My sweetheart and I were having a conversation on the way back from New Orleans. We were sharing our frustrations on the ministry. We were sharing our discouragement on past ministries. We began to talk about how some people in the ministry seemingly have an easier road than others. One said, "I don't understand why we have had a tough road. There are others who are such goofballs and they have great ministries and they stay at one place for years and years. They can barely preach, they are spiritual midgets but yet they thrive. They don't have the heartaches that we have had. Why don't they get what they deserve and we get a break?"
On reflection of that comment, I have felt this way many times. But I must add that we don't know what those seemingly "successful" ministers have sacrificed and the secret hurts and heartaches that they have had. On other note, aren't we all goofballs? Also, I don't think we really want what we deserve. What do we deserve? We don't deserve Jesus Christ or his salvation. We deserve hell. The gifts and talents that we have are not earned, they are given through God's grace.
Upon further reflection, both Crystal and I were born into Christian families. Did we deserve that? That comment was made in an all you can eat buffet restaurant. Do we deserve that? There are people in foreign countries who would love to eat about half of what I ate there. We had just come from a wonderful Christian worship service where the Bible was read and preached and where singing was encouraged to Jesus Christ. Do we deserve that? People in other countries would love to have the freedoms that we have but don't have them. I can worship without fear of being put in prison or tortured.
Yes, some things in this life don't make any sense. However, we are blessed beyond compare!!! We need to be thankful for the grace, the unmerited favor, that we have received. Maybe some have receive more than others, but thanks be to God that he gives grace so freely!
Jerry Bridges said, "Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. Your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."
(Psa 73:21-25 NIV) When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
(Rom 7:24 NIV) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?(Rom 7:25 NIV) Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!
It is good to be ministering with the Monterey Church of Christ. Please click on this web site to learn more about the church: http://www.montereychurchofchrist.org/
We are thankful for the following things:
We are thankful for the community pool here in Moneterey. It provides hours of enjoyment for our children.
Zach and Zane had swimming lessons last week. Now they can swim much better. This helps to alleviate some of our anxiety.
I am thankful that I am feeling better. I think I got a summer cold last week. Really, we have had better health here than in NC. For this we are thankful!
Crystal had a good Longaberger Show (http://www.longaberger.com) on Thursday night. The thing that encouraged me was that she had 6 women that came (excluding herself and her mother).
Otto and Dottie (Crystal's parents) came on Tuesday evening and stayed through this morning. They were such a help and joy! They took care of the kids while we were away.
On Friday, Crystal and I went to New Orleans to celebrate our anniversary. We checked into a hotel and spent the weekend there. On Saturday, Richard and Ann Baker (my sister and her husband) came and we went and saw a few things in New Orleans. On Sunday we worshipped at the Slidell Christian Church. Todd Petty gave a good sermon on Romans 7. The people were very friendly. We also met Wimbai Mutonono of the Gulf South Leadership Institute (http://www.gulfsouthleadership.org/).
Otto Conley preached on Sunday morning. From what I hear he did a good job. On Sunday night they had a money tree and reception for the Cocker Family (they lost their trailer in a storm; now they are upgrading to a double wide). Also Russell Crum spoke Sunday night.
Upcoming things to pray about:
School is out for the summer. Our Wednesday night program will be done until the Fall. Pray that with the extra time we can get out to see more families here in Monterey.
I am considering substitute teaching in the Fall on a limited basis. Pray that this be helpful addition to our ministry here.
Zach and Zane have left to spend some time with Mawmaw and Pawpaw in North Carolina. On July 7th, there will be a switch. Alex and Andy will be there and Zach and Zane will come home. It is a blessing to be able to spend some individual time with our children. It is a blessing to have good grandparents.
For Celebrate Recovery. Pray that those who need the program will get connected to us. We have been working with many who need this program. We are praying that they will come and get involved. Many are close. (Kevin and Jenn Wadlington have been out for the past several weeks. Jenn is entered her third trimester with the baby and there are some complications. Keep them in your prayers)
This Saturday is the USA Independence Day. Pray for our nation! (Prov 14:34 NIV) Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
I love the thought provoking questions that Lynn Anderson gives in this book. These questions caused me to think:
How we function in "a system" is shaped, first of all, by how we function in a "family system." To begin examining these "roots of integrity," take a pencil and pad, and write down your reflections on the following questions:
1) How would you relate your sense of call into ministry to your family?
2) What is your place in the constellation of your family of origin: oldest, youngest, middle? Were you a brother with younger sisters? Younger brothers? Older sisters? Older brothers? How did the unique spot in the family that you occupied help shape you in learning to relate to the same sex and to the opposite sex?
3) How would you draw your own family diagram? Try to go back at least two generations (to your grandparents). Talk to people in the family to gather as many details and stories as possible. What do you really know about these people? Where has there been conflict? Where have symptoms occurred? Become as curious about your family as you can. Ask lots of questions. Make them your own personal research project.
4) If you were to make it a goal to establish a personal, one to one relationship with every living member of your family, where would you start? Why? Which ones would be the most difficult to engage?
5) If either of your parents is deceased, how would you go about re-engaging that relationship? Where could you go to find the information about the dead parent that you would need if you were to understand him or her more fully as a person?
6) As you think about your family, where do you find yourself most tempted to place blame?
7) If you attempted to engage your family in an effort to differentiate, what issues would arise? How would you think about going among them and being different that you usually are? How would they likely react? How would you think about responding to the reaction differently? In which relationship would change be most difficult to sustain?
On February 26, 1829, a boy named Loeb Strauss was born in a cottage in the Bavarian village of Buttenheim.
As a young man, Loeb changed his name to Levi and headed for California, where he opened a textile company in San Francisco. One day a gold miner walked into Levi's shop and complained to the young merchant.
"Look at these," said the miner, pointing to the pants. "I bought them 6 months ago, and now they're full of holes!"
When Levi asked why, the miner explained, "We work on our knees most of the time."
"What you need is some really strong material," replied Levi. "We have some canvas. It's used to make tents. If we make your trousers out of canvas, I'm sure they won't get holes."
A tailor was called, and the miner had a set of trousers- and the rest is history. Soon miners across the West were wearing Levi Strauss's jeans. (Taken from Stephen Van Dulken in the Glad Tidings of Good Things from the Jacksonville Church of Christ)
Christians should have the same problem that plagued that miner- pants with worn out knees- for we ought to do most of our kingdom work on our knees.
Lynn Anderson wrote They Smell Like Sheep and it talks about the role of the shepherd in the church. He has now written They Smell Like Sheep Volume 2. I am working my way through this second volume.
In this book he talks about different stages of faith. #1 is "experienced" faith or the infancy of faith. #2 is "affiliative" faith or the childhood of faith. #3 is "searching" faith or the adolescent stage of faith. #4 is "owned" faith or the mature/ adult kind of faith. Many people get stuck in stage #3 of faith development.
In an earlier entry (see below) we talked about how some are uncomfortable with someone going through stage #3 of faith. They think they are obnoxious and they ask so many questions. They doubt and are not compliant like they are supposed to be. Some may think that they are closet heretics. Bill Anderson talks about the options when a searching faith is squelched. Let's look at those this week:
First option: Some leave and go down the street to a place that welcomes questions. These days many rigid churches are hemorrhaging in exactly this way. Rigid families too! This is sad for both churches and families. Relationships are strained. Shared memories get lost.
Second option: This gets even more seriously negative. Some with searching questions stay where they are... but become angry. You likely know people who can't muster the courage to be openly honest in their search- they fear rejection from their circle of Christian friends or from their church- but at the same time, they cannot ignore their troubling doubts and questions. So they stay put, maybe even staying in some "leadership" role. Inside, however, they seethe with unresolved anger- to the spiritual peril of themselves and everyone around them. I think I know some very religious people, even some church leaders, who have remainded angry for decades, leaving a trail of ruptured relationships behind them. This is obviously not a happy option.
Third option: This is more deadly still, yet may be the path most taken. These people also have serious questions about their faith. They, too, lack the courage to risk relationships or reputation or rejection by honestly pursuing their questions. they don't want to clash with friends, family, or tradition. Even so, they are well aware that suppressed anger is toxic. They know that stuffed feelings can show up in some terrible destructive ways: clinical depression, sexual acting out, or substance abuse, to name a few. So they stay put- but learn to unplug the force of their questions.
They refine the art of tuning out their own consciences. They simply capitulate. They "go along to get along"; they stop growing, go spiritually numb, and play out the mundane church game. This option is, of course, the most dangerous of all. They no longer seek an ever deepening "relationship" with God.
The person who chooses this third option can eventually dismantle the very capacity to believe. Although these persons conform- and maybe even stay in some "leadership role"- something about them will no longer ring true and they will inadvertently become a drag on the faith and character development of people around them. They will not really have the interest of the flock at heart. Having lost character at the center of their souls, they will become vulnerable to all sorts of sin and deception, as well as to power plays and manipulation. And the more intimately their "sheep" get to know them, the less they respect them and trust them.
My friends, let's pray that we have a honest, searching faith. May we not be satisfied with easy and childish answers. May we really know in an intimate way the Savior of our souls. Also, pray that the leaders of the church are not people who are angry or don't really care about their faith.
Pray about these words of Jesus in (John 5:44 NIV) How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
For my birthday I wanted to see something historical. Not far from where we live is Vicksburg, Mississippi. The city of Vicksburg endured one of the worst and biggest battles of the Civil War.
They have a Military Park there and I wanted to go and see it (http://www.nps.gov/vick). We went on Saturday and spent most of the day there. We had a picnic lunch. The two most memorable things about our visit were: 1) The Confederate Soldier who played his instruments and shot off his gun outside the visitor's center. 2) The Illinios Memorial. There are forty-seven steps in the long stairway, one for each day of the Siege of Vicksburg. Modeled after the Roman Pantheon, the monument has sixty unique bronze tablets lining its interior walls, naming all 36,325 Illinois soldiers who participated in the Vicksburg Campaign. The monument stands sixty-two feet in height, and originally cost $194,423.92 (in 1906), paid by the state of Illinois.
Another thing we noticed is that there are so many monuments there. The park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers. We went most of the way through the 16 mile tour road. The boys liked the cannons (144 are in the park).
We also toured the restored gunboat USS Cairo (sunk on December 1862 on the Yazoo River, recovered successfully in 1964). The Cairo, also known as the "Hardluck Ironclad," was the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. It was raised in 1964.
We ran out of time to visit the graves there. The park has 18,244 graves (12,954 unidentified). The Vicksburg campaign of the Civil War, claimed 10,142 Union and 9,091 Confederate killed and wounded.
History buffs like myself look back on this as nostalgic. However, think about all of those people who suffered, bled ,died and got sick because of this battle. We might think back at those soldiers as being heroic and that is probably true. But in reality it is very sad. As another soldier put it, "War is hell."
One Sunday morning I was having some fun with a doctor friend of mine. I said to him, "In heaven we will not longer need doctors." He said back, "Yes, and in heaven we will not longer need preachers." Think about this, in heaven we will not longer need soldiers. In that land there will be no more war! No more need of learning the tactics of how to fight in a war or blow up the enemy.
Lynn Anderson wrote They Smell Like Sheep and it talks about the role of the shepherd in the church. He has now written They Smell Like Sheep Volume 2. I am working my way through this second volume.
In this book he talks about different stages of faith. #1 is "experienced" faith or the infancy of faith. #2 is "affiliative" faith or the childhood of faith. #3 is "searching" faith or the adolescent stage of faith. #4 is "owned" faith or the mature/ adult kind of faith. Many people get stuck in stage #3 of faith development.
Let's take a closer look at stage #3. Most of us recall how disturbing adolescence can feel. I still remember, at age fourteen or so, feeling afraid to say anything at times, because I did not know which voice would come out of my mouth. Girls wonder, too, when their shape will stop changing- and that makes them feel uncomfortably self conscious.
Of course, the real change during adolescence is internal. We are trying to discover who we are. We are differentiating ourselves from our parents and becoming free standing individuals. Consequently, adolescents often seem to challenge almost everything their parents stand for. I remember that sweet, compliant daughter who adored Mom and Dad on Monday, then came out of her room Tuesday all sullen and negative, and did not know any adult with brains- much less Mom and Dad.
This is a frightening time both for adolescent and for the parents. Wise parents, however, come to see adolescence, with all of its pain and turbulence, as an exciting time- that wondrous season when a child become an adult.
Adolescent faith can occur at any biological age, of course, not necessarily only during junior high. Searching faith becomes unwilling merely to comply. At this stage the God hungry searcher begins to challenge the presuppositions of many, sometimes quite abrasively.
Men and women whose faith may have stalled at level 2 often feel threatened by these searching questioners. Maybe a searcher pipes up in a Sunday school class with an off the wall, troubling question. "I know that is what you teach, preacher. And yes, I know this is what we believe at this church. But is it really true?" People in stage 2 (childhood) faith will jerk their necks around, anxiously searching for the questioner, and demand, "Don't you love the church? Are you trying to cause trouble here?" (Chiropractors love these questions; they bring them lots of neck adjustments on Mondays.)
It can also happen at home around the family table: "Mom, Dad- sure, this is what our family believes about the Bible; but my friend Susie and her family read the same Bible every day, and yet they have very different ideas of what it means." In a rigidly affiliative family the parents might respond, "Don't you respect your parents? Why, your grandfather was an elder in our church. Your aunt Rosie was our missionary in Peru!"
Of course, in even the most rigid of homes or churches, people may not actually say these words- but the environment and body language speak just as clearly. Nevertheless, searching faith, disturbing as it sometimes can feel, is an indispensable stage of faith development.
In a few weeks we will look at the negative options when the "searching" faith is squelched.
This past Sunday afternoon at 3 Hannah Campbell was baptized in Black River Lake by Billy Wallace. What a blessing! (Luke 15:10 NIV) In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
I know that there are several who need to make this life changing choice. I pray that they will make it soon. We never know what tomorrow might hold but we do know Who holds tomorrow. (2 Cor 6:2 NIV) For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.
I like this quote from Max Lucado about this issue: "Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers. Would you feel comfortable marrying someone who wanted to keep the marriage a secret? Neither does God. It’s one thing to say in the privacy of your own heart that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. But it’s quite another to walk out of the shadows and stand before family, friends, and colleagues to state publicly that Christ is your forgiver and master. This step raises the ante. Jesus commanded all his followers to prove it, to make the pledge, by public demonstration in baptism."
We received an invitation to Guylan Britt's graduation here at the Monterey High School (http://mhs.cpsbla.us). On the side it had a small sentence inviting us to the Baccalaureate Service. It was on Sunday morning at 8 am. The only baccalaureat services I had ever attended were ones at Roanoke Bible College, my alma mater (now called Mid-Atlantic Christian University http://www.roanokebible.edu). A baccalaureate service at a public high school? This interested me!
Crystal and the boys were getting ready for Church so I went to this service. I must say that I am glad that I did. Most of the upcoming graduates were there and several of them participated in some way. Brother Kevin Sims from the Eva Church of God gave the message. It was on the importance of the Bible. All of the graduates had a Bible and looked up the verses. Family and friends were there and several from the community. What a display of faith in Jesus Christ at a public school!
I suppose Monterey gets the reputation of being out of the mainstream. If this is out of the mainstream, as a Christian, I am all for being out of the mainstream. Some may even say that we are backward. Well, I would rather be backward and have Jesus than "with it" and be godless.
I did some research on Baccalaureate services from Wikipedia (Wikipedia can be untrustworthy on some things but it sounds right on this one). Here is what Wikipedia said: "Because of Supreme Court rulings regarding the separation of church and state, baccalaureate services are not officially school sponsored events at public schools. However, many have student initiated services, fully permitted under law."
From what I could tell, this was student lead and community supported. I didn't have this at my high school. Looking back, I think it would have been a good idea. I know that some of my classmates needed to hear many of the things that were said at the baccalaureate service on Sunday. They never heard them because we didn't have a baccalaureate service. Would it have made a difference? Maybe, but I and they will never know!
Over the past two weeks I have been blessed to attend some prayer gatherings. The leadership at Monterey Church of Christ gathered to have a business meeting. There was discussion of some church business but the first half of the meeting was focused on intercessory prayer. We talked about people who needed prayer and then all present prayed for those people and the church. It was fantastic.
The other prayer gathering was for a young man in the community who is suffering from cancer. Right now he is in Shreveport, Louisiana receiving treatment. The community came together and prayed for him and his family. He was anointed with oil and prayed for as he left to receive treatment. All of the ministers present prayed. Different faith groups got together and prayed. It was a great witness of unity and belief in the words of James 5:14 "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord." Pray for Bryan Pecanty and his family during this time!
On church leaders and prayer this is what Rick Atchley says, "The community of faith will always need more people who can pray, but can't lead. But we really don't need any more that lead but don't pray. "
As Christians, we need to seek God through personal devotions (Feeding on God's Word daily and prayer). As church leaders, it is essential for us to seek God daily. If we don't, we need to stop being church leaders. Does that seem too strong to you? After 15 years of ministry, I know that I am right on this issue. Those who lead because of and through a relationship with God are true Shepherds of the flock. Those who do not are more like hired hands or worse butchers of the flock!
There will always be people who are uncomfortable praying in public but who have a wonderful realationship with the Lord. There will always be people who can pray wonderful prayers in public but in reality don't spend much time in meditation or intimacy with God. Then there are those who can pray wonderful prayers in public and in private. These people do it not because they are great orators but because they glow with the radiance of God's glory. They have spent time with God and Jesus Christ and they are changed from the inside out! Over time people know it and feel it. These people know God and people are blessed to know them. May their tribe increase!
Pray that the leaders at the Monterey Church are people who don't just pray prayers in public but also pray prayers in private and who reflect God's glory through it!
