One Pastor's Perspective

Not Sardis, SC, but the church John wrote about in Revelation 3. Sometimes I wonder . . . Are we the church that LOOKS like it has it all together, and yet on the inside we are losing touch with God?? I really do not have an answer to that. I have an answer that I HOPE AND PRAY for, but I am honestly not sure.

Sometimes I stop, look, and listen, and it makes me wonder what God sees in us. The bottom line, according to John, is that God loves us so much that He gave us another chance to repent. But the window will not be opened forever. It all goes back to us, the church, getting our lives right with God on an INDIVIDUAL level.

I wonder what it will take for us to do that???

Theology . . . Literally a “word about God.” What do YOU believe about God? Do you really know what you believe and WHY you believe it? Will you ever have to DEFEND it? We all should know what we believe and why . . .

We were talking about this in CLC yesterday. Got some interesting “definitions” of theology, too. These kids are sharp and came up with some logical answers to a word they had barely (if ever) heard.

But, if YOU were put in a place where you had to defend your faith, COULD YOU?? Would you cave to questions and pressure, or would you be able to stand tall?? How can you prepare for such a time (and they DO come at the most unexpected times)??

KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE AND WHY . . . Think about it, talk about it, maybe even take a moment and write it down. But, let your beliefs flow from your heart and mind . . . Don’t just quote what you have heard at church. Know why you believe it and you can easily defend it.

Because, you WILL have to defend it eventually.

Is Ebenezer Baptist Church a business or a ministry?? The perpetual question for every church. Some would valiantly argue that we are a MINISTRY. Everything we do had better glorify God and build His kingdom. Otherwise, we are little better than a club. Others would argue that we are a business. Where there are some that just see things for ministry value, others just see money. And the bottom line of Ebenezer is in the church checkbook balance and on the financial report.

Well, which is it??

Have I kept you in suspense long enough?? There IS an answer, and it makes sense . . .

It is BOTH. There is a business aspect of Ebenezer . . . We have to pay our bills. It does take capital resources to operate. We do need to be good stewards of what God has given us, both as a church AND as individuals.

How do we deal with these two aspects, that seem to oppose each other?? We must keep BOTH in mind when looking at what God is doing at EBC. We must be faithful to God in our obedience and in our stewardship. Our willingness to obey Him will directly impact what He does with US!! We cannot approach giving our tithes and offerings with the same mindset of purchasing stocks or investing . . . Our minds cannot comprehend what God is doing on the ministry end. We need to trust Him a little more and stop looking at ourselves so much.

Pray for our church, that we will have true faith and follow Him the way we should.

Today I learned that M.R. “Buck” Buxton, long time member of Ebenezer, was born and partially raised in Plymouth, England. Buck was telling me today about the ship his father served on with the Royal Navy in WWII. His dad died on that ship. He told me about how the Nazis bombed their town like clockwork, recounting how they would have to go to a bomb shelter day and night. How he used to play on the anti-aircraft guns as a kid (and the soldiers would LET THEM!!) At age ten, he moved from Plymouth to Florence and has been here ever since. I had a fun visit.

Today, Ed and I visited with Opal Williams. Opal is a saint of all saints and a tremendous prayer warrior at our church. However, three weeks ago, Opal had a massive brain hemmorage. Life has significantly changed for her. She has gone from having hours to live, to a few days, to ten days, to only God knows for sure! She was not responsive, but has slowly become more responsive. She has moments where she recognizes and even talks to folks. The bright eyes and gentle grin I saw today was truly a miracle! Doctors still do not hold out much hope for long-term recovery, but I know her family would never trade the bonus days they have had with her.

Tonight my phone rang. Another miracle. My friend, Marty Hilburn was on the line (many Ebenezer folks know him from his running the church softball league at Ebenezer Park). A few weeks ago, Marty asked me and a number of other representatives from churches in our league to pray for him. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was going to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He got a phone call late today from his doctor up there, telling him that his surgery is CANCELED!!! He does NOT HAVE CANCER! Their pathology showed NO CANCER WHATSOEVER! Marty told me he turned it over to God, and cannot explain this other than a MIRACLE!

God is awesome, and He is at work doing MIRACLES every day!!!

Okay, there are a few things I am officially TIRED of hearing. I guess if you keep reading, you want to know, huh??

-No matter how you feel about the war, I am tired of anyone who berates our troops. They are following orders and we need to support them.

-I am tired of any news article including the names “Anna, Nicole, or Smith.”

-I am tired of cameras following Barry Bonds around so Barry can deny drug use or any wrongdoing of any kind. That one has been played over, and over, and over, and over, and over again on sports channels for about four years now. Has Barry used banned substances?? I don’t know and I think his fifteen minutes should be over about . . . . NOW.

-I am tired of ANYONE who does not listen to Dick Vitale. He is AWESOME, BABY, with a capital A.

-I am tired of cold weather. I know there is a reason for it, I am just ready for things to warm up a little.

I am sitting here watching Winthrop beat the “great” Notre Dame and it brings back to mind the magic of March . . . When little Davids rise up and beat Goliaths every day. This is great for two reasons: It reminds all sports fans that there is no IRONMAN . . . The old addage about any given team being able to beat another team on any given game is true! And, for the second reason, any day that Notre Dame loses is a good day!

Yes, I am not a huge fan of the Fighting Irish. I did love the movie “Rudy,” but that is about all of Notre Dame I can take. I have sat here this afternoon and listened to the announcers predict a Notre Dame victory, even though Winthrop has been beating them soundly since just before the first half ended. The little guy (and the South) are vindicated on the shoulders of Winthrop. I hope they keep winning (at least, until they face UNC).

Watching this game today reminded me of my youth and of those days when you believe you could do ANYTHING! Those days were fun!

Oh, how I wish I could see a breakdown of the NCAA tournament (that started with the play-in game last night, but REALLY starts on Thursday). If they were ONLY talking about it on SportsCenter every minute of every show. Now, you know I love SportsCenter, but give me a little break. Let the thing start and then we will see which 5/12 matchup results in an upset, we will eventually see which (if any) of the number 1 seeds make it to the BIG dance, and we will see what Greg Oden has for breakfast (and we are all waiting so anxiously for that one).

On the upside, they just showed a clip of Elephant Day in Thailand and the elephants appeared to be bowling. At least it wasn’t another clip of Bobby Knight!

Maybe they call it March Madness because you can go CRAZY watching all of the lead-in material?! I say, “Knock it all off and just put Dickie V on there until the thing starts!”

It’s gonna be AWESOME, baby!

Yesterday was such a good day, and I guess I enjoyed it more than anyone. Mark Manning has been a really good friend since our seminary days. He and his youth choir are on their way to a ski trip and stopped off to sing for us yesterday. They did a great job and seemed to be a good bunch of kids. But what did my heart good was to see Mark and his family.

Lyle and Calland, who are 18 and 15 now, were just tots when we were in New Orleans. They were our family, as Mark and I would ride together on Sunday nights and Wednesdays over the river to Woodmere Baptist Church (where we both served). Diana and Krissy would ride over with Celeste, Lyle, and Calland. It was a good arrangement and a great friendship.

It is hard to believe how much their kids have grown and how much Mark has NOT AGED. The kids really don’t remember, but when they were up there singing, I could see Lyle carrying a stick around . . . (No matter where we were, Lyle could ALWAYS find a stick to play with).

And the cherry on top . . . UNC. Enough said about that!