thinking about any of that, we just wanted to be "city-like" I would die amongst the cows (I’m a city girl for goodness sakes) and we wanted to be near Miami–we are 7 minutes away from the county line. Yet just 15 minutes away, where our church is located, its one of the poorest areas of Broward county (NY has boroughs we have counties). So even though we live (as some say) in one of the best places to "reside", we want to live giving 365 to those who live in areas that never make any list. Read more here.

Yikes. This pastor lost 1,000 for preaching his views on the politizing of the gospel. I don’t know the entire story of course as I wasn’t there to hear it for myself, but based on this article he was stating the facts. This country is far from God. While we can pray for God to be a the core, is far from it and the likelihood that it will ever be a Christian nation is well, unlikely. In addition, not every Bible believing Christian votes republican or should I say, will vote republican again. Putting the evangelical movement in a box, having the Right wing always be the picture associated with us, can be quite frustrating. Why? Because the issues are much more complicated than black and white. Sure, some things are non-negotiables as per the Word of God but others…in the gray zone. There’s alot of gray people, lots of gray. Read more about it here.

Did you know that In 2004 African Americans earned 1,869 doctoral degrees. This number has increased more than 9 percent from a year ago. Black doctorates now stand at the highest level in history. Find out more here.

And that, the year 2001, the number of doctorate degrees awarded to women is projected to surpass the number awarded to men. The number of doctorate degrees awarded to women increased by more than 70 percent between 1975-76 and 1990-91, while the number conferred on men dropped about 10 percent during the same period. These trends are projected to continue through 2001. The growth in the number of doctorate degrees awarded to women reflects the rising enrollment of women in graduate schools. Between 1976 and 1988, their numbers increased from 619,000 to 774,000, an increase of 25 percent. In contrast, the graduate enrollment of men decreased 2 percent, from 714,000 to 698,000. Over the projection period, these patterns are expected to continue. [Source: Occupational Outlook Quarterly]

Some grant information to help my sistahs out.

Interesting report on “girls and careers”

Finally, interesting information on women clergy and their experiences.

So much too learn on this new IMAC. My son knows it better than me. But one thing we’ve both found is how to have fun on it. Here are some pics taken with the built-in Isight camera and Photo Booth software.
Everyone who comes to my home will be a target. Pictures below in order of appearance (Liz as Alien, Pastor Dan Ramos as Herman Munster,my son Samuel as Boy Wonder "I wonder what happened?", Church Planting Sojourner, Marcy Ramos and I after discussing "the Road of Ministry", Even grandma (Hiram’s mom) is a target! No one is safe.

Do you believe that God sends people into your life to be companions on the journey? I do. I think we are the ones who can mess the plan up though. Our humanity, ego, past hurts not healed yet and a host of other things can kick up inside us and mess up a God thing. Henry Blackaby wrote a book called "Anointed to be God’s Servants-How God Blesses Those Who Serve Together" based on the life of Paul and his companions. It’s a pretty good read. He states,  "never underestimate the value of a companion; it could mean your life." I know for myself there are a core group of women who are very important to me. We’ve been friends for a few years now. We are all in different places in our life right now and the relationships have shifted. How do you handle shifts? I know for me, I’ve never been so committed to a group of women IN MY LIFE. But it gets hard at times. My M.O. used to be that when you let me down, when you pissed me off, when you disappointed me or started to be ‘too much work’ I walked away. Boy, has God changed me. Now, I must confess its not that I don’t think about it at times, but I don’t act on it anymore.

Just recently I reconnected with someone I felt was like a sister to me in NYC. We had stopped communicating because I felt that she handled a situation that I viewed as personal loyalty the wrong way. But every day I missed her. I didn’t even know she was so important to me. We had tried to reconnect before I left NY but I wasn’t ready. I still was upset about how she handled the situation. But about 1.5 months ago, she reached out to me via this very blog, I met her in NYC on my last trip and well, I love her. I missed her. And although when I remember the "situation" I still think she handled it wrong BUT this time, I just don’t care. We all make mistakes right. We all can’t be on 100% of the time right?  I am so grateful to God that we reconnected and my hope is that one day, we’ll be in the same state again. If you are reading this I LOVE YOU C.

I am in that place right now. A friend feels I sucketh at being a friend to her. Due to my "cave" experiences with all the roles I am playing, my lack of attention has made her feel like I am a "monster" (her words). I feel like I just need to be given some slack because I’M TRYING TO FINISH MY DISSERTATION! All this has hurt our relationship, but I believe in a God that restores if we all want it to be restored. No, we aren’t at each other’s throat (God forbid) but still change in relationships are hard. Don’t even try to act like they are not. The bottomline for all of us is that we have to put the cards on the table and be honest with ourselves. Sometimes we want to salvage things and sometimes we don’t. The captial one credit card commercials ask "what’s in your wallet?" I ask, "What’s in your closet?" Well, as far as relationships goes. Have you seen a relationship shift? Break off even? Is it time to say, let’s finish this well?

I value friendship more than I ever did. Relationships with anyone build up or tear down. I always want to build up. But I also acknowledge that there are seasons and sometimes we all have to part ways but we can always part …finishing well. I pray you do. I pray this for myself as well.

That’s how long it took to get my dissertation proposal in an almost done format. I have just hired an APA editor because life is just too short to keep looking at the APA manual to figure out what my committee meant! Thus I am spending money I don’t have for something I really want…my doctoral degree. It’s not that I think I am going to be making chedder although statistics do show that those who get advanced degrees in the "long run" make more money, but because I can go on with my life! I want to work on other things and yes, I do think I’ll be going back to school but after this, another Master’s shouldn’t be too bad. My husband is back in school too, I’ll be reading his theology books! Alot has happened since I started this doctoral journey…I moved to Florida, planted a church, got a new job at an institution of higher learning, I teach at night, I teach at church, some friends have mistaken my busy life as disinterest in them and thus our relationship has kinda gone south (too tired to explain) but other friends and family have supported me so much that I cry just thinking about it. It has meant a great deal to me that those who love me could withstand me in my ‘cave’ times so I can focus. When I am in focus mode I AM IN FOCUS mode, in any undertaking be it church, work or school. So thank you to those of you who read this and have supported me in this very long journey to become Dr. Liz Rios. No, I am not finished yet but I’m more closer to it than I ever was and its been quite helpful to have my cheering section.

On another note, I found this interesting site. The founder mentions she started "Sister Mentors" because "In the United States, studies show that 50% of all people who begin a doctorate drop out, primarily at the dissertation writing stage. The percentage is considerably higher for women of color: out of all doctorates awarded in 2000, only 9.9% went to women of color. SisterMentors tries to help solve this problem by bringing women of different nationalities and religions together so that they can help each other including reading each other’s work and giving constructive feedback. The doctoral candidates meet once every three weeks, report on their progress and dialogue about obstacles they are encountering. The program is based on a peer mentoring model. Lewis is director and also does individual and group mentoring." Sounds like a great organization!

On that note, hopefully I will be one of the few women of color who gets her doctorate degree and gets her life back!

I like Will Smith. Don’t exactly know why, just do. Well, he is coming out in a movie this Dec and it looks like it will be one to watch. Check out the trailer here.

In late 1961, Dr. A. W. Tozer wrote the following:

"Worship is the missing jewel in modern evangelicalism. We are organized; we work; we have our agendas. We have almost everything, but there’s one thing that churches, even the gospel churches, do not have: that is the ability to worship. We are not cultivating the art of worship. It’s the one shining gem that is lost to the modern church, and I believe that we ought to search for this until we find it."

Amen. Wounded Healer is now in the beginning of a Praise and Worship Bible Study and it started out powerfully. Our Sunday services have just been powerful. The presence of God has been unmistakeable. As lives are saved and people are recommitting to the Lord, we are rejoicing. My mother-in-law was there today and she’s "old school" you know the kind…pants on the pulpit and beards on the men (to hell you go) but she’s been working on that (cutting her some slack that’s how she came to the Lord way back) but even she said she felt God’s presence as soon as she entered the sanctuary. God present. That’s all that it takes for lives to be changed, for transformation to occur. We can have 100 programs, charismatic leaders, money in the bank but if we have no power we have nothing, nada, zilch. At the study, I mentioned that we are unapologetically pentecostal in our worship. I went through other evangelical faith traditions and how some used other aspects alone i.e. intellect, call to action, physical acts and us pentecostals usually powerful emotion. But we at Wounded Healer want to engage people in holistic worship where all of these aspects are incorporated yet we always without doubt want room for the Holy Spirit to move. Period. We are not an interfaith center and we are not seeker-sensitive. We do want everyone to feel welcome and we do want to be relevant but not by compromising the Word.

All that to say, we acknowledge the benefits of reflection and meditation but we choose to express in praise and worship what we see as the Biblical format for doing such things. We don’t believe in "this is the way I worship" mentality. There is only one way, God’s way.  We believe that when God’s presence is in da house you don’t have to say anything to anyone, they know and God is already at work in every person’s heart.

We’re getting our praise and worship on at WHF. God has been enthroning our praises and we are just enjoying His presence in our midst. It’s bubbling us up inside. We continue as a gathering and we can’t wait to see what God will do next. Woohoo!