The shortness of life

 Most of my childhood was spent on dairy farms. There wasn't a lot of time to play with my friends although my brothers and sisters enjoyed play time. We moved from the farm the year I entered high school (1963) and moved into town. Suddenly, there was a lot more free time. One of the things I remembered doing during the summer was meeting with friends at an empty lot near our home and playing baseball on a makeshift field. That field now houses a retirement home, but in those days it was wide open. Our games ended at dusk because there were no lights, and that was the time we were all expected to be home for supper anyway. I thought about those days when I recently read where someone reminded us that we will not realize when we have played our last game with our friends. As I read that, I realized that I do not remember a single person who played in those games nor do I remember the last time we played ball on that field.

It's just one more reminder that life is short. I've circled the sun 76 times now, and that is still a short time compared to eternity. When I was in my 20s I would have considered someone my age now as ancient. Now I prefer the word seasoned! I've lived a full life and been able to do far more than a kid growing up on dairy farms in Indiana ever dreamed of doing, but I also realize I could have done so much more. I regret some of the things I've done, but I regret even more the things I didn't do when I had the opportunity. Nothing can be done about either one, but we can also start where we are and seek new opportunities to do what needs to be done.

So many people reach a certain age and think that their lives are over. I could encourage you to Google what famous people did in their advanced years. It's an eye-opener! As long as we have breath in our bodies we have the opportunity to made a difference in the world and in the lives of people around us. Age is just a number; it's not a determinative factor of what you can do.

Jesus said He came to give us life and life more abundantly. That means that He came to offer us eternal life when this life ends, and a full life until that happens. He wants to bless us that we might be a blessing to others. See, the only way to live a fulfilling life is to live it to be a blessing to other people.

I know I have more days behind me than I have ahead of me, but I want to live those days in such a way that I can bless as many people as possible. I want to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ. I want to see people break out of bondage to sin, to debt, to addictions, to broken relationships, to shame and guilt. Those that the Son sets free is free indeed, and I want people to find freedom in Jesus Christ.

Don't let a number determine what you can do. Ask God what He would have you do, and then do it. You will find out quickly how rewarding life can be.

When change is attacked

 Several years ago a congregation in a small community was filling its sanctuary in its two worship services each Sunday. Leaders were discussing adding a third service. Before that could be done, some changes needed to happen to prepare the church for that additional service. The pastor and staff were confidant that the church would accept those changes. However, when they were presented to those attending the business meeting they were soundly rejected. The few people who attended the meeting not only voted down the changes but also offered sharp criticism at the pastor and others who were promoting them. The pastor was stunned by the anger exhibited in that meeting. A short time later this pastor, who had served in this church for over two decades, left for another church.

That meeting not only broke his spirit, it began a downward spiral in the church. Today, this church is less than half the size it was at the time of the meeting. One wonders if it will ever return to the vibrant church it once was.

As a regional minister for 14 years I saw a number of similar situations when needed change in a church was rejected. Like the previous church, not only was the change rejected, the rejection came with a lot of angry accusations, name-calling and division. Much of this was usually directed at the pastor and/or staff. When I would be called in to mediate the issues I would usually tell the pastor privately that his or her time there was probably up. In most cases, the pastor was not going to survive this rejection of his leadership.

Why do such violent attacks occur when change is suggested? Sometimes it is due to some deep pain within the congregation. In my first church I announced some plans I had made only to have those plans immediately rejected. Later that evening, in a private phone call, I learned why the people responded as they did. I had, not knowingly, opened up some old wounds that had not healed. I had not been there long enough to know the history, especially that part that had brought pain, of the church.

At other times changes are rejected because the people have grown weary of pastors who introduce changes and then leave before they are fully implemented. Such congregations often feel they are left holding the bag. I don't believe we fully understand how much pain there is in congregations who have seen continuous rapid pastor turnover. Why would such churches embrace change when they've been taught that the pastor will only be there a short while?

Of course, change is often opposed by people who fear that it will challenge their authority or position in the church. I've written extensively about church controllers in this blog and in some of my books. These people will oppose anything that might threaten them or their position in the church. They will often be the most outspoken about their opposition, and they can be quite ugly as well. 

The first two situations can be addressed by a long-term pastor. Just because a change is needed doesn't mean it's needed today. In my experience, most worth-while changes in a church took much longer to occur than I had thought. A long-term pastor builds trust in a congregation, and that trust can lead to them becoming willing to accept changes.

I had mentioned that the pastor above had been at his church for over 20 years so being long-term didn't help his situation. That's because those who most strongly opposed the changes he was proposing were church controllers. As more people were coming into the church they were fearful that they would lose their control over the church. They were determined to do anything to stop future growth, and this is what those changes would have brought. Only a handful of people showed up for that business meeting, and it was mostly the controllers. The ones who wanted change, who wanted to see the church grow, weren't there. Maybe that's what hurt the pastor the most.

 

Discontinuous change and the church

 Change has always been a part of life. Babies are born, they grow into childhood and then into teenagers and finally become adults. Factories have always found new, inventive ways of producing items to sell. I worked in a factory for 30 years and saw many changes take place during those years. We could name many other similar changes, but these are all continuous changes. These types of changes come from what has occurred before. they can be expected and managed.

Discontinuous change is completely different. it is disruptive and is not expected. It often challenges our expectations. Worse yet, such change often challenges our skill sets and knowledge. The printing press is a good example of discontinuous change. There was little reason for the average person to learn to read until the printing press made it possible for people to have Bibles and other books. A more modern example might be the Internet. The entire world was transformed when the Internet was created. This was followed by the smart phone which placed more computing power in our pockets than was used to land people on the moon.

The changes faced by today's churches are often discontinuous changes. Everything the church believed to be true about being the church is being challenged. Once upon a time the church was at the center of much of a community's life. Today, it is barely on the periphery of most people's lives. Pastors were trained to manage churches with well-developed programs that had been tested over time and proved to be useful. Denominations received annual reports from their churches to see how well their branch plants were doing. There was a large pool of pastors ready to move into those churches seeking pastors. None of this is true today.

Smaller churches find it extremely difficult to find a new pastor, and even many mid-size churches may take 2-3 years to find a new pastor. Many of the programs that had been so successful in the past have been discarded today as less than useful. A majority of people no longer find the church to be necessary for their lives. In fact, some Christians now believe that the church has been harmful to their spiritual health. Church membership and financial support have been declining for several years now in most churches. Many denominations have been forced to cut staff, sell off buildings and offer only minimum support to their churches.

It isn't that churches are not trying to overcome their challenges. Many are trying real hard, but they are still using their old tools which no longer work. We are not prepared for discontinuous change, and many in ministry today are not equipped to deal with it. We have to learn new ways of doing ministry, and this will require the efforts of every Christian, not just the pastors. As one book suggested

A congregation must become a place where members learn to function like cross-cultural missionaries rather than be a gathering place where people come to receive religious goods and services.

Because we live in a pre-Christian world, we have to begin to think and act like missionaries entering a place of ministry for the first time. We have to learn new languages. We have to learn how non-Christians think and act before we can hope to share the gospel with them. We have to become students of their culture, not to adapt to it but to respond to it with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Much more could be written, but it's enough to say that if we keep doing the same things we've been doing, we will become less and less relevant in a world filled with discontinuous change.

Books for smaller churches

In 2001 I published my first book with Baker Books. Over the next few years I published another 7 books with Beacon Hill Press (the Nazarene publishing company) and Judson Press (American Baptist). These books all focused on healthy small churches and bivocational ministry. One day I walked into a LifeWay bookstore and saw four of my books on the shelf. I have to admit that was kind of a heady experience. Since then I have self-published two books. One is on the challenges facing the church in the 21st century, and the other is a book on what I learned about running a small business (and failing). 

These books are still available on Amazon although at least one is only available as an ebook. The two I self-published are also available on Amazon as ebooks.

One denominational leader told me that the principles found in these books are applicable to any size church. I wrote them specifically for the smaller church as those churches are what I know best, and there are few resources written especially for them. The best selling book of all has been The Healthy Small Church. Not only has that book sold the most copies; it also has given me the opportunity to lead conferences and workshops for numerous denominations across the US and Canada.

Bivocational ministers are my heroes. I have served in bivocational ministry since 1981. I understand the challenges of such ministry, and I also understand the rewards that bivocational ministry brings to the church and to the pastor. I love the opportunity to encourage these servants of God and to offer encouragement to them. My books and conferences have both strived to do that.

If you think my books might be helpful, please go to Amazon, type in my name and see the various books I have listed there.

One challenge facing today's church

In 2006 The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World by Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk was published. As a Resource Minister in our region at the time, I read it hoping to find some tools I could use to help some of our churches. Frankly, I didn't really understand much of what the book was saying. This week I began re-reading it, and it is hitting home. They are saying some of the same things I've been saying to churches for the past few years. (Maybe I understood the book better than I thought!) For instance, they write

People are no longer willing to learn the internal language of the congregation. They are not shaped by loyalty to institutions and have little interest in joining groups or programs. No amount of rearranging of programs will change this. The reality is that the organizational cultures, the environments, created in congregations over several generations are no longer able to engage the changed context and its emerging generations,

Unfortunately, many of our churches fail to realize this is happening or they refuse to do anything differently to minister to a new generation. Instead, they spend time putting down new carpet, painting walls and rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while whistling a happy tune as the ship is sinking.

Pastors and lay leaders need to stop talking about what's happening in the church and discover what is happening in people's lives. Rather than simply offering programs that we used in the 1950s we need to discern what current needs are and how we can best address them. Such discovery is unlikely to happen within the walls of the church. I once met with a church board and pastor to discuss this very issue. I asked how many people in the immediate community attended their church, the answer was virtually none. I then asked what were the needs of the people in the community? The pastor looked at me and asked, "How do we find that out?" After recovering from my immediate shock I answered, "By going outside the church and asking them." He had never thought about that.

But, what happens once the church better understands the culture of the surrounding community? Here is where it really starts getting tricky. Chances are likely that what is discovered in that culture is unlike anything the church has addressed before. Pastors are trained in seminary to manage institutions, counsel, exegete Scripture, preach and do the things often associated with pastoral ministry. Most congregations have simply been taught to let the pastor lead them in the things he or she has been trained to do.

A bivocational pastor who was a school teacher once told me that the young people in his school that did not fit in any of the cliques (jock, nerd, farmer, etc.) were assuming they were gay and began to identify that way. He was at a loss of what to do. How many churches and pastors are equipped to address the growing trend of gender dysphoria that we hear so much about these days? There is not space in this post to mention the many other challenges found in today's society that the church must address if it wants to reach this generation for Jesus Christ.

I hope as I continue to read this book that I will find some answers because I too must admit that I do not have the answers to the questions I've raised. But, if we don't find some answers we will not reach this generation for the Kingdom of God and our churches will continue to become more irrelevant.

Leaders see further than others

One of the characteristics of leadership is that leaders see further than others see. Jesus cautioned people to count the cost before before beginning a project (Luke 14: 28). How can you count the cost if you cannot see the end from the beginning? Many people can't, but leaders can. Leaders can see into the future and spot potential problems that might keep their plans from coming to pass.

When I served on region staff we were asked to develop some goals for the upcoming year. The goal-setting tool I used then, and still do, includes a section that asks what challenges might keep me from achieving this goal. Before I begin a project, I want to know what might come up that will threaten my success in reaching the goal. If I can spot potential problems in advance, I can work to alleviate them  before they occur.

This same principle holds true when communicating potential change to a group of people. It's not enough to know the what and why of the change, a leader must also know what potential challenges he or she might encounter. If the leader can address people's concerns before they even express them, he or she will avoid a lot of arguments of why the change won't work.

I read recently that the vision a pastor should have for a church should exceed his time there. At my first church I had a vison for a new fellowship hall that would offer expanded ministry opportunities. I further challenged the church to build the facility without borrowing any money. They agreed to build it without incurring any debt.  Little did I know that when the subfloor was laid I would be called to another ministry position. The good news is that the church completed the building, and it was built debt-free. I was delighted when I was invited to  speak at the dedication service for the new fellowship hall.

Will the leader identify every potential twist and turn when communicating vision to others? No, but if he or she cannot identify at least a few potential challenges it's probably not a good idea to move forward. They don't understand the vision well enough to lead it, and there is too much risk they will lead the organization into trouble.

Never take worship for granted

 I am currently reading The Worship Architect by Constance M. Cherry. When our region was offering Church Alive to our churches as a process to help them grow and become healthier, Dr. Cherry was one of our presenters. She is professor emeritus of worship and pastoral ministry at Indiana Wesleyan University and an authority on Christian worship. She shares an incredible story in the book which I want to share with you. It is a story of a house church in China. She writes

Because of the necessity of worshiping in secret, the pastor left his home at 11:00 p.m. on the nights the church held worship services and walked a few hours by the light of the moon up to the mountains, where the villagers would gather in a cave with only a dim candle. They would "lip-synch" hymns that they knew from memory without uttering a sound for fear the Chinese government might discover them. After worshiping together, they would go back to their village to reach their homes before 5:00 a.m., when they would go to the field to start another day of work.

Several years ago I was part of a group of American Baptist men who went on a mission trip to Haiti. On Sunday we attended one of the Haitian churches for worship. The service began at 7:00 AM. People were asked to move from the front row so we could have their seats. The building was full with people actually sitting on the pulpit platform and others sitting in the rafters above us. About 9:00 the service ended, and as we were leaving, people were already coming in for the 10:00 service, many carrying their own chairs.

I have often thought about the difference in the approach many American Christians have towards worship and what I experienced in Haiti. As I read the account of the house church in China and how they had to worship due to fear they would be found out, it again reminded me of how nonchalantly many American Christians approach worship.

Our Constitution gives us the freedom to worship, a freedom many throughout the world do not have. This is not a freedom from worship, but a freedom to worship. According to Dr. Cherry's book, there is evidence that the early church gathered every day to worship. Some today feel they are doing God a favor if they attend church once a month. Those Christians in China literally risk their lives by gathering for worship; some of us have to decide each week if we are going to attend church services or if there is something else we want to do.

This is not intended to be a rant. I simply want us to examine our hearts. We should never take worship for granted. People risk their lives to worship God in other parts of the world. Our attitude every Sunday should be "I get to go to church and worship God today," not "I've got to go to church today and then we can do the other things we want to do."  

I want to encourage you make worship a priority in your life. This not only means attending church services each week, but also to worship God in your personal life as well. Spend time in prayer and in reading the Bible. Many of us are reading through the Bible this year as an act of worship and discipleship. I invite you to join us on this journey.

When only the best will do

Former President Jimmy Carter was a Lieutenant in the Navy when he decided to apply to the nuclear submarine program. He was required to meet with Admiral Hyman Rickover who was in charge of that program. During the interview Carter was asked about his grades at the US Navy Academy. Carter proclaimed he was in the top 10 percent of his class. Rickover then asked Carter, "Did you do your best?" Carter truthfully answered no, to which Rickover responded "Why not?" and then turned back to his desk. The interview was over, and Carter, shaken, left the room. He was selected for the nuclear submarine program, but he never forgot that question and the impact it made on him. 

I doubt that few, if any, of us could truthfully say we've always done our best at anything. I can see many times in my own life when I've been satisfied to just complete the task. Forget about doing my best, I just want to get it over. Good enough is good enough.

The problem with that is that good is often the enemy of the best. We sometimes think that we have to choose between the good and the bad, but that's not the case. The real option is often between the good and the best. We settle for good when we should be striving for the best.

In what I consider the best leadership book, Good to Great, Jim Collins writes in the first chapter

We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely, because the vast majority become quite good - and that is their main problem.

In the margin beside that paragraph I wrote, "The same is true of churches." The vast majority of churches I've worked with over the years are satisfied with being good. They are content to offer the same ministries they've always offered without giving any thought about doing something different. Preparing the budget is easy because they only have to add a little to the line items to reflect projected utility increases and any increase in the pastor's salary. Little thought is often given to budgeting for new ministries that might reach new people. Most self-identified highly evangelistic churches do not reflect that mindset in their budget.

Most churches are satisfied with doing good things without ever reflecting on if they are doing the best things. Without a fresh, clear vision of God concerning their ministry, they have no way of identifying the best things they should be doing, and most churches lack such a vision. Without a roadmap taking the church to a new place, they remain content to repeat what they've done for the past few generations. As Dr. Phil might ask, "How's that working out for you?"

I do not challenge churches to be perfect, but to do their best. Do everything with excellence. If you want to do something, but it cannot be done at this time with excellence, then don't do it. The timing is not right. You cannot build a church on mediocrity. 1 Corinthians 10: 31 tells us, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." God asks us for our best in all we do.

Let's refuse to settle for the good. Pursue the best in everything. Maybe, in an attempt to do everything with excellence, you will find you have to do fewer things. That's OK. Just do what you do with excellence. If you do, in time you will be able to do more.

The joy of ministry

 The title of this post may have caught some of you off-guard. So much has been written lately about the struggles many pastors have and how many are leaving the ministry because of these struggles. I get that. For years now we've known that about 50 percent of pastors leave the ministry within five years of graduating from seminary. Studies have found that many pastors believe that going into the ministry has been a hardship on their families and on their own health. I have met many of those pastors, and I understand their pain and frustration. I've been involved in ministry since 1981, and I've had my share of difficult situations as well. That does not change my opinion that there is joy to be found in ministry.

Regular readers of this blog know my story. I began in 1981 serving a small, rural church as its bivocational pastor. I served that church for 20 years until being called to be a Region Minister with our region. I served that role for 14 years before retiring. After retirement I served three churches as Transitional Pastor, and last year, at the age of 76, accepted the call to be the pastor of the last church I  served as Transitional Pastor. As a Region Minister, I saw it all. Before retiring I was responsible for 133 churches so I saw the good, the bad and the ugly. I've often said that if you like churches, do not look behind the curtain. You may see some things you don't like.

I've seen pastors afraid to speak out on things they knew were wrong because of threats from powerful lay leaders in their churches. I've seen church leaders fire pastors who then offered them severance pay if they never told anyone they had been fired. They were just supposed to announce they felt led to seek another place to serve. I do not talk about the joy of ministry wearing rose-colored glasses and having a Pollyanna view of the church.

Maybe it's my age. After all, what can a church do to a 76-year-old man? Maybe it's because I've always been bivocational with income from other sources of work. Like I told my first church, if you fire me today, tomorrow morning I'll go into the factory, clock in, and on Friday come home with my paycheck. Being bivocational did give me some freedom that fully-funded pastors do not always enjoy. The same is true of being older. I have rods and reels hanging in the garage; I can always return to retirement. And, I'm still bivocational with my auctioneer business.

Actually, it's not either of those things. I have been blessed beyond measure by serving in wonderful churches, without exception, and serving in a region that appreciates bivocational ministers. Yes, there have been the occasional problem in the churches I've served, but we've always been able to rise above those issues and move forward. My family and I have felt loved and appreciated by everyone involved in every ministry I've had.

However, this is still not why I talk about the joy of ministry. God has called me to this work. God, the creator of heaven and earth, the Almighty, saw fit to call me, with all my flaws, to serve Him in this work. Those who focus on the negatives of ministry have lost sight of their calling from God, or they were never called by God in the first place. Some were called by Momma and sent by Daddy. God had nothing to do with it. But, when God calls you, it touches something deep inside of you. You realize that you have been given a privilege not given to most.

What else can you do that gives you such access into people's lives? We are with them in their mountain-top experiences and in their deepest times of despair and hurt. We have the opportunity to touch people in their deepest needs and speak words of encouragement and healing to them. As a pastor, I have the privilege of sharing with a congregation the words of Almighty god, and I have an even greater privilege of seeing persons make life-changing decisions when they invite Jesus Christ into their lives as their Lord and Savior.

Yes, ministry can be messy and sometimes tough. But, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. What God calls us to do, He equips and enables us to do. He walks with us and refuses to abandon us. I have always known God was with me as I served Him in this work He gave me, and that knowledge alone is enough to bring me joy.

The beauty of small churches

Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY is a large multi-site church that provides exceptional ministry to that community. When I was pastor of Hebron Baptist Church I went to several area minister gatherings there. I always took one of our lay leaders with me so they could see what a mega-church was like. My wife and I attended their Easter pageant one year. It was a magnificent portrayal of the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. I have great appreciation for that church and the wonderful ways it ministers to the Louisville area.

At the same time, I have tremendous respect and love for the smaller churches. I have spent much of my life attending, pastoring and serving these churches. I have seen some struggle and close their doors, and I have seen others struggle and continue to serve their communities. Those who serve as pastors of these churches, many of them bivocational, are my heroes. Having been bivocational my entire ministry, I know the price these men and women have paid. Their faithfulness to the calling God has on their lives is an inspiration.

The theme song for the television show Cheers had a line that said it was a place where everyone knew your name. We all need places like that, and the smaller church often provides that. When I was pastor at Hebron I knew the people, many of their family members and much of their history, both good and bad. We knew one another, and we deeply cared for one another.

Many larger churches do that as well, but they have to form small groups for that to happen. Nothing is wrong with small groups, in fact, much is good about such groups. However, smaller churches do not necessarily have to form small groups because they are already a small group! In such churches, everybody knows your name.

I am currently serving as pastor of another smaller church. I can remember when this church was much larger, but after Covid and some issues that arose in the church, it is much smaller today. There is much work to do to bring this church back to where it needs to be, but I love this church. We laugh, we tease one another, but we also pray for one another when folks are going through rough times. Our worship service may not always go as smoothly as I would prefer, but the worship is genuine and, I believe, pleasing to God.

Smaller churches have fewer resources for ministry than larger churches, but it seems God always provides what is needed when it is needed. There is a certain beauty in that as these churches have learned to trust God as their provider and not some endowment that has been left them by previous generations.

Smaller churches rely on volunteers and not paid professionals to lead their ministries. None of the churches in which I was raised had paid staff except for the pastor. Everything else was led by volunteers, and these men and women richly blessed my life through their service.

I have nothing but respect for the mega-churches God has raised up, but I also continue to love the smaller church. Some predict the end of the smaller church. I do not believe that for a minute. There is a beauty found in smaller churches that cannot be duplicated in any other church. Those smaller churches that follow the will of God will continue to flourish, and I will always be in their corner cheering them on. 

Ministry in a changing time

 I accepted my first pastoral position in 1981. As I've written elsewhere, I went to that church with no education beyond high school and no pastoral experience. It was truly on-the-job training, and I'm thankful for the patience of that church. That ministry lasted 20 years until I accepted a call to become a Resource Minister with our judicatory. That ministry lasted 14 years before I retired. This past summer I accepted the call to serve as pastor of another church. Man, have things changed!

Last week I began to clean out file cabinets, something I should have done years ago. One drawer had my sermons for those 20 years of pastoral ministry. I looked at some of the earlier ones and realized just how bad I was. They all went to the trash can. On New Year's Eve I sat in front of my bookshelves and realized how dated some of my books are. They will also need to be pitched. I'm a firm believer that you cannot fix today's problems with yesterday's solutions.

Of course, many churches attempt to do just that. Many congregations remember when their sanctuaries were filled every week, and, despite their dwindling numbers, they believe they can recapture those glory years by doing the same things they've always done. Their order of worship never changes, they continue to sing the same songs and repeat the same prayers, and wonder why people don't rush in to fill the pews each week.

We are repeatedly told that while many Americans have little faith in the church, they continue to have great interest in God and Jesus Christ. Numerous studies have found many hunger for spiritual truth, and just as many studies show that a majority do not believe that hunger will be met in the traditional church. This should create a wake-up call for the church, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

As a pastor, I know I have to approach ministry differently than I did in 1981. That model doesn't work any more. As churches, we have to do the same thing. People are not looking for religious social clubs. If they are interested in a church at all, they will look for churches that have doctrinal integrity rather than one that tries to appease the politically correct crowd. They do not want a watered-down gospel; they want a faith upon which they can build their lives. They want a church that is actively ministering to the real needs that people have. It's OK for churches to support missionaries overseas, but they also want to see a church that is also meeting the needs that exist in their own communities. They want to have real relationships with real people and not feel they have to wear a "happy Christian" mask all the time.

We are beginning a new year, and for some of us in church leadership, we need to take this time to reflect on beginning a new way to approach ministry.

Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

 One of the most important decisions anyone can make in life is what to believe about Jesus Christ. Is He simply a great prophet as some claim, is He a great teacher or is He truly the Son of God Who came to offer forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternal life? Every person must make that choice. Some want to straddle the fence on this one, but a non-decision is a decision. It is a decision to refuse to accept Him as the Son of God and to refuse His offer of eternal life. No one can opt out of this decision.

A few days ago I mentioned Pascal's Wager. That wager states that if it is 50 percent possible that Christianity is true, then a person would be wise to become a Christian. In such a scenario a person has nothing to lose. If Christianity is true, the person who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is prepared to enter eternity when this life ends. If Christianity is not true, the person who lives as a Christian will enjoy a much better life than those who reject Christianity. This has been proven to be the case in many studies. However, if Christianity is true, and the person lives as if it is not, when his or her life ends, that person has lost everything.

In the late 1970s I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Up until that time I had lived my life on my terms, doing mostly what I wanted to do. Although I was raised in church as a child, that early teaching had little influence on the choices I was making as a young adult. It wasn't until certain events occurred that I realized I needed to return to what I had learned as a child. Alone in our mobile home, I asked Christ to come into my life.

Two years later I was licensed by our church to preach, and about a year after that I became the pastor of a church I served for the next 20 years. I graduated from Bible school and then went on to earn a bachelor's degree, a master's and a doctorate. God led me to publish eight books on bivocational and small church ministry which led me to speak to dozens of conferences and workshops across the US and Canada. I was called to serve as a Regional Minister who was responsible for 133 churches when I retired. Today, I am privileged to serve once again as the pastor of a church. I know I have a lot more years behind me than I have before me, but I also have the confidence that when my time here on earth ends I will spend eternity in heaven, not because of all the things I've done, but because I accepted what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross and asked Him to be my Lord and Savior.

If you are not a Christian, may I ask why? What is it that you are unwilling to give up in order to accept Christ in your life? What possible reason is good enough for you to refuse to receive the gift of eternal life that Christ can give you? If you would like to talk about this, please contact me. If you do not have a church home, I want to invite you to join us at North Madison Baptist Church, 1906 Orchard Street, Madison, IN this Sunday at 10:30. We would love to have you.

Preparing for a new year

We are at the final day of 2024. It has been an interesting year. Since retiring as a Regional Minister with our denomination I've had the privilege of serving three churches as Transitional Pastor. I never thought at 75 years of age I would return to serve as the pastor of a church, but this year I accepted that role. I have not served as the pastor of a church since 2001, so I feel I have a lot of catching up to do. I sure hope an old dog can learn new tricks because a lot of what I knew as a pastor in 2001 isn't necessarily helpful in 2025. If nothing else, becoming a pastor again has helped my prayer life!

I spent some time last week cleaning out file drawers. One drawer was full of my old sermons. They have all gone to the dump. I looked at a few of them before pitching them, and they were pretty bad. They certainly were not suitable for today. I wanted to make sure that I forced myself to prepare new messages that would be more timely today than these would have been. Of course, that means I have to work on sermon preparation again, but, fortunately, that is one of the things I enjoy most about ministry.

Part of my preparation for the new year is another commitment to read through the Bible in 2025. I've purchased a new version I've not read before so I'm ready for January 1. I have also encouraged my church to join me, and several of them have told me they will do so.

Our church got a new website in 2024, and we plan to begin streaming the sermons as quickly as we can get the right camera to do that. No one in our congregation has any experience in filming a service or putting it on social media so we will have a learning curve as we learn how to do this. 

On a personal level, our youngest grandchild turned 18 last weekend. Talk about something that will make you feel old!

My auction business is doing far better than I ever thought possible. We took most of December off to catch our breath and relax a little. We do an online auction every two weeks, and we only missed one auction in 2024, and that was so we could set up for a live auction we were doing. Our building is full again, our trailers are full and people are wanting to bring us more. I'm very thankful we are able to serve people in this way. As I've written elsewhere, I see this as an extension of my ministry.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I set goals based on the priorities I believe God has given me. Despite our busy schedules, one of my goals is for my wife and I to spend more time doing things we enjoy doing. There are some places she wants to see, and I plan to make that happen this year. 

2025 can be an exciting year for anyone who is willing to open themselves up to the opportunities it offers. I want to experience everything God has for me in this coming year. I hope you want the same thing, but it takes intentionality, preparation and work on our part. 

Those who do not believe

 I am currently reading another book that looks at the thinking of atheists. The author has debated a number of the so-called New Atheists and has studied their books and their thinking for some time. It is an interesting look at their thinking and their absolute refusal to accept the concept of God despite the overwhelming evidence for His existence.

For the past few years I have been very interested in apologetics and have read quite a bit in that field. In that reading, there are many references to the thinking and arguments presented by atheists. Their circular reasoning makes it almost impossible to believe that they actually believe what they claim to believe, and their lack of logically thinking is astounding. Many of these are scientists from various fields who seem to hold philosophy in contempt. They continue to make statements that are self-defeating, contradictory, and circular. They seem unable to see that their beliefs would lead to a world that would be chaotic and could not last.

Take just one argument that is sometimes the topic for debates between atheists and theists. Does objective morality exist? The theist believes that because God exists, objective morality exists. There is a standard of right and wrong that is not subject to vote or to personal beliefs. The atheist, believing there is no God, also does not believe that any objective morality exists. Each person decides his or her own moral code. Some believe that culture determines right and wrong. But, whose culture? As the writer of this book asked in one debate, are you talking about the culture of the Nazis or the culture of Mother Theresa? Are you talking about a culture that cherishes it's babies or one that sacrifices their babies to their god? Such a belief in subjective morality would lead to chaos and would lead to the destruction of our society.

Why do they not see that? These are brilliant individuals, but they appear to be blind to their refusal to see what countless millions have seen over thousands of years. There is a God who desires to be known and worshiped. Why can they not see the many prophecies foretold in the Bible that have come to pass? Why can't they accept the archeological evidences that demonstrate the truth of the Bible? 

Perhaps their reason is financial. Some of these individuals have made a great deal of money from their books and the speaking opportunities these books have provided. It's pretty hard to sing a different tune when the one you've been singing has made you wealthy.

Some atheists refuse to accept any concept of God because to do would force a change in their moral behavior. The well-known atheist Aldous Huxley once said, "I have motives for not wanting the world to have meaning, and consequently assumed it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption...For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaningless was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom."

Others might refuse to believe in God because they believe that the arguments for God are weak and lack scientific credibility. This is a common complaint from many atheists. But, what about the credible scientists in many fields who do believe in God and point to science as the foundation of their belief? How do they ignore their colleagues who profess a strong faith in God?

In the 17th century Blaise Pascal argued that if Christianity has a 50 percent chance of being true then it would be rational for a person to live a Christian life. This has become known as Pascal's Wager. I believe the evidence is much stronger than 50 percent that there is a God Who has revealed Himself in Scripture, and faith in Jesus Christ is the way to know this God. I struggle to understand how anyone can look at the evidences with an open mind and not come to the same conclusion.

Leaders see further down the road

 John Maxwell states that leaders see more than other people, see farther that others see and sees before others do. That is a very good description of a leader. As pastors we should see further than others see. Some have said that our visions should be so far out that they will not be accomplished during our time in the church. In my experience, I saw the need for the church I was serving to add a new fellowship hall to further its ministry opportunities. That addition was not completed before I left that church to accept a new ministry opportunity.

President Biden won the applause of many people when he announced he was canceling the student loan debt of nearly five million people. The Supreme Court struck down that order saying the president didn't have the power to do that without Congressional approval, Now, the Department of Education has announced it would withdraw its efforts to deliver its plans to forgive student loans. Among the reasons they cited for this decision was that they could not complete their plans before President Biden left office. While the president's motives may have been right, he failed to see that his plans would not be fulfilled.

This is not intended to be a political post. It is a post on a basic leadership principle. Leaders are those who can see further than others can see and see more than others can see. While the student loan forgiveness brought a lot of support for the Democrat party, it was clearly unconstitutional when it was first proposed. Ether the president did not see that, or he ignored it in an effort to earn the support of the students whose loans they hoped would be forgiven. Either way, it was a failure of leadership.

As pastors, we need to spend time thinking through any changes we want to make in our congregations or ministry. Without such thought we run the risk of unintended consequences. Early in my pastoral ministry I proposed eliminating a position in the church as unneeded. We lost a family because the person who held that position felt I was accusing her of stealing money from the church. The proposal itself and the way I handled it was a disaster. I never thought that of her, but the damage was done.

I should have shared my thoughts with the lay leaders of the church before I announced them to the church. They would probably have cautioned me of the perception my proposal would generate. Instead, I plunged ahead without seeking wise counsel, and created unnecessary problems for myself and the church.

Jesus cautioned against going to war without first considering if you have enough forces to guarantee victory. Pastors should never propose changes in the church without thinking through those changes. Are there possible unintended consequences connected to those changes? If so, you need to eliminate them before proceeding. 

New year bring changes

We have a number of changes as we begin a new year. Like many, we have done away with our home phone. I had to laugh when I called the phone company and told them I wanted to cancel our home phone. The young lady asked why I wanted to do that, and I explained I was tired of all the scam calls we received. She laughed and said, "That's the reason I canceled mine last week. I can't argue with that logic."

I am also now paying my bills online. For the past few years, my son has teased me saying I was the only person he knew who wrote checks. It was true. However, in December the post office evidently lost all the checks I sent out on December 1. The people I paid on that day for the items they sold in my auction did not receive their checks until at least December 12, and I had to write another check for one individual who came to the auction center to get it. Two utility bills were overdue thanks to the post office. I paid those bills online only to have the checks reach them a few days later. With the cost of stamps and the recent problem I had with the post office, I'll now be paying my bills online.

This is a lot of change for an old man! But, we live in a rapidly changing time. There are also some new changes that are more positive.

Once again, I will re-read through the Bible in 2025. I've done this several times in the past and look forward to doing it again. Each time I do this I buy a new version of the Bible I do not have, and I've already purchased that Bible. It has never failed that when I read through the Bible I find things I missed in the past. I invite you to join me this year. You only have to read three chapters a day, and at the end of the year you will have read the entire Bible. It is a great way to grow deeper in your spiritual life.

I also have a devotional book written by David Jeremiah that I will read as part of my devotional time each morning. I am a huge fan of his ministry and look forward to the daily reading from that book.

As the pastor of North Madison Baptist Church, I am excited about the changes that will take place there as well. We will be doing more with our website including posting the sermons each week for those who cannot worship with us. New ministries are being planned to serve the people in our church and community. I'm very excited about the possibilities for the church in the upcoming year. If you do not have a church home I invite you to join us and be a part of what I believe to be an exciting future. 

Taking personal responsibility

On our recent flight to Austin, Texas to visit our son I read John Maxwell's book High Road Leadership. This is a book I would strongly recommend to anyone in a leadership position. The principles found in this book are pertinent to anyone in a leadership position whether that be in a church, a business, a non-profit or even a family. In one section of the book Maxwell writes about the importance of each person taking responsibility for themselves.

So many want to play the "blame game" and try to focus all their shortcomings onto others. A large section of our population see themselves as victims and spend enormous amounts of time feeling sorry for themselves and waiting for someone to come along and rescue them from their problems. Maxwell had the good fortune to have been raised by parents much like mine. Countless times growing up my parents reminded me that society owed me nothing. If I was to have anything, be anything or accomplish anything it would come because I earned it. It sounds like his parents taught him the same values.

He lists several areas of his life for which he had taken responsibility. Because he has taken personal responsibility in these areas he has enjoyed tremendous success as a speaker, a writer and a leader. I am convinced that anyone who assumes responsibility in these areas will also enjoy far more success in life than those who wait on someone to come in riding a white horse to rescue them. I share them here.

Attitude - Although we cannot control all the events of our lives, we can control our attitude. A positive attitude will defeat a negative one every day.

Time - Each of us are limited to the same number of hours each day. We must be responsible for how we use those hours and avoid distractions by lesser demands on our time.

Priorities - One way to maximize our time is to work as much as possible on the things we have identified as the most important every day. We cannot allow others to determine our priorities.

Potential - Only one person is responsible for your personal growth, and that is you. If you are not growing as an individual it's no one's fault but your own.

Passion - I have attended and benefitted from a number of motivational seminars, but motivation is an inside job. No one can truly motivate another person. The best they can do is to create a climate in which you can motivate yourself. It's up to us to maintain the passion we feel.

Calling - Each of us have unique gifts that are to be used to fulfill the calling God has on our lives. While it is appropriate to seek godly counsel regarding calling, this is something each person must decide for themselves. When we work in the areas for God has created us, we will enjoy much more success.

While the list is Maxwell's, the commentary following each item is mine. Taking responsibility for each of these areas every day is not easy. There are always going to be people who will try to take that responsibility from you. We cannot allow that to happen if we want to be people in leadership.

Christmas trip

Yesterday evening my wife and I returned home from Austin, Texas where we had spent a few days visiting our son and grandson. We don't get to see them as often as we would like, but we always try to make it down there a few days before Christmas. We enjoyed some great Texas bar-b-que at Terry Black's famous bar-b-que restaurant. We go there every time we are in Austin because it is some of the best bar-b-que I've ever eaten. We go shopping and do some other things, but mostly we just hang together as family.

I often think back to previous Christmases when I was younger. Extended families got together which meant there were plenty of cousins to play with. Later, after Faye and I married, we spent part of Christmas Eve with her eight brothers and sisters and all their kids. Her brother had a nice pole barn which we cleaned up and used for the get-together. He and I would go out into the woods and cut down a large cedar tree and take it to the barn. It was so big we had to pull it behind a tractor. When we put it up we tied the top to the rafters to make sure it didn't tip over. Tables were set up, and a big feed was enjoyed by all. Afterwards, there were lot of presents to unwrap. We would then leave there and go to my parents for a much smaller celebration.

I cherish those memories because it's not possible to repeat them today. My wife's remaining siblings got together last Saturday, and my brothers and sisters will get together the Saturday after Christmas. Many members of the family won't attend because they live too far away. Just like our recent trip to Austin, we were not able to see two of our grandchildren because one is in school in Pennsylvania and another one works in Maryland. You adjust, but it's not the same as the memories I have from my childhood.

Life happens, and change is inevitable, but many Christmas traditions remain. Churches will present Christmas programs, choirs will sing anthems, live nativity scenes will demonstrate to the world what that first Christmas might have been like. Churches will see increased attendance this coming Sunday.

But, most important of all, Christmas will happen. We will be reminded that because of this babe born in a manger, there is hope in the world. Despite everything happening, we have hope because the Son of God came to earth as a babe lying in a manger. Joy is available to all who believe in Him despite the junk that may be happening in their lives. Lives can be transformed because because over 2,000 years ago a Jewish child was born in a little, insignificant village in Israel who just happened to be the Son of God.

My prayer for each of you who reads this blog is that you have experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ in your life. You do not have to live with the guilt you feel over the things you have done wrong in your life. You do not have to live with a fear of death because you do not know what eternity holds. This Christmas season is the perfect time to ask Jesus Christ into your life to be your Lord and Savior. Allow Him to cleanse you of every wrongdoing in your life. Experience the freedom of knowing that your sins are forgiven and the joy that comes knowing that you are part of the family of God. If you do this, I can guarantee this will be the greatest Christmas you will ever experience.  

Top 10 Books for 2024 1-5

 Today I'll share the remainder of my favorite reads for 2024.

5) Ignite by Nelson Searcy. I love Searcy's passion for the church and for people. I have most of his books in my library, and I've heard him present at a leadership conference in which we were both teaching. This is an excellent book for church planters and for pastors serving churches that need to relaunch (like me). He shares the tools he used to grow his new church plant in New York into a strong, vibrant congregation. I first read this book a few years ago, and felt it would be helpful to re-read it as I have begun serving as a pastor of a church that needs to rebuild. I'm putting some of his suggestions in action.

4) Transformational Church by Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer. This is another re-read in 2024. One of the missing components in many churches is discipleship. Evangelism is one side of the Great Commission coin; discipleship is the other side. Churches that see people's lives transformed by the power of God are churches that disciple their members. The authors give many helpful insights on how churches can begin to do that.

3) In Search of a Confident Faith by J. P. Moreland and Klaus Issler. This book has so many highlighted passages, underlined paragraphs and notes written in the margin I hardly know where to start writing about this book. The authors address how to deal with the doubts one may have about God and faith. They point out the differences between distractions of the head and distractions of the heart. They point out how hurts in the past can impact our beliefs now and offer some help to conquer those past hurts. This is a very good book for pastors and lay persons alike. None of us are beyond having periods of doubts in our own lives, and this book can help us address those.

2) Wide Awake by Erwin Raphael McManus. The author challenges us to stop settling in our lives and to begin to live our best lives now. He (like myself) believes that God has an amazing plan for each of our lives. Our lives can never be full until we understand what that purpose is and begin to live it. Each of us had dreams when we were younger, but as we grew up those dreams often faded away. Perhaps we need to reawaken those dreams and dare to become the people God created us to become. This book can help you do that. 

1) The Unstuck Church by Tony Morgan. Drum roll please! This is my favorite book for 2024. It must be because I read it twice in a row, and I've never done that with any book. As a region minister in our denomination for 14 years, most of the churches I worked with were stuck and didn't know what to do to get unstuck. Now that I am a pastor again, I am in a church that is stuck. Every day as I read this book I found things that I can do and things the church can do to get unstuck. The author warns the reader on the back cover that this book will offend you, and he's right. Some of the things he writes hurt, but they need to be said, and we need to listen. If your church is stuck, and research indicates that at least 80 percent of the churches in American are, then you need to read this book.

This is my list for 2024. These books spoke to my heart and were timely for my current situation. I believe they are all worthwhile reads for anyone in church leadership. I will close by mentioning that if you click on the link and order any of these books I may receive a small compensation, but this is not the reason I publish this list each year. I want others to know what I have found helpful to my life and ministry.

Top 10 Books for 2024 6-10

 Regular readers of this blog know that I average reading about 50 books each year. I just finished my 50th book for 2024, so I thought I might as well go ahead and share my top 10 reads for the year. This year I re-read a lot of books I had previously read. I also didn't read as much fiction as I had been reading. After being called to serve as pastor of North Madison Baptist Church I thought I had better retool my pastoral skills! That eliminated the Star Wars books! Anyway, here are my favorite reads 6-10.

10) The Church and the Single Mom by Jennifer Barnes Maggio. I have a burden for the single moms living in our community. According to the past census report, there are 1,700 single-parent homes in our county. I would assume at least 1,500 of them are single-moms. I am encouraging our church to begin a ministry to serve these individuals, and I admitted to them I didn't have a clue how to begin. Reading this book is helping me identify some ways we can begin to serve this population.

9) The Post-Quarantine Church by Thom S. Rainer. This was one of my re-reads. Covid hit most churches hard. People stayed away from church even when it was announced that it was safe to return. Those churches who thought they would return to normal once the pandemic ended were wrong. We now live in a new normal, and only those churches that can adjust to that new normal will thrive. Rainer points out that there are now three groups of people the church must serve: Digital-only who are unable to attend church services, Digitally-transitioning are those who are mostly connected to the church digitally but may attend occasionally; and Dual citizens who are connected to the church both through digital ministries and in person. This is a very good book for pastors and lay leaders to read who want to know how to move forward.

8) The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. I have never published my top ten list without at least one book by Maxwell being on the list. He is a must read for anyone in a leadership position. In fact, I have his latest book on my desk which I will start reading next week. I have read the referenced book several times and heard him teach from the book. It has shaped my leadership style more than any other book or class. I only wish the book had been available earlier in my ministry.

7) I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. This book is not an easy read but one that I found very helpful. It is a book that points out the blind faith that atheists and skeptics must have in order to sustain their rejection of God and shows how reason and logic will always point one to belief in God. I love reading apologetics, and this is one of the best to give you a reason for your faith and give you some tools you can use to share that faith with others.

6) The Deconstruction of Christianity by Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett. Deconstruction is a new term in our postmodern age. It refers to the process by which people walk away from their faith in God. Several well-known Christian authors and musicians have announced in the past few years they no longer believe in God. Countless others have made the same choice. I read this book to help me understand what is happening and to give me some tools to use if someone comes to me saying they are in the process of deconstructing. This book did not disappoint. If you have not known someone yet who is going through deconstruction of their faith, you will. This book can help you work with those individuals.

Tomorrow I'll share the final five books that made my favorite list for the year.