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Karl Graff
- Male
- Fremont NE
- United States
- Blog Posts (3)
- Discussions (13)
- Events
- Groups and Simple Churches (1)
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The good news- Jesus is Lord!
Profile Information
- Your location for member search: (For example: Austin, TX, Texas)
- Fremont NE
How did I get here?
I was a pastor just over a year ago, but left due to a gnawing conviction that what I was doing was not at all what God intended for His church.
It took me about 3 1/2 years of prayer, thought, action, frustration, repentance, sorrow, many fleeces, and finally a joyous expectation as my family and I left the pastorate to go and be Christians.
It has been a wonderfully difficult ride- we have seen God provide again and again, and have had a lot of healing in our family. We do not currently attend a church, and can't actually ever see ourselves going back to traditional church. We have not been able to find truly local fellowship and so we meet as a family weekly, especially Sunday mornings, (big brunch!), but any time, especially meal times turn into times of prayer/discussion/sharing the scripture, or??? Mainly we remember the One who saved us.
I thought that leaving the pastorate would be the big crazy, but it seems that God is pushing me into a very scary place- no net to be found, and I am struggling now to follow Him there.
I have a great family, I love them - I am so proud of them all, how they continue to seek God in their own ways and times. My wife is a queen among women, no words exist to state her value and the deep faithfulness she has towards God and me, and for our kids.
We have a very bright 15 yr old boy with Asperger's Syndrome, a 12 yr old girl with ADD who is an excellent anime artist, a 10 yr old girl who is full of life and talents, and a 14 mo. old baby boy who is either going to keep us young, or kill us!
I hope to find local fellowship, and to be able to build relationships here in the town we live in- I work about 35 miles away- in the near future.
Please share your story- especially if you've been in "the ministry" before. Hopefully we can help each other along as we follow Jesus.
It took me about 3 1/2 years of prayer, thought, action, frustration, repentance, sorrow, many fleeces, and finally a joyous expectation as my family and I left the pastorate to go and be Christians.
It has been a wonderfully difficult ride- we have seen God provide again and again, and have had a lot of healing in our family. We do not currently attend a church, and can't actually ever see ourselves going back to traditional church. We have not been able to find truly local fellowship and so we meet as a family weekly, especially Sunday mornings, (big brunch!), but any time, especially meal times turn into times of prayer/discussion/sharing the scripture, or??? Mainly we remember the One who saved us.
I thought that leaving the pastorate would be the big crazy, but it seems that God is pushing me into a very scary place- no net to be found, and I am struggling now to follow Him there.
I have a great family, I love them - I am so proud of them all, how they continue to seek God in their own ways and times. My wife is a queen among women, no words exist to state her value and the deep faithfulness she has towards God and me, and for our kids.
We have a very bright 15 yr old boy with Asperger's Syndrome, a 12 yr old girl with ADD who is an excellent anime artist, a 10 yr old girl who is full of life and talents, and a 14 mo. old baby boy who is either going to keep us young, or kill us!
I hope to find local fellowship, and to be able to build relationships here in the town we live in- I work about 35 miles away- in the near future.
Please share your story- especially if you've been in "the ministry" before. Hopefully we can help each other along as we follow Jesus.
Karl Graff's Blog
Christmas , Xmas, ????
I have worked retail for years, and I even served as a pastor for 7 years.
With the exception of cheesy nativity scenes and cards with a verse in them, Jesus is just about gone from this holiday.
Most of that stuff is made in countries where His followers are persecuted anyway. What hypocrisy that we remember Him with cheap trinkets that come from lands where His own people are made to suffer for His sake. The money we spend helps keep those unjust, not only to Christians,… Continue
With the exception of cheesy nativity scenes and cards with a verse in them, Jesus is just about gone from this holiday.
Most of that stuff is made in countries where His followers are persecuted anyway. What hypocrisy that we remember Him with cheap trinkets that come from lands where His own people are made to suffer for His sake. The money we spend helps keep those unjust, not only to Christians,… Continue
Posted on December 9, 2008 at 12:00pm — 1 Comment
Random thoughts on my path...
As far as formal theological teaching goes, seminary is ok as long as you know why you're going and what you're going to get.
No one is totally objective when they teach, and schools tend to have their own group think- not that this is "bad", it's just what it is.
The bad thing about seminary is that you are not taught how to think, what to think yes, not how to think. In fact, I'd say that this is a failure in most learning situations, info is passed on, but the… Continue
No one is totally objective when they teach, and schools tend to have their own group think- not that this is "bad", it's just what it is.
The bad thing about seminary is that you are not taught how to think, what to think yes, not how to think. In fact, I'd say that this is a failure in most learning situations, info is passed on, but the… Continue
Posted on November 21, 2008 at 8:38am — 6 Comments
17 or so months later...
.
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008
Well, it's been almost 18 months now since I left the pastorate and a lot has changed- frankly I don't really kow where to begin.
We are not attending any church now, and don't have any plans to, at least not on a regular basis. We are definitely on the outside of christian society right now. Our church going neighbors don't talk to us much, and until a couple of weeks ago I was working in a town about 40 miles away.
Our family as a… Continue
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008
Well, it's been almost 18 months now since I left the pastorate and a lot has changed- frankly I don't really kow where to begin.
We are not attending any church now, and don't have any plans to, at least not on a regular basis. We are definitely on the outside of christian society right now. Our church going neighbors don't talk to us much, and until a couple of weeks ago I was working in a town about 40 miles away.
Our family as a… Continue
Posted on November 11, 2008 at 1:10pm
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Comment Wall (8 comments)
I enjoy reading your posts. thanks for not drowning me @ the lake!!! (ha,ha) We should chat some time.
Jim Niles
We've been pretty good, had some interesting developments (interesting - good). I definately think we have gotten much closer through all of this and I just pray that it continues.
How have you and yours been?
Is the millennium doctrine now obsolete and unimportant? Please see www.bibleone.net/TheMillennium.htm. Thank you.
You touched my heart - thank you!
Shalom, Dena
Did you recently move to Fremont from Ocheyedan, Iowa?
God bless,
JP
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