One Pastor's Perspective

Here we are in 2013.  The Christmas / New Year’s season is almost over.  And it will be 2014.  Wow, how time flies!!

In all of the celebration and focus on joy, we cannot forget there are many in our midst suffering through difficulties this season.  Some dealing with sadness, loneliness, depression.   Some facing these holidays for the first time without someone they dearly love.  Some facing perhaps the last holiday with someone they love.  And we cannot overlook those who have recently suffered loss in the job markets.  And, admittedly, many of us fit in one or more of these categories.

What can we, as the Body of Christ, do for those who are hurting during such a time of celebration??  Maybe this is where COMFORT and JOY really come to play in the church, because there are several things we can do to help our brothers and sisters:

• Pray!!
• Be there for them!
• Reach out and check on them!
• LISTEN

As Betty Moore-Bell shared yesterday at Ebenezer, I cannot imagine how difficult Christmas must have been for the families of those two missing girls in Myrtle Beach this Christmas.  But I know I have a church family that would be there for me if I were in such a dark place during this season of light.

Yesterday I referred to an article issued by the Associated Press about Atheist Mega-Churches and how they are making their way across the Atlantic from the UK to the US.  Here is a link to the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/atheist-mega-churches-root-across-us-world-214619648.html

NO, I wasn’t making a veiled insult to any church that might or might not be in Florence … This is real and this is a perfect example of what Jesus was talking about when He said the lost are wondering aimlessly in this world like sheep without a shepherd.  These, my friends, are the wolves that seek to devour.

We have been charged to be salt and light in a world that needs us.  We have been commissioned to go and tell the world about the Good News of Jesus Christ.  This urgency of this commission becomes more obvious when we realize that the world is out there trying to provide answers that are counterfeit at best.  But some are so thirsty for answers that they will accept anything.

What can you do about this today??  Tell one person about Jesus.  That is a start!!

The story really is the kind of story told in history books.  It is that important.  To date, Ebenezer Baptist Church has two history books written about it, both telling the story of this great church with a tremendous heritage of missions.  In fact, if you look for one central theme in the 235-year-old life of Ebenezer, mission work might be it!!  Both of these books tell the story of two daughter of Ebenezer, Ruth Pettigrew and Neale Young, who gave their lives for missions overseas.  Their lives were all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And I submit to you that there is another such story today that belongs with these two.

I remember when I first met Drake Johnston.  He was barely in junior high school and was a neighbor to our youth pastor (at the time), Justin McAlpin.  Justin invited him to EBC in the beginning and Drake would faithfully walk down to Justin’s house and catch a ride with him as often as he could.  Through that relationship, Drake realized his own need for Christ.  As time passed, his mother, stepfather, and little brothers came to know Ebenezer as their spiritual home, too!  (Ironically, Sherry (his mom) attended Ebenezer as a child, so this was somewhat of a homecoming for her!!)

As Drake finished high school and all of his friends talked about where they were going to college, he sensed a call to go in a different direction.  God gave him a tremendous musical talent and he felt called to use it for God as best he could.  He prayed about it, talked about it with his mom, with Justin, with me, and with others whose counsel he trusted:  He felt a call to go to the mission field with the OM organization.  He talked to the OM folks and found out that he probably would not be assigned to a ship but to a land-based worship team.

When most of the kids his age were moving to different colleges, pledging fraternities and sororities and engaging in the lives of college freshmen, Drake was being trained to survive on the mission field.  And that is where he has spent his life since.  And he will head back in a few months.  Hearing his testimony in song and his experiences yesterday reminds us that, just as God did with Miss Neale and Miss Ruth, He has taken another child of Ebenezer and placed that young man in a position to directly influence hundreds of thousands with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Personally, I can also see how God has blessed his talent and it continues to grow and develop.

So … the next time you wonder if God is still at work in a place like Ebenezer, think about Drake.  Think about all that God has called him to do and all that he is doing to build the kingdom of God.  Realize that those noisy kids running the halls contain the next Drake … the next Ruth … the next Neale.  And thank God Almighty for the noise!!

Your Labor is not in vain from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

Many years ago (while I was a Youth Sunday School teacher and a computer programmer by vocation), I was up for anything in the way of serving God.  If my good friend, Seth Buckley, said “Let’s charge Hell and put the fire out with water pistols” I was THERE.  It was in that naivety that I discovered something sad … Something that I believe grieves the very heart of God.  Something that was alive and well in the New Testament church, as it still is.  The ever-present struggle of “Ours vs His.”

The church we were in was in a part of our city that was beginning to urbanize … Many of our members were moving away and out to the suburbs, and as that happened the racial and socio-economic face that of community surrounding the church was changing.  We honestly were not trying to stir up trouble or make a political statement.  We were just approached by the director of a community center which was about 5 blocks from our church.  She asked if we could help.  We had a gym that was unused on Wednesday afternoons, and she had a ton of kids that would be more than glad to use it!!

So, we started … We would play different games with those kids:  Basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, kickball… Pretty much any game that had the word “ball” in its name and maybe a few that didn’t.  After about an hour of playing, we sat down with those kids and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them,  Every week.  It was great while it lasted.  And the devil didn’t like it at all.

The devil didn’t like it so much that he stirred up trouble … People started complaining.  “Why are we letting THOSE kids use our gym??”  “We PAY for that gym … why are THEY using it?”  Without saying it, we knew the skin color of those precious children probably generated the complaints.

What a sad statement about the state of the church…  Because, when it boiled down to it, that event defined the fact that the gym at that church belonged more to the people than to GOD.  We say our buildings belong to Him, but that day, the bottom line was the facilities belonged to the church.  And they were claiming ownership.  And, eventually, they shut us down.

I think about those kids a lot.  I think about running into those kids years later and them talking about Christ and about how they heard about Him in that gym.  And I think it grieves the heart of God when His people try to take ownership of His house and allow their own fears and prejudices to strike a blow for Satan, and break down the kingdom of God.  And I pray Ebenezer NEVER gets there!!!

After all … is it OURS or HIS?

The One Who Sent Me from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

Here is a story about God and His wisdom, foresight, and provision:

About three or four months ago, Ed and I were talking and decided to invite Dawn Smith Jordan to lead us in worship this Sunday.  We thought it would be a nice finale to our summer of worship in the FLC, and something our teachers would enjoy as we recognized them at the beginning of the school year.  Little did we know …

If you are familiar with Dawn and her testimony, you know the story about her younger sister, Shari.  Those of us who lived in South Carolina will never forget the story of a young girl, about to start her senior year of high school, kidnapped at the mailbox in front of her family home and later murdered.  If you haven’t heard this testimony, my advice is to invite her to your church!!  Her information is at www.dawnsmithjordan.com

Anyway, little did we know that a family in our church would have young adult son who would be killed this week. That we would begin to walk a long, difficult path with no immediately clear answers and just a family … One of OUR FAMILY … carrying a burden that all parents hope they never have to carry.  Little did we know three months ago that God was making a divine appointment for this past Sunday. Dawn didn’t even know about any of this.  She just stood up, did what God led her to do, and all of the sudden HE WAS AT WORK!!

One of the things we love about Dawn is that she doesn’t just come do a concert, she ministers!!  Yesterday, LITERALLY … She met with the family afterward to pray for them and encourage them.  But I am more thankful that she is obedient, even in sharing the pain of such a lifechanging event.

God knows EXACTLY what we need.  This is not a cliche … This is REALITY for those who follow Him!!

The Wise and Faithful Servant from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

My Big Ol Honduras Vacation from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.