You can't move forward looking in your rearview mirror.

One of my favorite Bible verses is found in Philippians 3: 13-14 in which Paul writes, "one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." He understood that he could not accomplish the tasks God had for him if he spent his time focusing on the past events of his life. This is a lesson for each of us and our churches."

Zig Ziglar used to say, "Yesterday ended last night. Today is a brand new day and it's yours." There is no one who would not like to be able to change things about our past, but the truth is we can't. We cannot undo past mistakes. We cannot change past hurts. They are part of our lives, but they do not have to control our present opportunities, and they do not have to dictate our futures.

As I mentioned in this blog last week, as a denominational leader I worked with many churches that had painful events take place in their past. Pastors had failed them. Church controllers had abused them. Some had wandered for years with no sense of vision for ministry.

In other churches, they had enjoyed a great ministry in the past but had seen things change dramatically in recent years. One pastor served a church that was once one of the leading churches in the community with a sanctuary that seated over 600 people. Now, they were lucky to have 50 people worshiping on Sundays. Many in their congregation grieved over their loss and could not see a positive future.

I think of the families with whom I've served as a pastor who had such wonderful hopes for the future but were stuck in painful memories of broken dreams due to affairs, children who made poor choices, and other setbacks. They could see no hope of a better future as all they could see was the mistakes of the past.

Again, I wrote last week that our present circumstances do not define us unless we allow them to do so. Certainly, they can affect us, but if we respond to them properly all they can do is to determine where we begin as we move forward into a better future.

The apostle Paul had made mistakes in his past, but he refused to allow those mistakes to keep him from achieving what he knew to be God's plans for his future. Refusing to focus on the past he was determined to keep his eyes on the goals set before him. This should be the mindset of every church and every believer. We can only more forward by keeping our focus on the future, not the past. We cannot move forward by looking in the rearview mirrors of our lives.

Don't let your present circumstances limit your future

Sometimes the greatest truths are found in the simplest words. Recently, I came across a sentence that reflects this. "Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."

As I read these words I immediately thought how they applied to every aspect of life. Whether you are talking about your personal life, your family, your business, your career, your church, your future, these words apply.

So often we hear people downplay any hope for a better life because of their past or their present circumstance. They repeat to every one they know all the reasons why their lives can never be better than it is right now. They may point to a lack of education, a lack of opportunity, a poor upbringing, a string of broken relationships and a host of other reasons why they are stuck in life with no hope of ever improving their situation.

Churches do the same thing. As a denominational leader I heard every excuse why a church was stuck and unable to move forward. I heard about previous pastors who did not serve the church well. I heard about controllers in the church that held the church captive for years. I heard about explosive business meetings. I heard about generational issues that focused on music and worship styles. I heard every excuse in the book and some that probably weren't included in any book.

These are all just excuses that ignore the power of God to change your circumstances so you can go further than you've ever gone before. Read the quote again: "Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Yes, some of us have to start further back than others because of our present circumstances, but that doesn't prevent us from accomplishing great things. We simply have to choose to rise above those circumstances and do the things that will take us where we want to go.

No matter how broken you may be, God wants you well. Businesses have risen from the ashes of bankruptcy to become strong and successful. Individuals have come out of dire circumstances to become leaders in their communities. Families have overcome tremendous challenges to become healthy and whole. Churches have conquered everything the enemy could throw at it to become mighty for the Kingdom of God. The transformations in every case came when people made the decision to refuse to allow their present circumstances to determine their futures.  

What gives a person value?

  When we talk about the value of something there are two terms we need to keep in mind. One is extrinsic value. Something with extrinsic value has value only outside itself. For example, a hammer has extrinsic value because it can be used to do something.

Intrinsic value is the other term. Something has intrinsic value just by its existence. Its value is not dependent upon circumstances or the opinions of others. Christians believe that humans have both intrinsic and extrinsic value. We have intrinsic value because we have been created in the image of God. That alone gives us value. Furthermore, we have extrinsic value because we were created for a purpose. In contrast, atheism and secular humanism, in their rejection of the concept of God can only assign extrinsic value to people. In other words, unless others outside ourselves assign value to us, we have no value.

But what happens if value is not assigned to a group of people? Nazi Germany saw no value in Jews, Gypsies and others and tried to eliminate them from the face of the earth. For many years some in America saw no intrinsic value in slaves, and still today there are many who see no intrinsic value in people of color. In 1973 the Supreme Court decided unborn babies had no intrinsic value and made abortions legal. Today, some argue that parents should be allowed to end the life of their children up to one month of age if it is believed that the child might be a burden. These individuals contend that infants lack self-awareness and are unable to place value on themselves.

When a person believes that he or she lacks value it becomes easy to decide to take one's life. Suicide rates increased 33 percent between 1999 and 2019. A study conducted by the CDC found that one in four young adults had seriously considered suicide during the pandemic. When depression and anxiety are added to a feeling that one has no intrinsic value suicide can seem like the easy way to escape the pain.

The Bible makes clear that all persons have intrinsic value. It tells us that are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God with value and purpose. We do not have value because someone has given it to us. Our value comes to us from God who created us and loves us unconditionally. We are not the product of chance and circumstance but are fearfully and wonderfully made by God.

If you are struggling with the feeling that you don't matter, that your life is meaningless I encourage you to talk to a pastor. Begin reading the Bible. Contact me and let me help you address those feelings. You are precious in God's sight. He truly does love you and sees great value in you.

Seeking God's direction

 Since August of last year I have been serving as the Transitional Pastor of a wonderful church. It's been an interesting challenge trying to serve a church during a pandemic, but things have gone very well. It is a great congregation that met the various challenges presented by the pandemic and has continued serving its membership and the community. Like many churches, we are seeing things begin to open up. This past Sunday a number of members returned for the first time since the Covid hit.

Now, the church is ready to face another challenge...the calling of a new pastor. At our last business meeting a search team was created who will soon meet with a representative of our region and begin the process of seeking new pastoral leadership. This is always an exciting time in the life of a congregation and also a challenging, and even a little scary time.

One of the ways I will help the church during this period is leading them through a vision discernment process. It's a mistake for a church to wait until they get a pastor who will "give them a vision for ministry." It's far better for a church to understand God's vision for their church and then explain that to prospective candidates and ask them how they will be able to help them achieve that vision.

Our first congregation-wide session is scheduled and will focus on the Core Values of the church. The second session will identify the Bedrock Beliefs of the congregation. It's important to begin with these two as God's vision for the church will always be congruent with its Core Values and Bedrock Beliefs. Once we've identified these two elements we will be ready to spend a day attempting to discern what God has been saying to us through the process. We pray that we will identify a clear vision from God for the future ministry of the church.

Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't. In either case, going through the process is helpful to a church. It gives them an opportunity to examine things about their church that perhaps they've not discussed in years, if ever. It gives them some new common language. Sometimes it resurrects old issues that still simmer beneath the surface and occasionally create problems. These can then be addressed.

After working with hundreds of churches over the years as a regional leader and conference speaker I'm convinced that few churches have a clear sense of vision. They repeat what they've done for decades hoping that eventually something good will happen. They go through the motions of doing ministry without any real sense of purpose. As I often say in my conferences, a church without a clear, unifying vision is like an octopus on roller skates - you might have a lot of movement, but you're not going anywhere.

Does your church have a common vision that is understood by everyone who attends there? Does it influence the decision making in your congregation? Is it clearly reflected in your budget and ministries? When was the last time it was reviewed? How often is it communicated to the congregation? Some believe that it should be shared with the congregation about once a month to help remind everyone and to make sure the church is on track to accomplish that vision. That seems like a good idea because it's easy to forget the vision while dealing with all the daily needs. It's important to always keep the big picture in front of the congregation to ensure everyone is focused on what God wants to do in and through the life of the church.

Small church leaders conference

 I had the privilege of leading three workshops at a  conference for small church pastors and leaders held in Champaign, IL this past weekend. This conference was sponsored by Northern Seminary, Judson University, the ABC of Indiana and Kentucky and the Great Rivers Region. I understand about 100 people registered for the event. They offered a number of interesting workshops and had some excellent speakers.

It continues to excite me when such conferences are held. As I told the participants in my workshops, such events did not happen when I began as a bivocational pastor in 1981. All the focus was on larger churches, and those of us serving smaller churches were mostly ignored. While that may still happen in some places today, I think most denominations have recognized that a significant number of their churches are small and unlikely to grow to become megachurches or even larger churches. They have learned the importance of providing relationships and training for the leaders of these smaller churches.

The only thing I regret about the weekend is that I wish twice as many people had registered for the conference. It was well done and offered workshops that were relevant to small church leaders. It was not expensive at all and was a good investment in both money and time.

Of course, Covid was given as one reason the registrations might have been down, and I suppose some people are still reluctant to gather in larger crowds. I doubt that was the main reason more people didn't attend. For years I have cautioned sponsors of such events to not be disappointed if there is a low turnout. In my experience, bivocational ministers tend to not attend such events. This was held on a Friday, and some would argue that they have to work Fridays. I served as a bivocational pastor for 20 years so I understand that argument. However, I also know if I wanted to take a day off work to do something I wanted to do, I took that day. I might have used a personal day or a day's vacation, but I would take the day off if I wanted to do something else.

Those of us who serve smaller churches need to stop using our jobs as an excuse to not attend training opportunities that are designed for us. I realize that we can't attend every event that is offered, but, frankly, most of them are not developed for small church leaders. Those that are should be seen as an investment in our ministries and our lives. Would you not invest a few dollars and a day of your time in something that will provide you with a lifetime of benefits?

As other opportunities present themselves I hope you'll consider making such an investment. You might leave thinking it was one of the best things you've done in a long time.

The power of thinking and choosing

I am currently reading a fascinating book by Dr. Caroline Leaf.  The author is a communication pathologist and audiologist who works in the area of cognitive neuroscience. She combines both science and Scripture in her understanding of how the brain works and the power of thinking and choosing. In the book she writes, "The process of thinking and choosing is the most powerful thing in the universe after God, and it is a phenomenal gift from God to be treasured and used properly." My first thought after reading that line was that it might be stating too much, but as I got to thinking about it I realized our thoughts and choices do lead to powerful results.

Nearly every great discovery came because someone thought it was possible and chose to pursue that belief until it became a reality. Although they might have failed numerous times to make their thoughts a reality, they chose to continue until that dream did become a reality. Of course, the same is true of those who wish to pursue evil. Adolf Hitler wanted to raise Germany back to a position of power with himself as its head, and he chose to pursue that thought until he started a world war that brought death and heartache to millions of people.

As we think about the power of thinking and choosing it should cause us to stop and consider the things we think about most. Those thoughts will shape us and those around us more than we might believe. They can lead us to success or they can cause us to fail miserably.

What are your thoughts about your family? What do you want to experience in your family? How deeply do you think about those things? What choices have you made to make those thoughts a reality?

The same questions can be asked about your career, your finances, and every other area of your life. The first step in improving any area of life is to think deeply about that area, identify the things you want most in those areas, made decisions about how to achieve them, and then choose live out those decisions.

Pastors and church leaders should ask such questions about their churches. As a denominational leader I often heard pastors and other leaders complain about things in their church, but it seemed that few of these individuals were doing anything to correct those concerns. They had never stopped long enough to think about how they might improve their church and decide upon the steps they needed to take to make those improvements happen. Guess what: failing to make a choice is a choice, and when you decide to do nothing, nothing will improve.

One final thought about this. Each of us must choose what we will do with Jesus Christ. As we think about Him and the relationship with God that only comes through Him, we have a choice to make. Do we trust Him with our lives, make Him our Lord and Savior, or do we choose to reject Him? It's a choice each of us must make, and that choice will have the greatest impact on our lives than any other choices we will ever make. 

  

The renewed mind

Romans 12: 2 challenges us to  "Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." As I read this verse recently I considered the pattern of today's world. We live in a world that is filled with rage, prejudice, hatred, toxicity, divisions, greed, violence, pain, abuse, fear, anxiety, depression and more negative emotions than can be listed here. Christians are not immune to these negative emotions. We see this in the divisions that exist in churches and in the language Christians use against one another. Obviously, none of the things I've listed here are positive, and none of them bring value to one's life. We can also note that we are not born with any of these; these are learned as we grow up. So where do they come from?

One place is through the media and much of the so-called entertainment of today. After years of faithfully following the news every night, I have mostly quit watching. I learned that the media does not report the news; it creates the news by deciding each day, out of thousands of possible stories, which ones they will give air time. The stories they select are the ones which promotes their personal biases or ones they can spin to their advantage. There are no journalists today of the likes of Huntley and Brinkley or Walter Cronkite so I have no interest in hearing today's talking heads promoting their agendas. 

What passes as entertainment today is no better. Comedians today believe they have to be vulgar and obscene in order to be funny. Many movies are not made to entertain their audience or even to tell a good story. They are made to promote an agenda, a mindset the producers want to instill in their audiences. Music has always shaped its listeners thinking and it still does.

University campuses are another place where the negative thoughts are learned. We often hear of a professor who is accused of promoting bigotry and hatred. Occasionally, a university will take action against such a professor, but often they defend the "academic freedom" of the professor and allow him or her to continue to teach. I can only wonder why a parent would spend $50,000-100,000 a year to allow his or her child to be subjected to such mental abuse. Of course, this type of instruction doesn't only happen at the university level. We now hear of it happening even in grade schools.

These negative emotions and mindsets are also learned in too many homes. No child is born to hate another. This has to be learned, and it's often learned in the home. We are born with a happy and trusting disposition, but because of situations in too many homes, that disposition is changed into some ugly which can follow that child throughout his or her life.

Regardless of where such toxic emotions and mindsets are learned, God tells us that we do not have to be conformed to the patterns of this world. We can be transformed by the renewing of our minds. How does renewing happen?

It begins by trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, giving your life to Him. If you've never done that I would love to talk with you about how to do that. Just send me a message.

Secondly, it comes by meditating on biblical truth. God promised Joshua in the Old Testament that if he would meditate on the Scriptures and keep them that God would bless him in all that he did. As we read the book that goes by his name, we see that God was faithful to keep that promise. 

In Philippians 4: 8 God says to us, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. When we meditate on these things, we will find the toxic thoughts and behaviors will slowly begin to leave us. We will find ourselves separating more and more from the world and drawing closer to God and to becoming what He created us to be. It is here that we enjoy God's greatest blessings.