The Two-by-Four Effect

How does one determine God’s will in a matter as compared to simply following our own path?

I’m reminded of Balaam and his ass (to use a KJV expression). (You can read about this account in the Bible in the book Numbers chapters 22-24) Balaam is a prophet hired by an enemy of Israel to curse Israel so that they could be defeated in battle. Balaam first resists but he is eventually convinced to curse Israel. On his way to the cursing his donkey stops on the path three times each time the donkey sees what Balaam is incapable of seeing, the Angel of the LORD with a drawn sword blocking the way. After enduring three beating for Balaam the donkey is miraculously enabled to speak and basically chastises Balaam for being so blind as to miss the Angel of the LORD standing in front of him.

It was one of those “DUH” moments in the Greek it’s called an ‘agogic” moment when we slap ourselves on the head and say something like “How could I have been so blind?”

I had one such moment recently. As you know, I became the pastor of Grace Community several months ago. Even before coming here I had a list of “goals” I wanted to see accomplished here at Grace. One of those goals was the creation of a prayer team to pray for the worship services and any specific prayer requests while the services were going on. In my mind this was an important goal but was a ways down the list of my priorities.

A new friend of mine who recently joined our grace community had been telling me about such a ministry he had been involved with at a former church and he was excited to share this with me and encouraged me to think about starting one immediately. I thanked him and assured him that it was on my list and I hoped to get around to it soon. (After I dealt with some other goals I felt were more important – at least in my own mind)

A couple of days ago we met again and over lunch he again brought up the prayer time and this time I was a little more receptive. I told my friend that I would be bringing it to the elders that evening at our elders meeting. My friend sent me some information that he had used when he developed this ministry at his previous church and that afternoon I made copies for the elders and stuck it in my folder for the meeting.

Our elder meeting run based on an agenda and the pastor gets an early slot for anything he deems necessary to share. I shared some things but decided to wait on the prayer meeting idea until later in the meeting depending on how time went.

The next item on the agenda was a discussion of how our latest series was going and if we needed anything to help bolster the series. One of my elders said that he had been praying this past week and the Lord had impressed on him the necessity of more prayer for our Sunday messages and he felt compelled to start some kind of prayer service for the messages!

Some people believe in chance encounters when it comes to spiritual things. I’ve come to believe that with God there are no chance encounters but God encounters.

I threw my hands up and said “OK God we’ll do it on your time table and not mine!” I told the elders about my meeting with my friend and showed them the material I had brought to the meeting.

We have not yet officially established the prayer time but we are off and running and in the process of creating it.

Sometimes God gives you an elbow nudge, sometimes a shove and sometime he brings out the 2 X 4 and smacks you upside the head to get our attention.

Here’s hoping that you learn to recognize the nudges of God

No one likes the 2 X 4!

Pastor Val

I'm Sorry

Recently I guest lectured at a men’s nondenominational Bible study and the passage I was asked to deal with contained three doctrinal hand grenades. Each was potentially incendiary depending on one’s particular faith tradition. I thought I had managed to negotiate the mine fields rather successfully speaking truthfully about the various views and stating them accurately and then giving just a short explanation about why I felt that one view was most likely correct.

I was dealing with the last issue regarding Jesus and the possibility of siblings. I came to the end of the issue and stated that being a man I could not believe that Joseph would live his life married to Mary and continue to be celibate. I mentioned that while I had accepted the invitation to speak that my wife had come in to visit me and that I was anxious for the meeting to end because I was looking forward to spending the rest of the evening with her.

I heard a week later from the facilitator of the group that the following week about 10% of the men were offended that I had told them that I was anxious to get back to my wife so I could “be with” her (as an aside, I wonder who they think I should “be with” if not my wife)

The entire lecture was negated in the mind of these men because of a comment attempting to explain that the natural course of a marital relationship included something that God had hard wired into every man’s DNA including Joseph.

I asked the facilitator if he had suggested to the men if they should speak to me about the situation which would be the correct way of handling the “offense” but to date none of the men have seen fit to do so.

So I have decided to blog my apology for the world to know.

I’m sorry for offending you and hope that you will forgive me! My intention was righteous if perhaps inappropriate.

Wow that felt good

Maybe I should get some more things I sorry for off my chest, too.

I’m sorry that I had to follow Matthew 5’s teaching to go to the men I offended so that I could worship on Sunday.

I’m sorry that these men have yet to be obedient to Matthew 18 in coming to me to discuss the situation.

I’m sorry that my house has not yet sold and I only get to see my wife every few weeks.

I’m sorry that in an attempt at being authentic you were uncomfortable

I’m sorry that I can’t live as a celibate!

I’m sorry that in an attempt to be transparent it was discovered that the pastor “has no clothes!”

I’m sorry that because of my brokenness Jesus had to pay the penalty for my sin!

I’m sorry that I have not yet come to the level of maturity that I should be at after being on the journey of spiritual maturity for almost 50 years.

I’m sorry for being a sorry person!

But I’m thankful for a Savior who loved me enough to die in my place

I’m thankful for a relationship with a loving and caring God

I’m thankful for a God who gives second chances.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to grow and continue to mature.

I’m thankful that God didn’t wait until I sought Him but came after me when I was broken

I’m thankful for a congregation who puts up with a less then perfect pastor

I’m thankful for YOU reader, for taking the time to read this blog.

So, what are you thankful for?

Drop me a note. I’d love to hear some of the things you are thankful for, too.

A sorry excuse for a pastor (just ask my critics)

Pastor Val

My Kingdom Go

For years I had heard and often repeated the prayer “Thy Kingdom come” without ever giving much thought to what I was asking God to do. A couple of months ago I read the book IT: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It by Craig Groeschel. He quotes Alan Redpath who said “Before we can pray, ‘Lord Thy Kingdom come,’ we must be willing to pray ‘My Kingdom go.’”

Wow did that quote really strike home for me over the last few months. I moved to a small town where to pastor a church that was involved with a community of churches from many different tribes. Those of you who know my background I’m sure are surprised that I would be involved with churches from different tribes. But then those of you who have followed my evolution won’t be surprised by my change and acceptance of those who come from different traditions. Perhaps it can be blamed on my doctoral studies or my post-modern spiritual bent or maybe God has just been doing a work in my heart and it’s starting to show to the outside world.

Over the last few years I’ve come to realize that different does not mean heretical. While I know that there often legitimate differences theologically and doctrinally, I also know that God’s plan for us is unity even in our diversity.

17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. Luke 11:17 (NIV)
Richard Baxter, Seventeenth-century Puritan minister once lamented “Is it not enough that all the world is against us, but we must also be against one another? O happy days of persecution, which drove us together in love, whom the sunshine of liberty and prosperity crumbles into dust by our contentions.”

As leaders we must be Kingdom minded and His, not our own personal kingdom. Kingdom minded people are more interested in the advancement of the Kingdom then our own personal agenda. Kingdom-minded people are generous and eager to partner with others in order to accomplish more for the Kingdom. It’s about Jesus – no other name under heaven is more important – not even yours! Or mine!

It’s all about Him (or at least it aught to be)!

Several weeks ago I was reviewing my message for the coming Sunday (yeah I try to plan ahead) and I was struck by the passage in Genesis on Abraham and how he lived open handedly and gave a tenth of his wealth to the King of Salem who was a gentile and also the high priest of El Elyon (God Most High). Abraham was the one God promised to father many nations and was the one through whom all of the world would be blessed and yet he practiced living open-handedly.

I was going to be teaching on this subject and I thought, “Won’t it be great if we could put actions with my words.” And sitting in my favorite Chinese Buffet it struck me exactly how we could practice living open handedly and promote unity of the Kingdom of God. We had a neighboring tribe (read church here) that was having a Miracle Sunday in two weeks. They were on their final push to raise funds for a new building. And I thought wouldn’t it be grand if a neighboring tribe we contributed to their building drive with a love gift expressing our unity amidst our diversity.

So after my elders gulped a few times they prayed about it and agreed that this was a God thing. I announced my hair-brained idea to our congregation. Their first though was what about our building fund. And I explained how God’s plan was for his servants to meet the needs of others and that God promised to meet our needs when the time was right.

We gave and I went across the street to deliver our love gift to our neighboring tribe and was very warmly received by the pastor who blown away that we would give to their needs.

Their big Miracle Sunday was a huge success for them and they far exceeded their goal for the day. The interesting thing was that the church sent over a delegation to our church during our morning service to thank our people for our love gift.

They were blown away our people were moved by God to practice what we were learning from Scriptures and healing between our two congregations was begun. God was honored and unity of the body was promoted in a tangible way.

Here are some of the lessons that I’ve learned from this experience

God wants to stretch our faith
God’s kingdom is a very big place.
God will bless us with more responsibility for being obedient
When we share Kingdom unity emerges
We are extending His Kingdom when we are obedient to His leading
We model true Kingdom stewardship
We need to encourage others to radical generosity
We really don’t know what the final outcome will be, because God is not done with us yet.

John Wesley once said: “Do all the good that you can. By all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”

Learning what it means to be a citizen of the Kingdom

Pastor Val

Bonehead Faith

When I was in my undergraduate program at Bob Jones University we had to pass a proficiency in English before we could graduate. If we failed the proficiency test we had to take a refresher course in English grammar. We unofficially referred to this course as “Bonehead English.” Well you guessed it failed the test and had to take the course. My big problem was two fold. I am not a great speller (I thank God for spell checker, if it would only verify what I was thinking as well as the letters that went on the page.) I also learned two ways of doing grammar. My senior year in high school I pulled an “A” in grammar but I had to learn another way to do grammar when I got to college thus setting up my dilemma when it came to commas.

Needless to say when it comes to grammar I often have no idea which punctuation mark to use or how often. I just guessed, hoping that my choice is close to being correct. Yeah, I know, I have an earned doctorate that required lots and lots of writing. I had some great help from my proof reader- I call her Becki, she’s my wife!

The other day I was sharing with a member of Grace Community about how I hate it when God decides that I need refresher courses in faith and patience. After I “coined” the phrase I made a mental note that the phrase might be worth mulling over.

The more I mulled the more I realized how this process was a lot like my refresher course in grammar. We are often in need of being reminded who we have placed our faith in and the fact that our faith is tested it is for the purpose of building patience into our lives. (See James chapter 1)

According to the writer of the book of Hebrews we are constantly in need of not only solid food but also liquid food (milk), the basic things of our belief system as well. We all from time to time need restoration of our earliest understanding of our faith.

So often we don’t mind gaining faith as long as we can get it right now. I’ve recently taken a new ministry in Smalltown USA. The pace here is a little slower and traffic is lighter. I’ve been learning to slow down and appreciate some things I often overlooked in my suburban lifestyle. And I’m realizing again that my ministry is to people not just preparing a Sunday message. I’m hoping to learn the lesson extremely well this time. It would be nice if a lot of time passed before I needed another refresher course in patience.

But Lord in the mean time could you bring a buyer for my house soon? My patience is starting to wear thin!

Dr. Bonehead - Val

Full Of It!

Have you ever been to a church that had “it”? I can’t describe it. It is not the Holy Spirit, since all followers of God have the Spirit. But there is something indescribable about it when you find it. I’ve attended only one church that had it. When I walked through the door, I knew that they had it!

Like a former Supreme Court Justice said referring to pornography “I don’t know how to describe it but I know it when I see it!”

I’ve only been involved in two ministries that had it and both only had it for a little while. It appears that while it is capable of being “gotten” it is just as easy to lose it.

I’m reading a new book entitled “IT: How churches and leaders can get it and keep it.” Craig Groeschel, pastor of LifeChurch.tv is the author. I hate to recommend this book because if you read it you will realize that this guy has it and sometimes I fear that I will never get it!

My prayer is that whatever it is that the church where I now serve gets it. Tonight I was walking the streets of the small town where I now reside and begged God that I would get it and be able to share it with our people.

Oh how I desire for our people to get it and that the folks that are starting to visit will experience it when they enter our door. How I fear that I might hinder people from getting it. I pray that I will be able to get out of the way of it and let it happen. Because once you have experienced it you never what to be without it.

God grant my prayer that we experience more of you and less of me in the services tomorrow. Let your people experience it in a new and refreshing way.

May we always crave more of it!

Pastor Val

Lord Of The Dance

Well it's been a week since I moved into the Annex at Grace Community (while we wait for our house to sell) and I'm starting to get a routine. Routines are important. Have you ever noticed how routine and a disciplined spiritual walk are similar? The first few days I had to struggle with finding time for my personal time with God.

Oh it wasn't that I wasn't studying but the time that I needed for God to speak to me and the time I needed to be spiritually refreshed were simply not there because I was so busy with "more important things!" I'm sure that you know what I mean. After all we have all been there. But when I was able to reestablish my time with God I sensed a reconnection with Him and the eternal dance that He invited me to join with Him so many years ago.

This dance is one in which the God of Creation, Lord of Salvation and the Spirit of Comfort have been doing before time began and He has invited us to participate with Him in this joyous event already in progress. When we do, we join with all of our brothers and sisters, past, present and future in communing with Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

This description of community, love and obedience is what the ancient Greek fathers of the 4th & 5th Centuries used to describe the Trinity and the ongoing relationship that God calls us into with Him.

I've been blessed to join with a new community of believers in Trenton IL and together we are learning to take our signals from our eternal danced partner. They have been gracious to not laugh too much as I've been learning their version of the dance. I hope that they will be blessed and challenged by a few new dance moves I've been teaching and will be teaching in the future.

Now I must warn you that as we learn some new moves there will be occasional bumps, falls and a few toes that will be accidentally stepped on. I hope you will make allowances for my clumsy attempt to dance.

I know that Father enjoys my efforts and occasionally I bring a smile to his face and a chuckle to His heart as I stumble and fumble a new dance step or even forget an old one He taught me years ago. So when you and I get down and mix up the cadence at times, just remember that we are all learning to dance together.

Dancing as fast as I can
In the service of the Lord of the Dance

Pastor Val

WHAT PRICE FREEDOM

Almost 30 years ago I first heard this reading in a patriotic musical and it stirred my heart back then. It still does today.

In the years since then, I’ve become more concerned about my other citizenship and the advancement of my King’s agenda. But every time the 4th of July rolls around I still swell with pride at what our forefathers were able to conceive and create.

Philadelphia! 1776! Fifty-six men met together and signed a new document. That parchment was to stand forever as a partnership between the living and the dead, and the yet unborn. We call it the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

There is a price tag on liberty. You will recall the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states: "We must mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor." The fifty-six signatures on the Declaration of Independence were kept secret for one half year because the gallant fifty-six who made that promise knew when they signed that they were risking EVERYTHING! If they won the fight, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling new nation. And if they lost ... they'd face a hangman's noose as traitors.
Now these were men of means, well educated. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants; nine were farmers and owners of large plantations. But they signed the pledge and they did indeed pay the price.

In the Pennsylvania state house, now called Independence Hall, the best men from each of our colonies sat down together. On June 11th, a committee was formed to draw up a Declaration of Independence. We were going to tell our British fatherland, "no more rule by redcoats."
Thomas Jefferson finished the draft of that declaration in seventeen days. Congress adopted it on July 4, 1776. That much is familiar history.

Now here is the documented fate of the heroic fifty-six who signed the Declaration of Independence:

Of the fifty-six, few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes looted or destroyed by the enemy. Nine of the fifty-six died in the war from its hardships and its bullets. Wealthy planter and trader Carter Braxton of Virginia saw his ships swept from the sea in battle. To pay his debts he sold his home and all his properties. He died in rags.

Thomas McKean of Delaware was so harassed by the enemy that he was forced to move his family five times in five months. He served in Congress without pay, his family in poverty and hiding.

Thomas Nelson Jr. raised two million dollars on his own signature to provision our allies, the French Fleet. After the war he wiped out his entire estate paying back the loans. He was never reimbursed by the government. He died bankrupt and was buried in an unmarked grave. Thomas Nelson Jr. pledged his life, his fortune, his sacred honor.

John Hart was driven from his dying wife's bedside. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves and returned home after the war to find his wife dead, his children gone and his property worthless. He died a few weeks later of exhaustion and a broken heart.

John Hancock, one of the wealthiest men in New England, stood outside Boston one terrible night of the war and said, "Burn, Boston, burn! Though it makes John Hancock a beggar, burn!" He too lived up to the pledge.

I don't know what impression you had of the men who met that hot summer night in Philadelphia, but I think it's important that we remember this about them: They were not poor men or wild-eyed pirates. They were basically rich men who enjoyed ease and luxury in their personal living. They were not hungry men - they were wealthy and prosperous. But they considered LIBERTY so much more important than security that they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. They fulfilled the pledge ... they paid the price ... and freedom was born!

Adapted from WHAT PRICE FREEDOM by Derric Johnson

I hope that after reading this adaption from this musical you will ask yourself: “How much am I willing to give to keep our country free?”

Finally, let remember to thank God for the men and women who have voluntarily stepped up to the task of serving in our country’s armed services.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Dr. Val