One Pastor's Perspective

A man is in bed with his wife when there is knocking on the door. He rolls over and looks at his clock. It’s half past three in the morning.”I’m not getting out of bed at this time,” he thinks, and rolls over.Then, a louder knock follows.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” says his wife.So he drags himself out of bed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door and there is man standing at the door. It didn’t take the homeowner long to realize the man was drunk.

“Hi there,” slurs the stranger, “Can you give me a push?””No, get lost, it’s half past three. I was in bed,” says the man and slams the door.

He goes back up to bed and tells his wife what happened and she says “Dave, that wasn’t very nice of you. Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain on the way to pick the kids up from the baby-sitter and you had to knock on that man’s house to get us started again? What would have happened if he’d told us to get lost?”

“But the guy was drunk,” says the husband.”It doesn’t matter,” says the wife. “He needs our help and it would be the Christian thing to help him.”So the husband gets out of bed again, gets dressed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door, and not being able to see the stranger anywhere he shouts, “Hey, do you still want a push?” and he hears a voice cry out, “Yeah, please!”So, still being unable to see the stranger, he shouts: “Where are you?”

And the stranger replies: “I’m over here, on your swing.”

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Yep, it is already Wednesday and there is so much to do. And, yet, so much has already been done to get us to this point. If you are an Ebenezerite, do you realize this weekend is the culmination of almost FOUR YEARS of direct work?? (Not to mention 230 years of preparation??)

Just as Queen Esther, I believe God has brought us to this place for such a time as this. I think that is really cool . . . To think that God would trust US with such a task.

And I pray that we will be faithful to HIM.

So now I know . . . I know what it feels like to be a quarterback on SuperBowl week. MAN THE PRESSURE!! And, EVERY crazy thing that could happen HAPPENED yesterday. And, yet, this morning God is STILL on His throne. WOW, He is awesome!!

I have planned a Tuesday morning walkthrough for the team, followed by a press conference. And, YES, we will allow the press to come in to the walkthrough, because our game plan is solid and we are NOT AFRAID if the other team sees it.

You see, I believe God is even cooler than Bear Bryant. One of the things about the Bear that you had to love is that he would almost TELL you which hole ‘Bama was running the ball through and DARE you to stop him!! And, most times, they would do it AND RUN OVER YOU.

Satan can’t stop God. Plain and simple. He can cause us to stumble (IF we take our eyes off Jesus), but he CANNOT STOP OUR FATHER. PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I might act like Ric Flair at the press conference!

(PS – If you did NOT understand most of this blog, find someone you trust that is familiar with football AND wrestling. And, I am joking about the press conference . . . OR AM I???)

Well, here we are . . . This coming Sunday is the first of our Capital Campaign. So much work by a BUNCH of people at Ebenezer has brought us to this day. And the most pressing question now is will we be ruled by FAITH or by FEAR??

Fear is the opposite of faith. Much has happened in the last few weeks that could give us good reason to fear (in our minds). I liken it to Peter stepping out of the boat and walking on water . . . He was fine UNTIL he looked at the wind and the waves, and he became AFRAID. And then he sunk into the water. What has really changed about this project in the last few weeks? Is it any less important today?

NO. The only thing that has changed is that the waves are a lot rougher. The wind is whipping and whistling. But God is still on His throne, and this world still needs Jesus Christ. And we still have a job to do.

Man, all of this posturing is getting old. It means nothing to me as I watch my retirement disappear . . . Should the Great Debate happen tonight?? FIX THE ECONOMY (or, at least put the bandage on). THEN, debate to your heart’s content, boys!

(BTW, don’t even bother to comment on this one. What I have shared is a challenge to both parties and that is where it will stay . . . I am not publishing anything on this one.)

Okay, one would think with my recent discovery that the days would get a little easier. But this is just a sign that God really IS looking out for me, because yesterday was significantly tougher than days before . . . It was kind of one of those “Murphy’s Law” days, but on MAJOR STERIODS. And to top it all off, knowing that I would have to get up at 5:30 to go cook prayer breakfast, I did not sleep much last night.

I was too hyped up for words. Have you ever been so tired you could not hold your eyes open, but so hyped up that you could not go to sleep?? Doesn’t happen to me often, but of ALL nights, it happened last night.

So I will go cook in just a few minutes and then I will walk through the day today like a zombie. And at 8 pm tonight, I will DROP. I hate days like this.

I am task-oriented. Have been that way all of my life. Ministry IS retraining me, because I cannot always (in fact, almost NEVER) break my day down into a group of tasks. One of the things about ministry is you NEVER know what is coming next. Ebenezer is especially that way.

I have also been guilty of taking too much small stuff on and not allowing those around me to learn anything. I have been caught too many times in the “it is easier to DO this than to train someone” trap. Tommy Dowling has scolded me over the years for that.

Yesterday, I REALLY did try something new. We needed some new network wiring, and I PRIDE myself in the fact that we support our own network. I have been slowly teaching Hooss about all of that. So yesterday, I turned him loose (HEHEHEH – I turned Hooss loose) on a pretty major network wiring project. And I left him alone . . . (Bill had to help him, because there was some major drilling and routing to be done). And I did not stand there, grab the drill, OR check on them every 30 minutes. I just left them alone.

HOURS later, I did check to see how they are doing. It thrilled my heart to see wires run, EXACTLY HOW AND WHERE I WANTED THEM. And a new feeling washed over me . . . I can actually turn this stuff over to them, do the PASTOR stuff that I need to and WANT to do, and THEY GET IT DONE!!!!

HEAVENS TO MURGATROID!!! That is AWESOME!

Co-ed softball is over. And I am glad. No, I didn’t play this year but Krissy did. So we would go to the games. Last night we finished out our part of the tournament by winning the first game against Hoffmeyer Road. They are fun to play. Good sports.

THEN, we had to play another team that I won’t name to save a little embarassment to their church. They are not so fun to play. Like to get drunk in the parking lot before the games, and then come in and act like complete jerks . . . They have done that for years, to the point that I don’t ever like playing against them and they are part of what I don’t miss about men’s league.

And they beat us. We had it in our hands in the last inning, but couldn’t pull it through. Well, c’est frommage!!! ON TO BASKETBALL, where some churches act like complete jerks. But if they think they are gonna drink in my parking lot, they’ve got another thing coming.

Why did I use this title for my blog?? I am not sure . . . I heard one of the SportsCenter guys say it on Saturday, and it reminded me of Snagglepuss (the old school cartoon). You might say I am a trivial person . . . My mind is like a vat of useless information. Diana hates playing Trivial Pursuit with me.

And on another note, MAN the Dallas Cowboys were clicking last night. And I am not a fan of the ‘Boys, but you’ve got to give it up for them: Their offense really looked good. Defense didn’t look too bad, either. My grandfather would have LOVED it.

And if Snagglepuss was here, he WOULD say Heavens to Murgatroid! I think I just complimented the Cowboys!! Somewhere, in Heaven, my grandfather is laughing about that.