One Pastor's Perspective

If resources were unlimited and I could do ANYTHING I want, here are five things I would do:

1. Follow the Tarheels for ONE basketball season, seeing ALL of their games in that season. In the same vein, I would follow Clemson football for one season, too.

2. Get myself COMPLETELY out of debt (something I am already working on, but it will be a long time coming)

3. Write a book about being a pastor, the kind of book I would never be able to right if I were serving a church. Not that it would use bad language or anything like that, but it would tell the TRUTH about how the devil can work within a church.

4. Take my family to Hawaii and while I am there, I would look up my buddy, Bryson Lopez.

5. Take my family to Europe.

Every year, WF Softball sponsors a class softball game in which the freshmen play the sophs and the juniors play the seniors. The winners then play in a championship. Simple enough. Diana asked me a long time ago to help with the concession stand, to which I naturally agreed. When we showed up yesterday, Denise drafted me to do something I haven’t done in years . . . Help umpire!

Okay, I guess I can do that. (Secretly, I would MUCH RATHER be on the field than in the concession) The first game found very few calls to make. A foul ball or two. Nothing really close. But the SECOND game . . . . Oh boy. And Bridgette and I switched, so I had to call FIRST in that game. WOW . . .

I know I was out of position a lot, but I quickly remembered something about umping/reffing: No matter WHAT call you make, 50% of the people WILL NOT LIKE IT. Period.

I still had fun with it . . . And, even though I know I missed a call or two, we all tried hard. And there were no fights at the end of the games, so we must have done something right.

AND I got to threaten to toss most of the Ebenezer kids, so that was fun …

(Courtesy of www.mikeysfunnies.com)

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This kid is not so bright. Watch while I prove it to you.”

The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?”

The boy takes the quarters and leaves the dollar.

“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store and says, “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?”

The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game’s over!”

Thought for the Day:
Camping is nature’s way of promoting the motel business.

Have you ever noticed how life rolls on, no matter what might happen in your life?? We have these life-shattering events that crash down all around us, and see no way to go on, and then the sun goes down and comes up again tomorrow!! Have you ever been there??

I see that as a reminder of several things:

1. The universe DOES NOT revolve around ME. That is a GOOD thing.
2. God is STILL on His throne, STILL holding the whole world in His hands. That is a GOOD thing, too!
3. Each new day brings a new opportunity for me to listen to HIM!

No matter how terrible the storm is in your life, HE IS GREATER THAN THE STORM!!! AND HE IS GOOD!!!

How do you keep 1300 Baptists happy??

Okay, it’s not really a joke, I NEED TO KNOW!

In four weeks my family and I will have been in Florence for 14 years. FOURTEEN YEARS!! And, believe me, I still haven’t figured it out.

I think it helps that I am a middle child and have that peacemaker instinct. And that causes blood pressure problems, because if there is one thing I’ve realized is THERE IS NO WAY TO KEEP 1300 PEOPLE HAPPY AT THE SAME TIME!! There will ALWAYS be disagreements, there will ALWAYS be differences of opinion, and, sadly, there will ALWAYS be those who think they must pat me on the back and then hurl knives at me as I face the other direction.

Any minister will tell you: People often blame or hold their ministers accountable for things they cannot blame on anyone else. It doesn’t matter if the minister is actually RESPONSIBLE for their issue, they just must find someone to blame. And a minister is a convenient target, because they are not supposed to fight back!! Why do people feel they must blame someone for everything that goes wrong?? Because there is an increasing number of people on the earth today that WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their own shortcomings. If something goes wrong, it MUST be someone else’s fault.

So, as you now see, this is no joke at all. Nothing to laugh at. It is kind of sad. So, the next time you hear someone say “It’s the preacher’s fault,” ask God how He would like you to respond to that person. Then, let ’em have it!!!!! 🙂

I had lunch with a friend yesterday. He serves another church in Florence and I’ve known him for many years. And even though we are of different denominations and work in totally different fields, it was good to remember how much we have in common. And it was good to sit down with someone who has absolutely no agenda and is completely honest about some of the issues we face as ministers in Florence.

There are so many hurdles in ministry around Florence right now . . . There ARE churches out there with motives OTHER THAN building the Kingdom of God. There are churches that engage in feuds with other churches and try to hurt each other. There is an attitude among people in Florence to be non-committal, to only commit to something until something else better comes along. Sometimes that one creeps into the church, too.

I don’t know if this is sad or what, but it is also comforting to know that Ebenezer isn’t alone in facing some of the people issues we face. I guess it is sad, but at least we are NOT alone!!

All in all, I really enjoyed my lunch with a friend, and in the words of Ferris Bueller, I highly recommend it.

Today is Drew’s 14th birthday!! That means, in a month, I will have been at Ebenezer for 14 years. WOW!!! It seems much longer. (Just kidding)

Anyway, in honor of Drew and his love for the other red meat, here is today’s funny from www.mikeysfunnies.com

“This baked ham is really delicious,” the priest teased the rabbi. “You really ought to try it. I know it’s against your religion, but I can’t understand why such a wonderful food should be forbidden! You don’t know what you’re missing. You just haven’t lived until you’ve tried Mrs. Hall’s prized Virginia Baked Ham. Tell me, Rabbi, when are you going to break down and try it?”

The rabbi looked at the priest with a big grin, and said, “At your wedding.”

today’sTHOT============================
Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Give a man a stick of dynamite and soon the whole village will be strewn with mud, seaweed, and unidentifiable chunks of fish.

As a pastor, I see the best and worst of people. I get the privilege of being with folks in some of the best times of life, and I have the responsibility of being there in some of the worst. A by-product of serving people is I get caught in the middle of disputes and sometimes feel the brunt of personal agenda.

In other words, sometimes my job is GREAT and sometimes it stinks. And one of the times it really stinks is when folks feel the need to tell me things that are not true. Okay, times when people lie. I have this thing about honesty . . . I believe trust is like a bank account you build up with others. And when people choose to lie, my trust in them quickly disappears.

Not only as a pastor, but as a person I appreciate honesty. People also make this mistake of believing that I am judging everything that everyone does. Trust me, I have seen it all!!! And I am not your judge.

So, be honest . . . I promise I probably won’t throw holy water at you.

Oh, be careful little mouth what you say . . .

Whenever you get a group of people together, politics exist. Plain and simple. Someone will have an agenda. Someone will not get along with another. Someone will feel slighted or left out.

That is a fact. Tommy Dowling used to remind us that some personalities will naturally shun others, as two magnet faces with the same polarity will push away from each other. That WILL happen.

Paul wrote much about how we handle it. He told us to love each other. Peter wrote love covers a multitude of sins. Jesus said the greatest things we can do are to love God with all of our hearts and love each other more than we love ourselves.

So why do politics exist in the church?? Pride and self-righteousness (which is a child of pride). That inner need to be proud, to do something that makes us feel important or special. That inner drive to be better than others. IT TEARS A CHURCH APART.

And I am finding that I have not only grown tired of all of that, it is starting to make me sick. Physically sick. And I have enough stress in my personal life right now, so I could do without it.

Know what I mean, Vern??

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn’t find a parking place.

Looking up to heaven he said, “Lord take pity on me. If you find me a parking place, I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!”

Miraculously, a parking place appeared. Paddy looked up again and said, “Never mind, I found one.”

Thought for the day============================
Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.

(www.mikeysfunnies.com)