Overcoming adversity

 I recently preached a funeral service for a young lady whom I did  not know. I had learned very little about her before the service except that she had battled a number of illnesses for much of her life and what I learned from the obituary. My approach to a funeral message is to include personal information about the individual so my lack of knowledge was a concern before the service. Fortunately, three people asked to speak prior to my message. All of them spoke with passion about her courage and positive attitude. They spoke of her encouragement to others, her desire to serve others and of her faith in God. By the time it was my turn to speak I thanked them for making my job easy!

We seem to live in a time when everyone's a victim. There seems to be no lack of things to protest and complain about. Almost everyone is offended about something, and they demand some type of satisfaction. Billboards and commercials suggest that many people "may be entitled to substantial compensation." Nothing is the fault of the individual. It's always somebody's else's fault. 

As I thought of what the people were saying about the lady whose funeral service we were doing I thought how easy it would have been for her to have become a perpetual victim. She could have used her illnesses as an excuse for developing a bitter attitude, to announce that she was helpless and needed others to care for her, but she chose not to do any of those things. She understood her calling in life, pursued a degree that helped prepare her for that calling, and then lived it. When illness set her on the sidelines for a season she accepted it with courage and told all who would listen that "Things will get better."

I cannot tell you how much I came to admire this woman I had never met. She overcame every adversity life threw at her with dignity and a joy that spoke to all who knew her. I have no doubt that her faith in God was a major reason she lived her life as she did.

There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that becoming a Christian provides us with an escape from life's problems. In fact, Jesus makes it clear that to follow Him is to enter a life that is often challenging and difficult. The One who wore a crown of thorns never promised us a rose garden. What He did promise is that He would never leave us when we walk through the valleys we will encounter in life. The God Who spoke this world into existence promises to be with us every step of the way throughout this life and to receive us into the life to come. Such a promise does not make adversity easier, but it does make it possible to overcome every adversity.

Few people, if any, will escape adversity in this life. Some will be overwhelmed by it. Others will overcome it with faith and courage. We each get to choose which group we will be in.

It's Friday but Sunday's Coming

This past Sunday being Easter I reminded our congregation that when Jesus died it was only Friday, but Sunday was coming. Although the disciples and others thought everything they had believed in had ended, they didn't realize that Sunday was yet to come. I should have known better than to preach that message!

My Friday occurred this past Tuesday. I woke up with an infected tooth that had to be pulled. While I was waiting for the dentist office to open I found out my computer couldn't connect to the Internet. The computer couldn't find the internet adapter. I looked up how to reconnect the adapter, and couldn't find it anywhere on my computer. By this time I was able to call the dentist and was told to come right over. The tooth was beyond saving so I had it pulled. I came home and didn't feel like fooling with the computer any more that day.

The next morning I tried again to fix it to no avail. There was nothing to do but call my computer repair guy. We felt it probably had a virus. After checking it out he discovered the adapter wasn't even listed on the computer. (At least I was looking in the right place!) Later that night he called saying he had it fixed. Evidently, lightening Monday night entered the computer and took out just that one board. He repaired it, cleaned up some programs that weren't working properly, and it's working great now. Now, if the last of the jaw pain would go away I would feel great again.

Compared to many people in the world my "Friday" wasn't that bad. Uncomfortable perhaps, and certainly annoying, but not bad. Still, I always look for Sunday to come.

The hope that we have as Christians is that there are always better days ahead because Jesus Christ defeated death and the grave. He brings us through our valleys in this world and gives us the confidence that one day we shall kneel in His presence and be with Him forever.

If you want to be blessed this morning go to You Tube and watch the video "It's Friday but Sunday's Coming" by  S. M. Lockridge. If it doesn't light a fire in you, your wood's wet!

A theology for suffering

One argument atheists like to use when trying to prove that God does not exist is the problem of suffering. I admit it is a difficult argument to address because there is so much emotion associated with suffering. How does one explain an innocent child suffering and even dying from cancer? Turn on any newscast and you'll find story after story of innocent people suffering. It's easy to see such stories and wonder why God does allow such suffering to exist.

In the past few weeks I've been studying the issue of suffering as part of my preparing a four-week series of sermons on the topic that I will begin sharing in a few weeks at our church. One of the interesting comments I came across in my study was the statement that many Christians have never developed a theology for suffering. I must admit I had never thought of a theology for suffering before.

Suffering is not a subject that is addressed very often from the pulpit. I don't remember ever hearing any of my pastors preach on the topic. In my own preaching I've certainly referred to suffering in any number of sermons, but I've never preached a series on the subject before that would attempt to more deeply explore the problem of suffering in human life.

Maybe this failure to address suffering from the pulpit is one reason many Christians struggle so much when they experience suffering in their own lives. I've seen Christians struggle greatly with their faith when they go through deep suffering in their lives. I've seen some walk away from the faith due to intense periods of suffering in their lives or in the lives of their loved ones.

I've also seen Christians who have suffered greatly maintain a calm confidence in God. They didn't approach suffering from a fatalistic perspective; they just had confidence that God would bring them through their trials. Although the storms blew hard against them they were able to stand on a firm foundation and maintain their trust in God. These men and women had developed a theology of suffering long before the storm hit, and their faith could not be shattered.

Have you developed such a theology around suffering? If you are a pastor, are you preparing your people for the suffering that is common to all who live in this fallen world? I do hope you are not preaching some kind of a rose garden Christianity that is all butterflies and sunshine because if you are your people may not stand when suffering comes into their lives, and it will at some point.

I really pray this series of messages will help some of our folks who are going through dark times in their lives right now and will prepare all of us for difficult times when they do come. I also pray that it speaks to those who may not have invited Christ into their lives previously because they believe He failed them at some point in their lives.

The atheists do have a strong argument when they ask how an all-powerful, all-loving God can allow innocent people to suffer, but it's not a difficult argument to counter when you have a good theology around suffering. This is one sermon series I am looking forward to preaching!

Put your hope in the right place

In an upcoming interview first lady Michelle Obama suggests that America has lost hope now that Donald Trump has been elected President. Her husband ran his campaign on hope and change, and now that he's leaving office his wife believes the hope America felt is gone as well.

She's not the only person to feel this way. People have been screaming the sky is falling ever since the election. College students, who should be approaching adulthood, need to see counselors to address the anxiety they feel with Trump taking office. Some former Facebook friends expressed their anxieties over a Trump presidency about every two hours after the election which is why they are former FB friends. (I just got tired of all the drama.)

The problem with Michelle Obama's claim that America is losing hope, and all the other Chicken Littles out there freaking out over the election, is that it reflects a secular worldview regarding hope. No person is going to fix your life or make you happy. If your hope is in an individual you are going to go through life very disappointed. Did President Obama do some good things in office? Yes, he did. He also did some things that were not so good. History will one day judge his overall effectiveness as President. Guess what? President Trump will also do some good things and some things not so good. If your hope goes up and down based on what the President does your life is going to be very unsettled.

In our Western society today we have the mistaken belief that everyone should be happy all the time. It is a symptom of our entitlement mentality. People want free healthcare. College students want free tuition. Here's a newsflash for some people: Life can be tough sometimes. There is no free lunch. Someone is going to pay for that free healthcare and free tuition. Grown up people understand that they have to provide for their own needs. If your hope is based on the belief that the government or some other entity is going to take care of you then your hope is based on the wrong thing.

Our hope must be focused on the one thing or person that can never change, and that is God. We celebrate Christmas because the birth of Jesus Christ ushered in the one hope that will never fail. Our expectations of God might fail us at times, but He will never fail.

For many elections now I have reminded congregations and others that God does not fly on Air Force One. He's not up for election every four years, and He doesn't make decisions based on the latest polls, how many in Congress He can get to agree with His policies or the make-up of the Supreme Court. He provides us with a solid foundation for our lives that we can rely on regardless of what occurs in our lives, and that is the foundation for a hope that will never fail us.

If you believe that the election of Donald Trump is going to usher in a new era of suffering in America, I just finished reading Timothy Keller's book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering. I mentioned it a few days ago and said that it would probably be my favorite book of 2016, and now that I've finished it I have not changed my mind. It is an excellent book that speaks to this whole issue of pain and suffering and the evil that exists in the world. As he points out, a Christian worldview does not deny the existence of evil and suffering, but it also points to the one true source of hope we have when such times come into our lives. If you've not read this book it should be on your 2017 reading list.

Preach to the hurting

Someone has said that if you preach to the hurting you will never lack an audience. How true that is! Yesterday morning our choir sang There is a Balm in Gilead. As I went to the pulpit to preach following their special I thought how thankful we are that there is healing available for each of us. Just prior to the choir's special we had a time of prayer, and many in our congregation shared prayer needs they had. There was a wide variety of needs expressed, and I thought that the balm the choir sang about could address every one of those needs.

While preparing a sermon I remind myself that there will be hurting people listening. I want to offer them hope. I can't take away their pain, but I can point them to the One who can. I cannot bring healing into their lives, but I can tell them that Jesus Christ is the Great Physician who can heal the worst of the issues that bring pain into our lives. I can also often demonstrate that the challenges they are facing are in reality symptomatic of the spiritual issues they are trying to resolve.

Congregations are full of people trying to make sense of life. About the time they think they have it resolved something new challenges their thinking. A person struggling with long-term unemployment may wonder what the future holds. A parent with a child that has drifted away from the way it was raised brings many questions for that parent and a sense of dread for the fate of that child.

Many sitting in the pews try to mask their pain. Outwardly, they appear to have it all together. They smile the biggest, they sing the loudest, but when they lay down at night their fears and pain rise to the surface. Do not let those masks fool you. Behind them are hurting, fearful people who need who need the healing that only God can provide. It is our job to point them to that healing.

Life can get challenging

This has been quite an interesting week. As mentioned in yesterday's post, Madison FBC called me as their interim pastor this week, and I will begin in that capacity starting Sunday. I had a meeting this morning with the Associate Pastor to get some information about events coming up soon. I also had a chance to talk to the office manager for a few minutes. Both are great people who will be a joy to work with. I've known both of them for several years, and they are super people. I've also known the Children's Director for several years and consider her one of the best. As in any transition, there will be challenges, but with the quality of the church staff and lay leadership I think we'll meet those challenges.

Much of my attention has been focused on preparing for an auction I have for tomorrow (Saturday). The family has moved out of state and sold their home which closes a few days after the auction which means we need to sell their personal property. As the week has progressed we have encountered one challenge after another.

• The date of the auction is the same as a festival in a small community about a mile from the site of the auction. Trying to not conflict any more than necessary I moved the auction to a noon starting time which is later than usual.
• I was told this week that part of the major highway that will bring people to the auction will be shut down for about an hour for a parade. If things run on time it should reopen about a half hour before the auction is scheduled to begin.
• We have a 60 percent change of showers and thunderstorms throughout the day of the auction. I've had to set up everything with the expectation that most of it will have to sell inside. This will make for crowded conditions if the number of people I'm expecting shows up.
• Several of my regular workers are gone on vacation. Due to the closing on the house we could not schedule a day when everyone will be back. I will be using experienced people, but they haven't worked with me before.
• Since I initially looked at what will be sold the family brought out many items that I had not seen. This will be a big sale.
• The state highway decided to mow the grass on the roads leading to the auction. In doing so, they ran over my directional signs tearing them to shreds. I'll have to install new ones on my way to the sale Saturday morning.
• On Wednesday I was checking my supplies and realized I had almost no clerking sheets. I thought I had a half-box full of clerking sheets, but it turned out that box contained other supplies. I quickly ordered the sheets and asked that they be shipped overnight. Doing so made the shipping costs more than double the cost of the sheets I ordered, but I had no choice. You cannot have an auction without clerking sheets. I called that extra cost "stupid tax." It's the price you pay for doing stupid things like not checking my supply inventory earlier.
• I've been battling a cold since last Saturday. Although I no longer have a sore throat, I'm fighting sinus issues and coughing spells. None of that is good for an auctioneer.

This week has definitely been a challenge, but I still see God at work in my life. What if I hadn't checked my quantity of clerking sheets until the day of the auction? When I realized I had more to sell than I first realized I asked a fellow auctioneer if he could sell in a second ring for part of the auction. He agreed, and found the additional people I needed to work the auction. My signs are destroyed, but last year I had additional signs made, so I have them available to put up. With the expectation of rain we probably won't be able to park people in the field behind the house, but the house sits on a corner so there is plenty of paved county road for people to park. I'm not 100%, but my cold has improved. I'm thankful it didn't begin this Saturday just before the auction. The rain? Well, I can't do much about that, but we'll see what God might do. Maybe it will hold off long enough to sell what needs to sell outside, and even if it doesn't, we'll make it work.

Just because life can throw challenges at us doesn't mean that God isn't at work. As each one of these challenges have been met I've been able to say, "Thank you, Lord." I'm sure there will be times in this interim pastorate I'm about to begin when things become very challenging, but I also know that God will be with me and others as we lead this church through this transition period.

Don't ever assume that because things are difficult that God has abandoned you or is no longer interested in your life. I believe God is at work even when we do not necessarily see his activity. The Bible is very clear that God is interested in our lives and ministries. Let your challenges drive you to your knees in prayer and let them cause you to lift up your eyes to the heavens where your help comes from.

The intolerance of those who demand tolerance

How many people who support any of the Republican presidential candidates have protested an appearance by one of the Democrat candidates? Perhaps there are a few present with signs advocating for one of the Republican candidates, but we've seen no media coverage of riots and violence except by supporters of Democratic candidates opposing Republican candidates.

It's fast becoming a common theme. The people who demand others be tolerant of their views demonstrate a complete lack of tolerance towards anyone holding an opposing view. The same thing is true on many university campuses. Conservative speakers are often uninvited after students and faculty protest their appearance.

Bakeries owned by Christians are forced to provide wedding cakes for same-sex couples. If they refuse they are heavily fined and may be ordered to attend diversity training. Why are the same-sex advocates not ordered to attend diversity training so they will better understand the values the Christian owners hold?

Those who held to evolution first said they were just asking for the right to teach their theory in schools alongside creation teaching. They got that right. Now, anyone who attempts to teach creation rather than evolution is accused of promoting religion and is at risk of losing their jobs. Yet another example of the intolerance of those who demand tolerance.

Recently, a study was released that showed that a majority of Americans believe that conservative, biblical beliefs are extreme and those that hold to those beliefs are extremists. Sixty percent of Americans in the study claimed that any effort to convert someone to your religious beliefs was extreme. This would put most conservative, evangelical Christians in the category of being an extremist since evangelism is one of the marks of such Christians.

If we take that to a logical conclusion, evidently sixty percent of Americans would put Billy Graham in the same category as ISIS. I doubt most of those responding to the study would admit to believing that, but in essence that is what they are saying.

This demonstrates the challenges ahead for the Christian church, at least those of us who hold to evangelical doctrine. We have gone from being a nation who embraced Judeo-Christian values and beliefs, to a nation who began to challenge them, to a nation who merely tolerated such beliefs, and now to a nation who holds such beliefs to be extremist.

Sadly, it also points to a difficult future for America. No nation has ever turned its back on God and prospered. Once again, we have learned nothing from history. We have been warned for a long time that we were on a slippery slope. We're no longer on that slope; we have fallen off the edge, and I hurt for our children and grandchildren.

There are exciting days ahead for the church

No one would argue that the church in the US is not facing serious problems. Declining attendance. declining finances, aging congregations, a general mistrust of millennials towards religious institutions, divisions between and within denominations, and a general rejection of traditional biblical teachings by lawmakers and the courts have diluted the church's impact on society in the 21st century. Still, I believe there are exciting days ahead for the church.

The things that have had a negative impact on the church in recent decades teach us that doing church as usual isn't an option, and that's a good thing. The church had become too complacent over the years, and the problems facing the church has forced us out of that complacency.

Right now we are living in an in-between time. We may recognize that what we've been doing isn't working, but we still haven't identified what will work. We have more questions than answers. How do we reach the millennials who have little respect for organized religion? How do we present the Gospel to a postmodern culture that rejects absolute truth? How do we help Christians mature in their faith? How can the church respond biblically to the immigration issue that has so divided our nation? The same question can be asked about the racial divide that continues to plague our society. These are just the tip of the iceberg of all the questions the church needs to answer if it wants to have any sort of effective ministry to our society.

The questions are tough and so are the challenges facing the church, but I remain an optimist about the church for one very simple reason.  Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Mt. 16:18)" Although we may not know the answers to all our questions, He does. We may not know how to address the many challenges confronting the church, but He does. As the church seeks Him and allows Him to lead us, those answers will be revealed to us.

I'm convinced the church will look much different in the next few years than it does now. Some find that threatening, but I find it exciting. Those changes will enable the church to once again minister to an ever-changing culture. Just as Jesus Christ rose from the dead, the church will rise above its current struggles and once again become a light to the world pointing a lost world to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is exciting!

Turn lemons into lemonade

Several years ago our small church invested in new sound equipment. We had it professionally installed, and it was working great. At least we were no longer picking up the trucker CB radios as they went down the highway about a mile away! A few weeks later someone broke into the church and stole the equipment.

We reported it to the police and to our insurance company. Someone from the local paper heard about the theft and contacted me for an interview.This was a great human interest story about a small, rural church that had its new sound system stolen just a few weeks before Christmas. It made the front page of our hometown newspaper.

A few days later I was contacted by a television station in Louisville, Kentucky who wanted to interview me for their news program. The reporter came to our church, interviewed me, and a day or so later our church was on their news broadcast.

One of the questions that was asked was how this theft would affect our Christmas. My response was that our sound system had been stolen, but no one could steal Christmas. We would proceed with our usual Christmas plans. I remained very positive throughout the interview

The insurance company quickly got us a check to replace the sound system and we were able to have it installed before our Christmas program. What was really amazing was what happened a few days later. I received a call from a security company who had seen the story on the news and offered to install a security system in our church at no cost. It turned out to be a great system!

In January the sheriff's office called to tell me they thought they had located our sound system. A local farmer had been walking along a hill on his farm and saw a bunch of equipment that had been thrown over the hill from the road. I took one of our church leaders to the sheriff's office and we were able to identify it as our equipment that had been stolen. Evidently, between the local paper and the Louisville news story the equipment was too hot to keep so the thieves tossed it.

Having our new sound system stolen was a real downer. My first reaction was disbelief which quickly turned to anger. However, remaining angry wasn't going to solve anything. Our congregation was understandably upset as well so it became important for me to lead us in getting our focus back in a positive direction. I was very proud of our church at how quickly we were able to do that. As a result, we not only got the system replaced in time for our Christmas program we got a new security system as well, but ever more importantly, we had the opportunity to grow deeper in our faith and have a positive witness to our community.

Others have faced your struggles before you

In 1967 I went away to Navy boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois. The first week was especially hard. An experienced recruit who was half-way finished with boot camp was in charge of us during that first week, and he was determined to make it as difficult for us as it had been for him. It's probably safe to say that all 80 of us in our company hated him...until the last evening he had us.

The next morning we would leave processing and go across the highway to really begin our boot camp experience. Before we turned in that final night he called us all together and admitted he knew he had been difficult on us. He said it would only get harder when we went across the road the next morning, but he wanted us to remember one thing. We would never be asked to do something we could not do, and we would never be asked to do something that tens of thousands of sailors had not done before us. He assured us that the things we might be asked to do may seem impossible, but they were not.

I've never forgotten that advice. It serve me well during my 12 week boot camp experience and throughout my four year enlistment. I still remind myself of those words of wisdom even though it has been 48 years since they were spoken to me. Life can get hard sometimes, and it's helpful to remember that others have  faced the same challenges I've had to face, and they came through those challenges victorious.

Like every bivocational pastor, I faced numerous challenges during my ministry. There were times I felt like giving up. A few times I wasn't sure I could do what needed to be done, and there were times I wasn't sure it was worth it even if I could. Then God would remind me that He would never ask me to do something I could not do and that thousands of other bivocational pastors had not done before me. That reminder never failed to renew my strength and my commitment to the calling God had given me.

No doubt, you have had those challenges that threatened to overwhelm you. Family and friends may have even told you that it's too much and you need to give up. Please don't do that. Whatever you are going through, you are not the first one to experience it. Others have overcome the same challenges that you face, and you can too.

My latest book, The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide, tells the story of ten ministers I have coached over the years. These ten were chosen from the many I've worked with because the challenges they were facing will be common to many of us in ministry. In our coaching sessions each minister has the opportunity to tell me what he or she wanted to work on in that session. We tried to identify the main issue and find solutions to address that issue. At the end of each chapter, the ministers tell how they benefited from our coaching relationship and the victories they enjoyed over their challenges.

Chances are good you will find some of your challenges in their stories. You may even find that the solutions that worked for them will also work for you. At the very least, you'll be encouraged to know that others have faced the same issues you face and were not destroyed by those challenges. Remember, others have faced your struggles before you and found ways to emerge victorious over them. So can you.

When things look dark remember Sunday's coming

Regular readers have probably noticed I've not posted any articles on my blog for the past several days. I was supposed to be gone on vacation. Unfortunately, due to several factors which included a kidney stone that decided to move on the first day, I didn't get to go anywhere. I ended up canceling the vacation but decided to go ahead with my plan to not write on the blog for the days I was supposed to be away.

It turned out to be quite a week with many things that could have been addressed. The church shooting in Charleston, the resignation of Tullian Tchividjian after his confession of an affair, and the SCOTUS ruling that makes same sex marriage legal in all 50 states would have likely been addressed if I had been blogging this past week.

As I've considered what to say about these events now that I'm back I decided to say very little. There has already been much written about each of them, and I'm sure that others will continue to write and discuss each of them. At this point, I don't think there is anything I could say that hasn't already been written, so I'm just going to say one thing and move on.

None of these events caught God by surprise. At no point this past week did God ever once look at what was occurring and shake his head in amazement. I'm sure some will ask that if God knew this young man was going to kill the people in the church why didn't God stop him? Why didn't God stop this young pastor from having the affair that forced him to resign from the pulpit at Coral Ridge Church? One atheist who supported the Supreme Court's decision on same sex marriage asked why, if God exists and is against such marriage, did he not answer the many prayers that Christians prayed that the court would not rule in favor of such marriages?

Quite honestly, I can't answer any of those questions and feel no reason to try. I guess if I could explain God's actions I would be God, and I'm not, and neither are you. What I do know is that God was not surprised by any of these events. I also know that he is still God, and in the end his decision on each of these events will be the only one that matters.

As we study the Bible we often find that the times were the darkest just before God turned things around. We see that scenario played out time and time again in the life of Israel in the Old Testament and even more in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

That Friday when Jesus died on the cross was the darkest day this world has ever known. No doubt, the demons of hell celebrated the death of the Son of God. Those who had followed Jesus must have felt that the world was coming to an end. What no one realized was that it was only Friday. Sunday was coming. When Sunday morning dawned the stone was rolled away, and the world hasn't been the same since.

No, the events of the past few days did not catch God by surprise, and Jesus is still alive. The church is not to give up hope. We are not to hide behind locked doors. We have work to do. God's will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven so let each of us be about our Father's business.

Stop complaining about problems and do something about them

There is a lot of hang-wringing going on in many churches today.  We are worried about the lack of young people in our congregations.  We are concerned about the declining attendance and finances we see in many churches. We complain about how we are losing the culture wars today and the little impact Christian values and teaching has on today's society.  We rightly point out how society is attempting to make faith a private affair that has no place in the public square.  Christians are being forced to set aside their personal beliefs to accommodate the wishes of people who hold to different world views.  At a recent pastor's meeting I attended one of the pastors asked what I saw as the future of the church.  I cited these issues and others and responded that the church in America is facing difficult days ahead.  The reason for these difficult days is because most churches are willing to wring their hands, remember the "good old days," and do nothing else.

If you want a better future for your nation, your church, your family, your business, or for yourself then you have to become proactive and create that future.  It does no good to complain about the problems if we are not engaged in correcting them.  If you're concerned about the lack of young people in your church, then do something about it.  Make whatever changes need to be made in your church to make it more attractive to the people you want to reach.  My guess is few churches will do that because to make those kinds of changes often make the older members of the congregation uncomfortable.  Too often, these folks prefer to stay comfortable and complain.

I have read that a minimum of 50 percent of the population in every county in the United States is unchurched, and in some areas it is as high as 80 percent or higher.What is your church doing to intentionally reach out to these individuals to share the gospel with them?   Denominations report a continual decline in the number of baptisms in their churches which suggests that we are not doing a very effective job of evangelism.  Is your church wringing its hands about this problem, or are you doing something about it?

Likewise, what are you doing about addressing the social issues you are concerned about?  Is your church taking a biblical stand on these issues?  Too many churches are silent on these issues.  While they may spend a lot of time in the safety of their Sunday school classes complaining about what is happening in society, many of them are unwilling to go public with their concerns.  At the same time, some go too far and demonstrate an ugly spirit towards those with whom they disagree.  That is never necessary.

Christians who do not vote have no right to complain about social issues or a decline in morality.  Proverbs 29:2 tells us, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."  How do many bureaucrats and judges get their positions?  They are placed there by the persons elected to office.  These people would not be chosen for those positions if their worldviews did not match that of the one selecting them.  It's not hard to grasp that if we want people of high moral character in decision making positions we need to elect righteous, godly people to office who will then appoint similar persons to their positions.  When conservative Christians stay at home on election day, they forfeit their opportunity to vote into office persons who would best reflect their positions on the moral and social issues of the day.

However, I also need to say that I do not believe that our salvation will come in on Air Force One.  The Bible is clear that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities of the air.  In other words, our primary battle is a spiritual one.  Therefore, I believe that we must be actively seeking to elect godly men and women into office AND we need to be actively engaged in prayer to defeat the spiritual forces that oppose the work of God and the church.  Many churches have done away with prayer meetings, and many that still exist are rather anemic and weak.  The church needs to repent of its complacency and lack of spiritual fervor and pray that revival would first sweep through the church and then out into our nation.

As bad as things appear to be at the present, they are nothing compared to what the first century church faced.  Yet, within a few years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ they became known as the people who turned the world upside-down.  Filled with the Holy Spirit those Christians boldly proclaimed the gospel everywhere they went.  Threats and prison could not stop them.  They were determined to tell the world about Jesus Christ.  We can follow the example of these first-century Christians or we can sit around and wring our hands.  Which will you choose?

Self-discipline is the key to success in any endeavor

This is one of my most popular posts of 2014. I hope you find it helpful again.


During a Q&A session at a bivocational pastor's conference I was leading a few years ago one pastor asked why so many churches stab their pastors in the back.  I responded that I wasn't so sure that we get stabbed in the back as often as we shoot ourselves in the foot.  While I have encountered some mean-spirited individuals who caused problems for every pastor they had, I have met even more pastors who made poor decisions that were the result of their difficulties.  In some cases, these pastors left a trail of such decisions behind them as they went from church to church, never learning from their mistakes and never understanding why their ministries were so troubled.

I know one pastor who got into trouble with his church because he played golf 4-5 times a week and was seldom available to church members except on Sundays.  Another pastor found himself in trouble over comments he made in social media that seemed unduly harsh and critical to the leadership.  A third pastor created problems over his inability to follow through on promises and tasks that he agreed to perform.  A fourth pastor refused to visit persons when they went to the hospital, and on the rare occasions when he did visit he would not pray for them.  The list goes on....

The root cause of each of these problems was a lack of self-discipline.  These pastors failed to discipline themselves to perform the ministry they had been called to do.  Even when they were confronted by leadership in their churches about their behavior and given specific steps they needed to take to make things better, they refused.  They saw this as an attack on them, not as an effort on the part of their church leadership to help them succeed in their ministry.

Tim Irwin writes about this same issue in his excellent book Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership (NelsonFree).  Irwin explores the reasons six well-known corporate leaders failed and eventually lost their jobs. While he writes about corporate leadership, there are many principles that easily transfer into ministerial leadership.  If I was the head of an organization this would be one of the books anyone in a leadership position would be required to read.  At the end of the book he lists five lessons that can be learned from these failures, but in my mind a lack of self-discipline is at the core of each failure.

Self-discipline will help you say the helpful thing, not the first thing that pops into your mind when you are upset or disappointed.  Self-discipline will enable you to complete the task you are working on as well as keeping your promises to others.  Self-discipline will help you take the high road in a conflict and look for a way for both parties to win whenever possible.  At the same time, self-discipline will give you the courage to stand for what is right and not back down when tempted to compromise your values or vision.  In the end, self-discipline will help you succeed in all your efforts.

Watch out for the little foxes

In Song of Solomon 2:15 we read that it is the little foxes that spoil the vines.  In biblical times the vineyard keepers had to watch for the foxes to prevent them from destroying the vineyards.  The principle behind this for us today is that it is often little things that create huge problems if left unattended.  This week I've battled some "little foxes" that were not huge issues, but they were a major distraction and source of frustration,

Ants.  Our wet spring has brought the ants in the house.  Leave an empty Coke can on the countertop overnight and you could be sure it would be surrounded by ants then next morning.  We tried a couple of home remedies that people told us about with limited results.  A friend of mine reported he had purchased something to get rid of ants and was convinced the main ingredient was watermelon juice.  He said he never saw so many ants after he started using it!  Mid-week I found a product that seems to have worked.  This is only the third day, but we are seeing a drastic reduction in the number of ants, and the ones we are seeing continue to eat the product we bought.  We are hopeful that within a few more days the ant problem will be resolved.

Dandelions.  Every year I use a fertilizer with weed control on my yard.  Most years we have virtually no dandelions in the yard, but this year has been an exception.  Again, maybe it's due to a wetter spring, but regardless of the reason we really don't like dandelions and we have many to dislike.  Early yesterday and today while the grass was still damp from dew I've spread more weed control on the yard. Again, we are hopeful this will resolve the problem.

Ministry is often filled with frustrations.  Sometimes it is big issues that keep us awake at night, but often it's the little things that we never address.  It may be a volunteer that is serving in a place that is not a good fit for his gifts.  He is frustrated and so are we, but we never address it.  Perhaps it's a small issue with the church property.  I recently talked with a pastor new to his church who was very frustrated with a moldy smell in one of the entrances to the church.  Over the years a small leak began in the roof that was never fixed.  Now the carpet in that entrance is nasty looking and smells musty.  This is a primary entrance many people use to enter the church, and the pastor is concerned about the impression this makes to first-time guests.  I pointed out that if the leak had been fixed when it was first noticed this problem would not exist.  I also reminded him that this is a very small area with a metal, flat roof over it.  My guess is the leak could be repaired, the carpet replaced, and the entry way repainted for less than $1,000.00.  A small amount to control a little fox and make the entrance more inviting to people.

I don't know what the little foxes are in your ministry, but I do know they can often be a source of great frustration.  They can also get in the way of effective ministry.  Little foxes have a tendency to not go away on their own.  Ignoring them is not a solution.  Dealing with them is, and the sooner the better.  Zig Ziglar used to say that if you have to eat a frog, don't look at that sucker too long.  When you identify a little fox, deal with it right then.  Once you do, you can move on to more productive ways to use your time.

I would encourage any church leader to read my book, The Healthy Pastor: Easing the Pressures of Ministry for additional helps in handling the various stresses of ministry.

Onward Christian Soldiers

"Onward Christian Soldiers" is a song I seldom hear sung in the church these days.  When I was growing up it was a song that we sang often, but today it's not even found in many of the modern hymnals.  Some believe it is not a politically correct song or that it presents the church as a military organization.  I don't know how many Christians read the news these days, but if they don't know it we are in a battle to preserve our beliefs and our nation, and it is past time that we begin to stand up for what we believe and stop wanting to hold hands around a campfire singing Kumbaya.

For the record, I am not advocating that we form a Christian paramilitary organization or a terrorist group.  What I am challenging Christians to do is to become informed about what is happening and be willing to stand for what we profess to believe.  Just this week I've read that one organization is challenging a high school sports team's right to wear T-shirts they have bought with their own money that has a Bible verse printed on it.  This morning the news contained a story of a school teacher who took a Bible away from a second grader who was reading it during personal reading time.  The teacher claimed it was not appropriate reading material even though the school has Bibles in its library.  Every year at this time various schools will forbid their student valedictorians from mentioning their faith.  Communities are restricting the right of homeowners to use their homes for small group Bible studies through zoning laws and restricting the rights of churches to build new facilities.  This week I read another story of an atheist group challenging the use of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance repeated in one school's classrooms.  The list goes on and on, and the really interesting thing is that we never read of any other religious faiths having their practices or beliefs attacked.  It is only the Christians who are having their religious freedoms taken away.

I believe there are two reasons for this.  The first is spiritual in nature.  The devil knows that there is no other religious belief system that can do him and his work any harm but Christianity.  For centuries he managed to keep the Bible out of the hands of the people, but once Christian people were able to read it for themselves he found his kingdom weakened greatly.  He then began to challenge the integrity of the Bible, and people became convinced that is was nothing more than fables and myths rather than the Word of God.  Even in the Garden of Eden he revealed this strategy by asking Eve, "Has God said...?" causing her to doubt the things God had clearly revealed to her and Adam.  It is a strategy that has remained effective even today.  Today he has managed to convince many people that there is no such thing as absolute truth, so nothing the Bible says or the Christian church teaches has any validity.  People are free to believe it or not, but we are not free to try to pass our beliefs on to others as true.  In many countries of the world if Christians attempt to convert someone to the Christian faith they are at risk of severe punishment and even death.  Could such laws be enacted here?  While many are convinced that could never happen, I am no longer so sure given the direction our nation has been going.

The second reason we are losing our religious freedoms is because we refuse to fight for those freedoms.  Very few Christians voted in the last election, and it is the politicians who have made it possible for our freedoms to come under attack.  If you did not vote for persons who hold to the Christian beliefs you claim to believe in, then you are allowing others to determine who will rule over you in the political arena.  If you will not remove School board members who buckle under to every threat that comes from atheist groups then you deserve schools that take Bibles away from second graders.  If you are not willing to publicly support decency and Christian values in your community then you deserve to live in a community in which those values are slowly being taken from you.

Those opposed to the Christian faith want it removed from the public square, and we must demand our right to be there.  It is time that Christians be recognized as people who are informed voters, that we will not sell our vote for free cell phones, and that we will not accept people to serve in public office who will oppose our values and our beliefs.  But, even more important than this, we must become people who are on our knees praying for revival for our nation.  2 Chronicles 7: 14 is still true.  If God's people will humble themselves and pray and seek God, He will hear those prayers and come and heal our land.  Voting addresses the political aspect of the battle we are in, and prayer addresses the spiritual battle.  Both are critical to the future direction of our nation.  I believe our nation is worth preserving for all the future generations who will come after us.  "Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war...."  We are in a spiritual battle for the heart and soul of our nation.  God has given us the weapons to win this battle, but we must choose to do so.  Rise up church!

The greatest lesson we can learn from failure

No one likes to fail.  I know I don't.  I'm a very competitive person who likes to win at everything I do.  But, the fact is that we often learn more from our failures than from our successes.  I became a better pastor as I worked through those times when I failed to reach certain goals.  As a leader of a small business and other endeavors with which I've been involved, I learned more about leadership during times of failure than I ever learned from my successes.  As others have said, failure really isn't failure if you learn something from it.  But, what is the best way to learn from our failures?  I believe it begins when we take a look in the mirror.

Mark Miller, in his book The Heart of Leadership: Becoming a Leader People Want to Follow (BK Business), writes, "Every time you experience an outcome that doesn't meet your expectations, look in the mirror and ask yourself how you contributed to that failure.  Ask yourself what you'll need to do differently in the future to get a different result.  Identify lessons from every failure - personal, team, or organizational.  A great question to ask is, 'What did I do, or fail to do, that contributed to this outcome?'"

This is not something most of us enjoy doing.  We usually prefer to blame someone else or some circumstance for our failures, but the reality is that we have often done or failed to do something that contributed to the failure.  Perhaps we failed to create sufficient urgency to make our proposed changes acceptable to those we are leading.  Maybe we failed to predict the level of opposition we would encounter if we attempted a task.  For newer leaders it may be an issue of not having established sufficient trust in those we are leading for them to follow us.  Maybe we failed to see the little things that should have warned us there were problems.  Leaders bear some responsibility in almost every failure we experience, and the greatest lesson we can learn from our failures is what we can do to avoid making those same mistakes again.  But, to learn that we first have to be willing to look in the mirror and accept responsibility for those things for which we are responsible.

Sometime back I wrote an e-book that looked at the mistakes I made that led to the closure of our small business.  The book is called Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.  It is available as a Kindle book here.  In the book I discuss the many small mistakes I made that eventually led to us having to close our business.  Some friends who have read it have accused me of being too hard on myself, but I don't agree with them.  While many things did contribute to our losing the business, the ultimate responsibility of that failure rests on me and decisions I made (and didn't make) that could have led to a different outcome.  Writing that book was not an easy experience and could only happen after I looked in the mirror and asked the kinds of questions Miller poses in his book.  But, as painful as that experience was, I learned so much from it that I now carry on in my various leadership roles today.

As much as we may despise failure we can learn much from it if we are willing to look in the mirror and ask the hard questions of ourselves.  Use those disappointing times to grow as a leader.  If you do, you'll find fewer failures and greater successes in your future endeavors.

Life's unexpected surprises

As a Baby Boomer approaching retirement age it's often funny to read some of the differences between when we were younger and our lives today.  One of my favorites is "When we were young we listened to the Rolling Stones; now we have rolling stones."  After this past weekend that may not be one of my favorites any more.

In an earlier post I commented on how much I enjoyed speaking at a small church conference this past weekend in Boston.  What nobody knew until now is that when I arrived in Boston I was beginning to pass a kidney stone.  I suspected what was happening because this is not the first time I've experienced this.  Nothing like thinking that you may have a kidney stone when you are several hundreds of miles away from home in a place you've never been.  Fortunately, although some symptoms continued during my trip there was no pain involved, and I was able to complete my assignment and return home without incident.  On Tuesday morning the stone passed.  It was small enough that it caused only minor discomfort, but it did create a lot of uncertainty during the process!

I've had one stone that was large enough that it had to be surgically removed, and a couple that created enough pain that I went to the hospital ER.  No kidney stone is a pleasant experience, but they pale in contrast to what others are experiencing.  A couple of my Facebook minister friends have reported on their sites in the past two weeks that they have been diagnosed with cancer.  Another FB friend recently shared that his college-age daughter has also been diagnosed with cancer and is currently seeking advice on how to best address it.  I know another pastor who has just been released from the hospital after spending weeks in Intensive Care and rehab. 

We often go through life thinking we know what the future holds when, in realty, none of us does.  An accident, a diagnosis, a betrayal are only a few of the things that can change our best-laid plans.  Many of us, including myself, want to be in control of our lives, but life has a funny way of reminding us that we are not.  It is during such times that I wonder once again how people can handle life's unexpected surprises without God.  Even more, I wonder why they would want to.

Life may often catch us by surprise, but it never catches God by surprise.  He understands what we are going through.  Although I often wish that he would protect us from the negative events that come into our lives he does not.  He does guarantee that he will never leave us nor forsake us as we walk through all the things that come into a person's life.  It was a promise I reminded him about several times in the past few days, and a promise that always brings me comfort.

Anyone involved in ministry for a length of time will find an abundance of surprises!  No matter how long one is in ministry people will continue to surprise us with their immaturity, their expectations, their lack of vision, and sometimes their mean spirits.  Fortunately, we will also be surprised by those who will excite us with their rapid spiritual growth, their passion for the things of God, their willingness to serve, and their unconditional love.  And, when we are with either groups of people, God is there with us.

My prayer for you is that the next time you are in the midst of one of life's unexpected surprises you will experience the presence of God and know the peace that comes with that presence.  Sometimes that may be the only thing you have to hold onto for a season, but I've been through enough of those kinds of times that I know that is enough to sustain you. 

Have a blessed week!

When life throws you a curve ball

The past two weeks have been interesting to say the least.  Two weekends ago I spent much of my time in bed or on the couch fighting a nasty cold.  Even though I'm feeling better I still have some cough due to drainage that makes it challenging to speak for long stretches of time.  Near the end of that week the heater motor went out in my old van.  Of course, like much of the nation, we are learning more than we ever wanted to know about polar vortex.  Not a good time to have no heat.  I tried to drive it as little as possible and pray the heater motor would kick on.  Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't.

Monday, we got hit with another big snowfall.  Although I probably should not have done so, I went out to shovel the driveway before we drove over it.  I shoveled the back end of the driveway first and backed the vehicles down so I could do the top part.  When I started the van the heater came on.  Great!  It could clean off the windshield while I shoveled snow.  However, when I pulled the van back up and turned off the ignition the heater kept running.  The only way to shut if off was to unhook the battery cable.  What compounded that problem was that I had to use the van to haul items I was selling at auction on Saturday.  Friday was haul day, and this happened on Thursday.  I quickly called my garage and they were able to get it fixed.

That week the individual who was to provide food service for the auction called saying he could not do so.  He has had health problems and had to go in for a heart cath.  I quickly called some other auctioneers and got the name of another person who might be able to help.  She agreed to provide the food so another problem was avoided.

On Friday my grandson and I spent eight hours hauling items to the auction site.  Others joined us after they got off work and we spent another four hours setting up the auction.  Everything looked great.  That night we got hit with another blizzard that dumped more snow with some major drifting.  The temperatures plummeted.  We had no choice but to go ahead with the auction.  Only a couple of dozen people braved the weather to come (God bless them!), but it was definitely a buyer's market.  By the end of the sale my voice was almost completely gone and never really came back the next day either.  Lots of cough drops and water to keep everything moist.

As we were hauling on Friday the garage door on my wife's side of the garage threw its chain.  My garage door had not worked in about a month, but I was unable to have it fixed because my side was full of items for the auction.  I called the garage door company and was told they could not be here until Monday.  We had to manually raise my door to finish taking everything out to the van.  By this time we were really wondering if God was sending us a message.

Nobody was hurt.  No one was diagnosed with an incurable disease.  No one went bankrupt.  Throughout the weekend I wanted to keep everything in perspective.  A lot of people have much worse problems than I experienced.  But, when one problem after another starts piling on top of you it's easy to wonder what's going on.

Sometimes it seems all life does is throw you curveballs.  It can be somewhat suffocating at times, and it can get very easy to become discouraged and want to give up.  Many potential major league ball players never made it to the majors because they could not hit a curve ball, and some people never experience victory in life because they can't overcome the curve balls that come their way.

Jesus taught us that storms come into everyone's life, and when they come the only way to withstand them is by being firmly grounded on a solid foundation.  He is that foundation.  When I went to bed Saturday night I thanked God for a warm house, for good food to eat, for a family who loves me and one another, and for Jesus Christ who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.  When I woke up Sunday morning I prayed the same prayer, and did so again this morning.  I am a blessed man and I owe that to my Lord and Savior.

Today, I have to wait for the garage door repairman, and while I am waiting I will make two phone calls to confirm information for a couple of bivocational conferences I'll be doing on the east coast in March.  I'll spend some time preparing for a conference call from a church's pastoral search committee later this week and for a meeting I will attend at Campbellsville University this week.  Life is good because Jesus Christ is Lord over all!

Finding hope in the midst of adversity

The following is a guest post by Terry Dorsett, a friend of mine who shares my commitment to bivocational ministry.  Terry is now serving as a church planter in Connecticut.

 

For eight years I was the bivocational pastor of Faith Community Church in Barre, Vermont. The church started in my home with two other families and eventually grew to over 200 in worship. From the beginning, the congregation tended to attract young people from difficult situations. In time, many of families those young people came from, also found their way into the church. My wife and I, and the other elders, loved them, cared for them, and did all that we could to help them find health and joy through faith in Christ. Many such families were gloriously transformed by the power of the gospel.

While there were numerous means that God used for these transformations, one of them was a focus on finding hope in the midst of adversity. Far too many people think they cannot find hope, joy or peace until all their troubles go away. That is unrealistic. We live a sin-cursed world and trouble is all around us. Part of maturing spiritually is learning to find hope and joy in the midst of all of our struggles.

Part of helping the congregation find hope in the midst of adversity included preaching through various sections of the scriptures that highlighted victory over circumstances. One such series of sermons that I preached at Faith Community Church revolved around the book of Malachi. The study showed how the announcements of coming judgment in Malachi actually contain a thread of hope that helps Christians understand the refining process of adversity. Though learning how to recognize hope in the middle of difficulty can be hard, it is possible. So many people asked for the notes that I published them on my blog, www.terrydorsett.com. Our church also made a DVD set that sold out each time we did a duplication run. Realizing that these materials seemed to meet a spiritual need in the lives of many people far outside the scope of ministry at Faith Community Church, I decided to put the study into book form. The book is laid out in seven lessons which contain historical context, theological truth and practical application. It can be used individually, or as a small group study. It is my prayer that this book will help people who are experiencing real challenges in their lives find hope through faith in Jesus Christ.

Though I have now moved away from Faith Community Church, my heart still aches for those going through deep pain and adversity. In my new church planting ministry in the greater Hartford, Connecticut area, I continue to meet people who have been beat up by the struggles of life and need hope. I pray that God continues to use this book to help people find hope in Him. All of the proceeds from the sale of the book support our family’s ministry to hurting people. I encourage you to check out this Bible study at one of the links below: Digital version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ASDEOGU Print version: http://www.amazon.com/Malachi-Finding-Hope-Midst-Adversity/dp/1105660087/ Malachi: Finding Hope in the Midst of Adversity

The DVD series can also be ordered from Next Generation Evangelistic Network, 47 Bath Crescent Lane, Bloomfield, CT 06002 for $25, which includes postage and handling.

Bio:

Terry Dorsett serves the North American Mission Board as the church planting director for the state of Connecticut. He is a graduate of both Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous books and a frequent writer for Baptist Press. Over 4,000 people a month visit his blog at www.terrydorsett.com