The Slow Train Wreck

The following was posted on Facebook by Brad Harrub, a well-known speaker and author in the churches of Christ. I've witnessed what he writes about far too often with young people in the congregations I've served. Read and weep...and let's endeavor to do something substantive about it!

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It's like a slow train wreck you can't stop watching. For 18 years a young person attends your local congregation and is present every Sunday. But then they leave home, take the high dive into the world, and slowly start to live a life that does not reflect Christ. And sadly, they appear to love this new life of worldliness. Their clothes get more immodest. Their social media posts get more immoral. Their language becomes less about Him and more about themselves. And little by little you watch as this once faithful person begins to embrace sin.

Why? Why are we not better grounding our young people to run away from worldliness and run toward holiness? Why do we sit idly by and assume this is "just a phase" everyone must go through? Why do we no longer blush? Why is it okay for a 20-year-old to dishonor the bride of Christ publicly through social media and no one does anything? Why do we act like souls are not at stake?

I fear that it is because, in too many cases, their hearts were never turned toward God in the first place. Sure they wanted to get baptized and sure they wanted to avoid the fires of hell. But they never put on the new man. They never agreed to be a servant/slave to Christ.

Yes, they wanted salvation and forgiveness, but they did not want Him as a Lord over their life. They simply wanted a comfortable Christianity that still allowed them to live as they wanted to live. It's time parents, church leaders, and Christians take a serious look at the hearts of their young people and ask: "Who is on the throne of your heart?" Is it a video game? Is it themselves? Is it a boyfriend/girlfriend? Is it theater, football, or band? Is it high grades and honor roll? Is it being popular or having the right phone? Or is it Jesus Christ? How many more will we watch fall away before we realize that something needs to be done?

What Pastoral Success Looks Like to the Failing Pastor

For a while now, I've followed a blogger/writer on Twitter named "The Failing Pastor". Most of his tweets are humorous....with a serious thought behind his thoughts. Think smiling through the tears. This post of his is so good concerning how a minister needs to weave through thoughts of success and dealing with disappointments, that I decided to link to it. The more reads he gets on his site, the better. Well worth your time, minister or not!

What Pastoral Success Looks Like to the Failing Pastor

"Meet The Preacher"

MEET THE PREACHER

You may know us, but then again you may not. Preachers have a way of hiding behind the pulpit. We can easily be stereotyped. Through experience we often learn to become very guarded and protective of our hearts and homes. Paradoxically though we often feel obligated to give even more of ourselves into our ministry. We come in all shapes, sizes and giftedness–and you may be surprised to learn:

• The church is our life. For better or worse it is difficult for this not to be true. We pour all of ourselves into our ministry in the church. Preaching is not simply a vocation–it is essentially our identity. As a result the church becomes our life. We become consumed with its health and growth. Remember that old joke about preachers only working four hours a week? We may force a smile as it is told, but trust me we are not laughing. Actually–honestly most of us would consider it condescending. This is also why we tend to take it personally when someone leaves our church. We process it as a rejection of us and our ministry efforts within the church. No, that is not a healthy approach or necessarily an accurate assessment, but one almost impossible to avoid. This also explains the tortured look on your preacher’s face when he hears that you decided to go to the lake/ball game/whatever rather than attend the big, special, highly promoted Sunday at church. He has spent weeks planning that Sunday. Hours spent in prayer. His hope is that Sunday will spark a spiritual renewal in someone. It is a huge deal to him and for it to be so easily dismissed by others is disappointing. I am not saying it is fair to hold everyone to our expectations–just explaining who we are. The best way I can describe how the church becomes our life is a quote attributed to Cecil May, Jr. (as told by his son Cecil III). Someone once commented to Cecil, Jr., “I wish I had a job that I never had to clock into.” Cecil, Jr. replied, “I wish I had a job I could clock out of.” I do not make this point as either complaint or as some outstanding virtue–only as informative. To understand your preacher, understand that the church is his life (his family certainly knows it).

• We are an insecure bunch. This is a layered discussion. The first layer is within us. I think God calls some of the most naturally insecure folks to preach. It could be his way of demonstrating his strength within our weak vessels (see 2 Corinthians 12:10). Of course, we have a job in which it is difficult to quantify results. We work with volunteers with varying commitment levels–some of whom occasionally find it necessary to remind us of our insecurities. We wonder regularly if our preaching is connecting and effective. Then there is the church layer. Most churches encourage and support their preachers well, but some don’t. Almost every preacher I know has a horror story or three about mistreatment by good brothers and sisters. Financially, churches as-a-whole do better than previous generations. Yet the overwhelming majority of preachers continue to not have the benefits that those hiring them take for granted–health insurance, retirement, etc. All of this breeds insecurity. I was once told (by someone not a preacher) that this is the way it is supposed to be; that preachers are supposed to live off the gospel. While I do not disagree that we are to walk by faith, I am not sure how an atmosphere of insecurity is helpful or healthy for any preacher or any church.

• We may resist close friendships. I mentioned that we are good at hiding behind pulpits, which can be challenging in making long-term, close connections. There are reasons behind this, of course. First we fight against stereotyping. Often people have fairly strong preconceptions about preachers–making various assumptions about us because we preach. Once at a church workday, a church member expressed surprise that I could use a hammer. Such stereotyping can prevent folks from ever getting beyond that in order to develop a deeper relationship outside of the church walls. Another factor here is betrayal–having trusted someone with intimate information or personal challenges only to have that information shared and even used against us. It does happen. Preachers can be extremely vulnerable within certain church settings. There is no such thing as tenure (part of the overall insecurities) and especially if a preacher has been burned, it can be a challenge to be open to close friendships within the congregation. This is not always the case, of course, but there is a reason that for many preachers–their best friends are other preachers. So if you have ever wondered why your preacher may resist developing a deeper friendship with you–it likely has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with some past unpleasant experience.

• We can be our own worst enemies. I like to say that preachers are people too. We deal with the same temptations, tendencies, and trepidations as everyone else. We make mistakes–plenty of them. Ego can get in our way and we can lose perspective along with the ability to listen to sound advice. We can hurt and betray others. We can develop bitterness and cynicism. Our preaching can become imbalanced with agendas other than “Christ and him crucified” creeping in. All of this is on us and we have to be vigilant in protecting ourselves against such. Most of us understand this and strive to not disqualify ourselves (see 1 Corinthians 9:27) or our ministry through harmful behavior and lazy preaching. It is also a matter of maturity. Just like others in their professions, we learn as we grow with sometimes-painful lessons being the best schoolteacher. Looking back in my ministry I have been my own worst enemy on numerous occasions, which makes me even more overwhelmingly grateful for good churches and godly elders who were more than patient with me.

The Bible describes the feet of those who proclaim God’s message as “beautiful” (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15). I am not sure how many of us who preach see ourselves that way. We get the thought, but we also live with ourselves and are more than acquainted with our failures and weaknesses. But we would not have it any other way. Preaching–well that is just who we are.

Danny Dodd
Levy Church of Christ
North Little Rock, Arkansas

Reflections on Honduras: Part 2.

One of my favorite aspects of this Honduras campaign was experiencing it with Kim and Abby. I’ve been blessed to participate in a number of foreign and domestic campaigns/missions in my life. The majority of these were done without any of my family or close friends. One would think that doing worthy things like helping to build or paint homes,

handing out Bibles and simple evangelistic work would be satisfying enough to completely occupy your thoughts. However, so many times while away from home I would wish my family were with me. Sometimes those desires were rooted simply in wanting my loved ones to experience good things. I must confess that sometimes I would be feeling isolated and lonely on a mission trip - even if surrounded by my spiritual family. I might not have had much justification for those feelings, they just creep in. So being able to participate in a mission trip far away from home with members of my household was a joy. 

This was Kim’s 3rd time going to Honduras with this group. When Abby expressed interest

in going on her first mission trip, our family talked it over and decided that I could join them and make it a nearly complete family affair (Caleb has been on this trip twice, but was committed to a summer job in Minnesota.) I was looking forward to meeting many of the people who labor in Honduras every year that Kim had told me about, and I was interested in seeing her doing the work with which she was familiar. So many times I’m the one who becomes the “point man” for religious work in our family. This was “Kim’s work”, and seeing her in action did not disappoint!

It was gratifying to meet people who have worked with her, both Americans and Hondurans, and appreciate her talents and skills. Most (but not all) know that Kim is rather good with simple construction and building tasks. Her father can build and fix just about anything, and Kim retains a lot of that experience. Over the years she has surprised more than a few people in helping with wiring and woodwork at the Trujillo Christian School. This year one of her main tasks was assembling and wiring new ceiling fans. It is gratifying to see someone you love and respect...have their work loved and respected!

It was also cool to see Abby experience her first foreign mission effort. The idea of her

participating with her family in an effort to serve the church in Honduras is valuable from a parent’s perspective. She experienced for the first time a totally different culture, climate and language. She once again was judged by her brother’s long shadow, but she was accepted for who she is and seemed to absorb all of the lessons a trip like this provides in her work and worship experiences. I also finally got her to admit (for just an instant) that maybe taking French over Spanish in school wasn’t the right move! 

In the end, experiencing Honduras with most of my family with me was every bit as exciting as I’d hoped. We all have the common experience of at least one year in Honduras. My son says he’s hoping to return with us next year...THAT would be something!

Upon Further Review - More explanation on the Habakkuk "Violence" Sermon and Gun Comments.

This past Sunday I presented part 3 in the series of sermons on Habakkuk titled "Trusting God in an Uncertain World." This sermon centered on Habakkuk 2:12-20, which I labeled as "God Will Judge Violence."

As was stated in the sermon, we know all too well how much violence is in the headlines, politics and concerns of 2016. One of the reasons I chose this short series of sermons are the timely themes of the book of Habakkuk. The main thrust of the sermon (and the passage cited, IMO) is that God will not stand for people advancing their standing or cause by means of callously violent behaviors. The Chaldeans were known for their brutally oppressive policies, and God's promise of judgement against them would seem to be a good illustration that mirrors the preponderance of scriptures warning against violent behaviors.

But the reason for this post, frankly, is that I may have gone off the rails a little on my final point/illustration. You know, the part where I called some gun owners "sissies"! More on that specifically in a minute, but first some preaching theory 101.

Politics and current events are necessary topics on occasion in good preaching, but they have to be handled very carefully. The Bible is full of patriarchs, kings, prophets and evangelists who addressed these issues in their day. On the other hand, many of those same examples made sure to declare God's ways and leading as superior to the secular events that swirled around the nations. Perhaps some pertinent scriptures to remember are Philippians 3:20 (But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ) and 2 Timothy 2:4, (“No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”)

You just have to be careful. There is a fine line between making a spiritual point and simply using the pulpit to give your opinions. You also have to respect people's genuinely held political beliefs, even if you might strenuously object to them. It is why a competent and disciplined minister works as hard as they do on every sermon. Stand up for the truth and state your convictions if it is done to adequately illustrate God's Word...but do so with great care and consideration.

Another point that every preacher and listener has to consider is the time factor. While opinions are varied as to how long any given sermon should be, we can all agree that you have a limited time frame to get your points across. Understanding this is crucial to a good sermon (and frankly an effective speaker overall.) You just do not have time to perfectly explain some points and ideas to an exhaustive degree. Therefore if you decide to make a strong statement about something complex and/or controversial, you'd better state it in such a way as to not leave people wondering what you are thinking. Carelessly saying whatever enters your mind leads to confusion, controversy...and sometimes unemployment! So many factors enter into this point - preparation, humility, clarity and discipline to name a few. Stated in a much more juvenile way, you have to be able to hit the mental "no" button to that inner question that is "Do I have to go there right now?"

So to the point in question: The last 5 minutes or so of last week's sermon was pondering how God's judging of violence could be applied to all of us "regular folk", and not just dictators and the world's governments throughout history. My point was that if we are not careful, we can slip into a mindset of justifying using violence to combat violence. My scripture reference was Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written "It is mine to avenge; I will repay", says the Lord. (Romans 12:19) 

And then I wandered into gun ownership.

The point I wanted to make was something like the following: There is a lunatic fringe in today's America that not only defines their citizenship by their fire arms, but embraces the idea of the quick use of violent force in more situations than most rational people would approve. While there are places and times that one could use their rights as an American citizen to protect their lives and property with a firearm (and I am one of them who has undertaken such measures), we need to make sure that violence is something that is kept as far away from our demeanor as possible.

Unfortunately, what I basically said was this: There are some people who have never been threatened by anything or anyone since the day that they walked out of their final high school P.E. class, who are still the biggest sissies in the world...scared of their own shadows whimpering "I need a gun!"

I do concede that upon reflection, I used a very flimsy illustration that I worded rather poorly. It certainly could be construed to say that Ken believes all gun owners are sissies and that having one is a sin. I do not believe either of those preceding points. I believe in responsible, competent and safe gun ownership - regardless of the forms of said firearm. I also know that there are people whose jobs and neighborhoods thrust them firmly into more dangerous surroundings, and I support fully their right to "keep and bear arms."

For clarity, I do have opinions on gun ownership that may not be shared by the majority of people who support gun rights. For what its worth - I'm not a fan of high capacities in rifles. (My completely arbitrary rule is that a law abiding citizen using a firearm for defense really doesn't have much of a rational need for more than 7 shots per mag.)  I don't see some of the slippery slope arguments concerning some expansions of background checks. I'm also not particularly a fan of "open carry." These beliefs are certainly not iron-clad, but they are where I lean at the moment.

But in a sermon, you don't have time to fine-tune your beliefs on these kinds of topics. Therefore, a wise person chooses their illustrations - and how they word those illustrations - very carefully. Hopefully my clumsy and somewhat arrogant sounding illustration did not override my main point, which was that the tendencies toward violence can be a problem for common people and not just governments, rulers and mobs. All of us are capable of having violence become a problem in our everyday lives and thinking, and we need to guard against this.

So consider this a "mea culpa" on some of my words and attitude in a sermon. I do appreciate all of the compliments I did receive about last Sunday morning's sermon, but I wanted to be transparent about a point I could have made in a better fashion. I'm sure I could do this a lot on this blog, and I'm somewhat surprised its taken me this long to write this type of post!'

And hopefully anyone reading this would know - please don't hesitate to ever ask me for clarification or explanation of something I say in a sermon, class, writing, etc. I'm a big enough boy to handle constructive criticisms, disagreements and scrutiny. I'd only ask you do so at appropriate times and with courtesy.

Reflections on Honduras - Part 1

Honduras is hot. Brutally hot. Central America humid-hot. 92 degrees, around 70% relative humidity and an afternoon rain shower - every day. You can nearly set your watch to the weather this time of year.

About midday the first work day, ol’ Ken is wondering what exactly he has himself into. I’m working with a group of 4 “Norte Americanos”, alongside 2 Hondurans building a block and mortar home - a typical house in Honduras. The first step is making mortar, which consists of sand and concrete. Neither are cheap. Sand is homemade, as in we throw countless shovelfuls of rock against a homemade screen that separates the gravel from the sand. Fill 2 wheelbarrows of sand, dump onto the ground and add 1 bag of concrete mix and mix with water. This is your mortar, and now you are ready to stack and level blocks to make the walls of a simple home. Hard and hot work, but satisfying. 

One of the Hondurans I had the privilege to work with was Fernando. Fernando is the minister of the Buenos Aires Barrio Iglesia de Cristo. The house we are building is for a deaf and mute member of his congregation. His English is strong, and we became fast friends. I can practice my Spanish with him comfortably. In due time, we talk about ministry challenges. He admits that he often doesn’t know where to start in his home country to convince people of the truth of God’s word, His church and the Bible. He especially seems flustered at how to talk with denominational people about truth and doctrine. At one point during this conversation, he has to go off to the side to compose himself. 

Hmmmm, church work isn’t all that different from here is it?

The second Honduran is Mario. Both the Hondurans and the campaign group (who know him after the many years they’ve been going to Honduras) call him “skinny Mario.” After seeing him outwork me in every fashion for 3 days, I prefer to think of him as “Super Mario.”

Mario’s English is nowhere near Fernando’s, but he does try and Fernando interprets for him. I was the only one of the mission group that would get on Mario’s homemade scaffolding (made of whatever planks of wood we found and branches from mango trees.) I was learning fast, but it took time to do it how Mario wanted it done. I’m pretty sure I understood him to say to Fernando one time “They all do it wrong, but I like this one.” I’m going to call that a win!

One afternoon myself and Mario were the only ones working on the blocks for a time. He found out that I was a minister and was very interested in trying to ask me theological questions. I will admit some frustration that I couldn’t get as deep as his questions warranted due to the language barrier. I found out later that Mario hasn’t had an easy life. He works hard in construction, but suffers persecution because of the legal problems of an old boss in the past. You don’t want guilt-by-association with shady people in central America. Mario constantly lives life looking over his shoulder. 

While I’m not fluent in Spanish, I’m not lost speaking it either. Mario enjoyed my efforts. Eventually I told him that I have led some songs in Spanish. He said he loves to sing church songs. I asked him what was his favorite song. He thought for a second, and not being able to remember the title in English he began singing. It took me a few seconds to recognize the song, and a few more seconds to let it sink in. So in the hot Honduras sun I joined in song with a man who struggles for everything he gets, not caring if the neighbors and their cow and chickens heard us:

Count your blessings name them one by one!

Count your blessings see what God has done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one.

Count your many blessings see what God has done!

This was one of those episodes in life that I will never forget. It was yet another reminder of not only being grateful for what you have - but that sometimes the things you have get in the way of things that are more important! Make no mistake...working on that house was very hard work in what I consider oppressive heat and humidity. It was worth it to work with two brothers in Christ who showed me thankfulness and desire to do God’s work. 

My prayer for Fernando is that his ministry bears fruit, and that he is able to communicate and make the difference for the Lord that he desperately wants to accomplish. My prayer for Mario is that he can find peace and safety in his life, as he serves the Lord - singing all the way. 

Lord willing, I will see them again next year and be able to converse with them more fluently in their language. 

Leftovers from Refuge Sermon Series (Joshua, Judges and Ruth)

I hope that Soldier Creek members enjoyed walking through these books as much as I enjoyed presenting these sermons. I sometimes wonder if they really are much of an aid to the LTC kids in their activities, but I like to think that maybe something "sticks". Here are some thoughts, facts and FYI material that I chose not to take the time to cover much in the Refuge series.

• Did you know that an earthquake caused the Jordan River to dry up, allowing the Israelites to cross over? I remember reading on the web the first stories about the area where scholars believe the nation crossed the river in Canaan was prone to earthquakes and temporary shifts in the river. A basic explanation is given in this article. So yes, it is fascinating that in an area where the river historically had temporary natural dams God caused an earthquake that provided a normal, but timely, dry ground crossing of the river!
•    “So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.” (Joshua 5:3, ESV)  The name of that city literally means "hill of foreskins". Remember that the number of Israelite men may have numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Yikes!
• The request of the tribes of Rueben, Gad and Manasseh to stay on the other side of the Jordan, outside of the promised land is astounding to me (Joshua chapter 22.) To arrive at the Jordan and decide that's where they would prefer to stay, outside of the land God led them to through the wilderness, shows very clearly what was coming in the days of the Judges. Its also an example of  "instant gratification", as the tribes saw that it was good grazing land before they even set foot in the land "flowing with milk and honey." We might even speculate that they weren't convinced they would ever be safe in the land that God said He would help them conquer. They were right, the land was never fully subdued due to the people becoming weary of driving out the inhabitants. However, the trans-Jordanian tribes quickly fell away from God. 
• I love the details of Gideon. His own family basically renames him "Baal will deal with our idiot son" (more accurately, Jerubbaal in Judges 6:32.) In the dream of the Midianite that Gideon overheard, a "barley roll" would be the worst kind of bread possible - basically a poor man's bread. When they understood the bread to represent Gideon, it tells you a lot of what they assumed of him! That said, the next day Gideon does indeed go on a roll!!!
• Ever notice how much of a problem pride is in Judges, and the rest of the Bible for that matter? The unspoken weakness of many of the Judges and the Israelites was simple pride/arrogance. Gideon was humble enough to reject being made a king, but arrogant enough to think that having 70 sons through concubines and making a graven image to serve God was somehow not going to be a problem (Judges 8:22-35.) Abimelech and Samson are case studies in self-destruction via prideful sin. Several Judges had to deal with cities and tribes that opposed them because they weren't asked to join in a battle against an oppressor, leading to civil wars within the nation. I wonder how many innocent people in time have lost their lives or possessions due to the arrogance of a leader?
• Samson disobeys and breaks every single tenant of the Nazarite vow (see Numbers 6.) Every...single...one. 
• The book of Judges presents a condition of Israel as really depressing after Samson. God will still work through a nation and people, but He will allow it to sleep in the bed it makes!