Why "Kingdom First Aid"?

Every day I hear of new ways God's Kingdom is "wounded"...
Churches unable to work through conflict. Church members leaving a church fellowship in anger, never to return again. I've heard stories from people who for one reason or another have had such a bad experience at a church, they have said they will never go back. It's too painful for them or they couldn't find what they were really looking for which was a fellowship of believers fully surrendered to the Lord and focused solely on Him.

There have been other wounds to the Kingdom, wounds to the ministers. Pastors attacked for one reason or another and forced out of their pastorates. Ministers making decisions based not on what they hear God asking them to do but instead on what a group of congregation members are wanting them to do, succumbing to their fear of loosing their jobs. I have personally experienced the stress of personal attacks by church members disgruntled by my choices, attempting to undermine my leadership. I have also seen first hand the pressures placed on pastors and the negative impact it has on ministers and their families. Some of these wounds are so deep these wounded ministers will leave vocational ministry all together.

Finally, each of us as Christians experience times of hardship, painful moments rendering us "wounded" and unable to serve in ministry the way God desires us to. It may be an actual physical affliction such as an illness or hardship within our family. Or it could be a sin that is in our life that we can't seem to get control over or become free of. Wounds to individuals can be inflicted by others or unfortunately, we can wound ourselves.

What is the result?
In each case the result is the same. The Kingdom is wounded and God's people are distracted from our purpose; to commune with God and share the good news of Christ with those who have not heard it yet. What better way to prevent those in the Kingdom from accomplishing this purpose then to fracture the fellowship and create disunity among our ranks. Each time we allow another wounding or we succumb to it, the Kingdom is weakened a little more and we are farther away from our goal.

The Purpose of "Kingdom First Aid "
My purpose in writing this blog is to attempt to assist in the healing process for Christians, the churches they attend and the ministers selflessly serving who have experienced the pains of such wounding, to help give "first aid" where needed. Sometimes this "first aid" may be in the form of encouragement, but other times it will be through the discussions of various topics applicable to the "battles" taking place within God's Kingdom. Each entry will be topical and I encourage feedback and dialogue. I am far from an expert in this area and would love to hear your thoughts and more about your own experiences.

My goal is to help strengthen God's Kingdom so that we may get back to accomplishing what God placed us here on earth to do. At the very least it is to network those who have been wounded and remind the wounded that they are not alone in their struggles. There are others out there, just like you. All of us have been wounded at one time or another. Finally, it is to not only triage current wounds, but to be preventive in nature in order to lessen future wounding.

This is a grand purpose and massive goal, but one I feel called to by God. My prayer is that God would show me how best to accomplish this and for the Kingdom to be strengthened through this ministry.