One Pastor's Perspective

I really think I am. Getting too old for some things. My basketball team played their hearts out yesterday, but we got spanked by a older, better team. It was not pretty. That added to my frustration as I watched uncalled foul after foul. Then, a kid lowered his shoulder and nailed one of my guards, and that “no call” sent me into orbit. I am very disappointed. After the game, when asking about it, I was told by a ref that refs “cannot call every foul . . . You gotta let them play to learn.” Now, I must be an idiot, because when I grew up playing junior high, jv, and varsity ball, refs would call pretty much every foul. How could we learn what a foul is without a ref calling it??? Also, in coaching rec league, church league, AND jv ball, I have always seen refs calling almost every foul. What gives?

What we have here is a fundamental difference in philosophy. And, I guess I lose since I do not have a whistle. (AND DO NOT WANT ONE) I really do feel bad for our league director. He is trying to do the right thing, but cannot get enough refs to consistently come out.

I guess the bottom line is I am getting too old for this, and the game has far surpassed me. Kind of a hard pill to swallow for an over the hill pastor.

What if God said to you, “I will tell you anything, just ask.” What would you ask Him? Details about life . . . How the leaning Tower of Pisa stands? Where is Osama bin Laden? Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Okay, there are some things we do not need to know. Some things we could not handle. But the important stuff . . . Well, God is there and ready to equip us for life. All you have to do is draw near to Him. Honestly. He WILL give you everything you need to make it, no matter how bleak the outlook might be. God is YOUR CHAMPION if Christ is your Savior.

Do you REALLY want to know what He wants of you??? Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these other things will be taken care of.

I hope you realize that this blog is part of my “therapy” that helps me make it through the cloudy days. There ARE cloudy days for every church, and therefore for every pastor (if he is focused on the heart of the church). Our church has experienced some cloudy days these last few weeks, and therefore, so have I.

Funerals are my least favorite part of the charge I have as a pastor. Mind you, I know this is a necessary part of my job AND that death is a natural part of life. But that really doesn’t make it any easier. Death is tough for those who survive. If we love those around us, we will feel the sting of loss. It can make for a cloudy day for sure.

The great hope in all of this is Jesus Christ. I have probably written this a hundred times, but it makes such a difference when a family KNOWS their loved one belongs to Jesus. There is no question about their future, their eternal destiny. One of the greatest gifts we could ever give our families is the assurance that we know Christ, and we know where we are going one day.

Can YOU give your family that assurance??? It sure could help shorten the cloudy days!

PS – Pray for me . . . I think Satan is trying to make me forget about New Orleans by throwing all of this at me this week.

That is a word we definitely DO NOT APPRECIATE. None of us would choose discomfort if given an alternative. We have the latest in modern conveniences and we like to use them. And use them we do. Because we do not like to be uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable is one of the many complaints I heard about worshiping in the FLC. Now, we did enjoy worshiping as one. It was good to see old friends. This is the church as it is really supposed to be. But what I am hearing now, over and over, is it was uncomfortable. Too noisy. Too many distractions. The same kinds of complaints the New Testament church voiced . . . Right??

ABSOLUTELY NOT. Now, honestly, several folks DID tell me how much they enjoyed joint worship in January. And I wish they would tell some of the other folks that are extremely vocal about how uncomfortable it was . . .

Good thing Jesus wasn’t worried about His comfort 2000 years ago on a hill far way . . . Right?

This week has been real rollercoaster. Families experiencing tremendous pain and then the birth of a new little fellow into our church, bringing great joy. The emotional ups and downs of a church are almost unimaginable. Needless to say, there are people all around you who need your prayers.

I am balancing all of this with the high from New Orleans. When you find God at work in such a strong way, you want to draw near like a moth to a flame. I want to take as many people as I can down there so they can see what God is doing. What is God calling YOU to do this week??

Okay, my boy from NOLA did it . . . Not only did the Colts win, but Peyton ALSO won the MVP award. So the critics were WRONG . . . They said for years that he could not win the big one, and he DID! Considering the conditions, I thought he did great.

On the other side of the field, I really feel for Rex Grossman. He had some problems holding on to the ball, threw interceptions, had a generally rough night. And he will take a BEATING in the Chicago press. This past week I made a new friend from Chicago (from the South side of Chicago — I asked him if he knows Leroy Brown). He was telling me how badly the press up there treats Grossman, putting almost impossible expectations on him week after week. He observed “people treat quarterbacks as bad as they treat pastors.” My only comment to that was that quarterbacks make a little more money . . .

So the weekend is now over. North Carolina, Clemson, AND Duke got beat. The Colts won. And the sun STILL rose today (theoretically . . . Looks awfully cloudy right now). And, God is still on His throne.

The Final Analysis on my return to New Orleans Seminary is this: There is much work to be done. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. One positive from the storm: The city of New Orleans is much more open to the Gospel message. And there is so much to do. They told us the city would be full of ministry opportunities directly related to Katrina for the next ten years. Can you imagine that??

So, I will do my best to go back and take people with me. For me, I now have the task of alerting SC Alumni of all of this, and the best way to do that is to show them. I would love to see a group of alumni go down for a mission trip, and I would love for a group from Ebenezer to do the same. Yes, many people have gone to the aid of this great city, but God is calling His people out to go and share.

So, the final analysis is anything but FINAL.

The title of this post is a phrase Dr Chuck Kelly, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, said to the state alumni presidents at our town hall meeting with him yesterday. Boy, if I had only known the gate he was opening with those words: Since he said that, we have heard story after story of God’s miracles, both little and GINORMOUS (to quote Buddy the Elf).

I cannot begin right now to even process this stuff, but I promise you will hear about it on Sunday if you make it to Ebenezer. And let me warn you: These are GOD-sized stories that will blow your minds and you will not be able to deny God’s hand at work. And that is awesome!

Pray for this great seminary as it has forged ahead and is WAY, WAY ahead of the city in recovery. Pray for its students and faculty as they now reach out and become Jesus in human skin to those with no hope. Pray for Dr Kelly, my friend and a true example of courage. Pray for pastors all over the Greater New Orleans area who are trying their best to minister. Pray for churches like First Baptist, Covington, and their pastor, Dr Waylon Bailey, as they see God leading them to reach south across the lake and minister to New Orleans, helping it get rechurched. Pray for First Baptist, New Orleans, as they partner with Habitat for Humanity and try to help families rebuild. (BTW – Tonight we found out that due to grants and donations, a church could pay for a Habitat house right now for the low, low price of $10,000).

Pray for me, as I now have the job of bringing all of this back to South Carolina to share with alums AND with you. I am so encouraged and broken hearted in the same breath. God is AWESOME!!!

A couple of significant things have happened today. I am so glad I am here. First of all, we as alumni officers are hard at work asking how we can improve alumni services. We are asking questions like, “How can the seminary help a burned-out or forced-out pastor and his family?” There are some good ideas being discussed and the seminary is very open to helping. Dr Chuck Kelly, president of the seminary and my favorite professor, was with us today. I got to spend a little time talking to him . . . He is such a good man and friend. He reminded me, once again, why God has put me where He has put me. Believe me, these days are the stuff you cannot BUY!!

Secondly, I met a couple of guys today that were down here with Justin. When I asked them if they knew him and told them Justin is our minister to students, they just LAUGHED!! They know him REAL WELL!! And, to make matters worse, they won’t tell me anything. Once in a while they will slip up and tell me things he said to professors, but nothing worth toasting him yet.

But I can’t wait to see his face when I tell him who I had lunch with today!

Day two of the New Orleans adventure. It began with a brisk 6am walk in 42 degree weather. I had to get my exercise in early, because I knew once this day began I would not be able. The walk was great. I smelled the coffee from the roasting facility on the Industrial Canal beside the seminary, and it smelled great. I walked the same roads I used to walk when I exercised here and when I walked to and from class years ago. The sidewalks are new, but the place is much the same. It was an emotional time for me.

Construction forced me to walk across the old tennis courts and to my old street. On the tennis courts, I remembered the times when Daniel Herringa and I would go out there and “play” tennis. I put that in quotes because we would go out there, hit the ball, and laugh at each other for a couple of hours. Out loud, I slipped and said “Daniel was sooo retarded.” Sorry, Dan. You are STILL my favorite preacher. We would watch some of our professors playing serious hardball, as if they were preparing for Pete Sampras. We thought they were a bunch of old men . . . (Now I find myself to BE their age). We would watch Garry Harper play with them and beat them all. Harper never would play with us, but he DID laugh at us.

Then I walked up Iroquois Street. We lived in a States Apartment building at 4433 Iroquois. There was a States Apartment for every US State that has a Baptist Convention. We lived in the Texas apartment building. Those have been demolished now, and there are no States buildings anymore. I noticed all kinds of names on the new buildings, but no states. Then I saw it . . . a HUGE 4433 on the front of the building. I was encouraged. Then I looked a little closer and saw the name of that building: TEXAS. I don’t know why that building got its old states name, and I don’t care. it brought a lump into my throat and a tear to my eye.

Since then, I have been in the Student Center waiting for my meeting that begins soon. I have seen a lot of old friends, and even made a couple of new ones. If I had to leave right now, I already know what God was doing when He sent me here. I thought I was drafted into this SC NOBTS because it was my turn. As it turns out, God KNEW with all I have been facing lately, I NEEDED THIS. I knew that this morning as I walked.

God knew it in November when He made this happen.