What if Bad Gets Worse?

For a lot of people these past few years have been very difficult. The unemployment, underemployment, and foreclosure stats all testify that there is a lot of pain in our society. Compared to the third world, most of us still have it pretty easy, but compared to what was, these are hard times for many. These difficulties have blindsided some Christians. They were led to believe that accepting Christ was like a free ticket to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. They were told that all their troubles were over when they decided to follow Jesus. Too bad they didn’t read the Bible. Jesus didn’t make any guarantee of an easy life. Instead, He told His followers to take up the cross, and follow Him. There are many examples in the Bible of people dealing with hard times. From Joseph, to Moses, to Ruth, to David, to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to Jesus himself, the Bible shows people who struggled and overcame. I think the ministry of the Apostle Paul demonstrates vividly what to do when bad gets worse.

1.) First of all keep praying. Don’t let your broken heart break your relationship with God. Reassurance and encouragement come in prayer when we listen to God and understand the role we play in prayer. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) He is God (the boss), and you aren’t.

2.) Keep up your strength. Be sure to guard your body in emotional times. Many upset people fall into a devil’s triangle of reacting mentally to stress by falling into depression, and then reacting physically to depression by becoming ill, which then increases stress, and the triangle starts over again. An example of Paul keeping up his strength is found in Acts 27:33-36.

3.) Keep on trusting the Lord. Work hard to keep your focus on God, and remind yourself of His Lordship. Then, keep remembering your role in your relationship with Him. You are a redeemed sinner who has chosen to serve the Lord who has rescued you from sin, from your own wickedness and from Satan. If you get the roles right in your mind and heart, God will give you hope in the midst of hard times. (Check out Romans 15:13.)

4.) Let God work, which means you will have to be patient. The Lord, being the boss, works on His timetable, not yours. Sometimes, it feels like He has forgotten you, but He doesn’t forget. Be assured that He is on your case. Think how long it took for things to work out for Joseph in Genesis. In the end, Joseph was able to say:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).

You need to get out of His way, and expect Him to work in your situation. Watch out, because He may not do what you thought He would do.

5.) Accept the outcome and make the best of it. Whatever happens, keep trusting God, as Paul said:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 - NIV).

God’s view is bigger than yours. His perspective gives Him a much longer and broader understanding than you can have. You have to believe that He has your best interest at heart even when your immediate circumstances would tempt you to doubt that. When bad gets worse, hang on and determine to go on from here with God. Hang on, not in desperation, but with hope. Know that God loves you, has a plan, and you have not been forgotten. Your future may not go according to your plan, but if you trust God and hang on, things will work together for good.

Let Your Light Shine – How should Christians confront the world?

The other day at Wal-Mart I couldn‘t help overhearing this conversation:

First lady: “We have always home schooled, but she will be starting 6^th grade, so we are looking into a Christian school.  There is no way I am sending her to Woodstock Middle School.  I don’t want her in that place.”

Friend: “Really, I would think there would be a lot of opportunities there.”

First lady: “I just don’t want her around that influence.”

Just then, on the other side of me (where the mothers probably couldn’t hear the girls) I heard the friend’s daughter, “You aren’t going to be at Woodstock?”

First lady’s daughter replied in a tween girl’s haughty manner, “Of course, I don’t want to turn out bad like you.” (There was no smile or giggle.)

This conversation bothered me for several reasons. First of all, I hope that the daughters were friends and that the one girl was kidding, and the other one took it as that. (However, nothing in either of their expressions or body language demonstrated it.) That was disturbing, but I have been around middle school kids enough to know that such insulting talk is not an unusual thing to hear in that circle. 

What truly disturbed me that afternoon was the attitude of the “Christian” mother. She embodied v to me why the world is going to hell and the church is so ineffective in its efforts to change that. Now, I don’t know this particular lady, but the conversation I overheard reminded me of many people I have known in the past. At one time in my life, I might have been tempted to agree with her.  I might even have thought she was wise, but as I have grown older, I have come to a different understanding. 

Though churches are growing larger, the world gets no better and could be said to be getting worse.  Things that shocked my parents’ generation, and even some things that were shocking my “everything is all right as long as no one gets hurt” baby boom generation, are now considered normal parts of life. 

There is a strong temptation for Christians to seal ourselves, and our families, into a fortress where we are not confronted by the lost world.  That would be nice and I believe if we remain true we will be rewarded with the privilege of spending eternity in a place like that.  It is called heaven!  In the meantime, we have an assignment. It entails making disciples of all kinds of people--people of a different socio-economic stratum, opposing political views, and even those with lifestyles that run counter to our beliefs. Instead of meeting those folks on their turf and demonstrating the redeeming love of Jesus by the way we speak, live, and love, we do our best to separate ourselves from the very people God has assigned us to reach. Jesus’ teaching is that we are to be in the world, but not of it.  We must dare to be different in the world. It is not God’s plan for us to become a novel colony within the broader world, but to become salt and light to that world - salt that melts cold hard hearts and light that does a lot more than show them their error.  We are to be the light that leads them to the Savior.

Although I know that as I get older, I am considered more and more eccentric, I didn’t think I was old enough, or quite eccentric enough to get away with confronting that lady.  What I wish I had done is to start humming the old chorus, “This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let it Shine” as I stood there.  This lady was not being light. She didn’t care about being light. She just wanted to be safe and comfortable. That desire to be safe and comfortable is thwarting the influence of the church and killing many congregations. Now, my problem is not with Christian schools or home schooling.  My problem is with the mind-set that limits the influence of Christians because the world makes us uncomfortable.  Now if the secular school they were discussing was literally physically dangerous, I would encourage her to seek a safer environment for her daughter, but I am pretty sure this particular school is not like that. Her daughter, and their family could have been the salt and light someone needed.  On second thought, given the daughter’s snotty statement to the other girl, it might be better for the Kingdom to keep her with Christians and away from sinners. I’ve changed my mind. Mom at Wal-mart, please don’t send your child to the public school. With the attitude you and she exhibit you would give Christians a bad name.

God bless you as you find ways to be salt and light in your corner of the world!

Bill, the Innkeeper

Every year I hear folks complain that Christmas is so busy and rushed. I guess the only time Christmas isn’t busy is when you don’t have anyone to celebrate with, or anyone who is counting on you. Bill was one of those folks. He was making it through Christmas as a spectator, not a participant.

You could call Bill an innkeeper. He was an assistant manager at a fairly large hotel and he worked the front desk from time to time checking guests in an out: a modern day innkeeper. As Christmas approached, all the employees were asking for the day off. One of the maids even quit to make sure she wouldn’t be asked to work on the Holiday. Everyone who worked the front desk was hoping that they would not be the one stuck with the duty. In staff meeting Fay, the manager, said that she hated to choose someone, but that the hotel would be open, and while it was not going to be full, there were guests with reservations coming. Someone had to work the desk and be on call. She said that from midnight to noon they could probably get by with just one person. All the desk staff held their breath, each afraid he or she would be the one to have to go home and tell the family they had to work on Christmas. Most of them had children or grandchildren they wanted to be with. Bill knew he would not be asked because as assistant manager he could pull rank on everyone except Fay.

Before Fay could even ask for a volunteer, Mildred asked that she be excused because her son and grandchildren were coming from California. Nicole quickly said, “Well, I want to go see my parents at Christmas. I worked Thanksgiving when Mildred’s daughter came.” Chad said, “I need to be with my kids. My ex is going skiing with her husband and I get the kids.” Then, it all became a jumble of words, with a few tears, and Bill could tell shouts would come next. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled loud and shrill. Everyone startled and stared at him. The whistle had the desired affect—the room went silent. Bill said, “Fay, I will work Christmas. I have no plans and everyone else does.” Bill had only been in town a few months and was living in a one-room efficiency apartment. His parents were dead and his sister lived three states away. He was still reeling from a rough divorce. This Christmas was not one he was looking forward to. Thirty-eight years-old and on his own, he had hoped to have a kid or two by now, but his wife made it clear she did not want to be a mother. He found out what she didn’t want was to be the mother of HIS kids. Just last month he heard she had a son by her new boyfriend. Bill would work. It would give him something to do besides sit at home and watch sentimental old movies on TV. Besides, he could do that sitting at the front desk on a slow day like Christmas promised to be. Everyone thanked him, including Fay. He didn’t really want to be at work on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but there wasn’t any other place he wanted to be either.

Bill arrived at work on Christmas Eve at 8 p.m. He decided to work half of Marcia’s shift so she wouldn’t miss the whole evening with her family. The hotel had very few guests. It wasn’t even 20 percent occupied. The restaurant had just shut down and none of the meeting rooms, which had been so busy with parties the last two weeks, were in use. Christmas Eve drug by. He watched “A Christmas Carol” and looked for “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but had to settle for some college choir singing classic Christmas carols. The lobby was deserted all evening. The guests came in and went to the elevator. One couple came to the desk because they needed an extra key. Two people stopped by to ask if the restaurant would be open on Christmas Day. It would, but not until 4 p.m. There was one security man on duty. Bill talked with him for about a half an hour, but later he was hard to find. Bill suspected that he was staying away, because he had been consuming Christmas cheer and didn’t want the assistant manager to smell his breath. It was what he had feared—a long, lonely night. He found a deck of cards and laid out a game of solitaire. Even that brought him down. His life was solitaire. About 2 a.m. he did the night audit, which kept him busy and made a couple of hours pass more quickly.

At 8:30 a.m. a man and wife and two kids came in carrying sound equipment, a box of books and some decorations. As the man walked by the desk on his way to the meeting rooms he looked over his burden at Bill and said a hearty “Merry Christmas.” For a moment, Bill was at a loss. He saw the man hurry back and forth taking stuff to the meeting room and looking like he knew what he was doing. It suddenly occurred to Bill that it was not only Christmas, but it was also Sunday. This must be that new church that had been meeting for the last several months in one of the ballrooms. He’d heard about it, but he had never been at work when the church met. The man parked his car and came up to the desk with what looked like a microphone stand in his hand. He said “Hi. I’m the pastor of the Hope Church that meets here. You got stuck with desk duty today. Mildred told me last week she was hoping not to be here today.” Bill said, “Yeah, she had plans, and I didn’t have any. So here I am.” The pastor said, “Well that was a nice thing to do, but it must be a bummer working on Christmas Day. Excuse me, I gotta go set up for worship.”

In about twenty minutes the pastor was back in the lobby to open the door and greet people. When no one was coming in, he stepped over to the desk and talked with Bill. “Expect a crowd today?” asked Bill.

“Don’t know, we usually have 80 or 90 people, but a lot of them are young families and I’m sure they have Santa on their minds today,” said the pastor. “I know my kids do.”

Just then a lady came in carrying a big sheet cake. When it was time for the service to start the pastor said, “Hey, if you can get away from the desk, why not come down to the service?” In a few minutes Bill heard the familiar Christmas carols. He couldn’t really be away from the desk, but he did slip down the hall where he could hear the singing a little better and still see the front desk. When the service was over the people drifted out, talking and laughing, and many of them took a moment to say Merry Christmas to Bill. Some of the men helped the pastor load all the stuff back into his car. Finally, the pastor’s wife and kids came by along with a few more people. The pastor’s little daughter had a paper plate with a big piece of cake on it. She said, “Have a piece of birthday cake.” Bill said, “Whose birthday are you celebrating? Is it yours?” The little girl looked puzzled and replied, “No, it’s Jesus’ birthday.” Bill felt a little embarrassed.

The pastor was the last person out. When he stopped by the desk he reached out to shake Bill’s hand, suddenly, Bill didn’t want to be alone. He asked the pastor what his plans were for the rest of the day. Then, he asked him how long the church had been meeting at the hotel, and how long he expected they would be using it? How many members he had? What was their denominational affiliation? Bill kept asking questions, even though he could tell the man needed to go. Finally, the pastor said good-bye and Merry Christmas and left. Bill felt rather foolish for talking the man’s leg off when he knew the man had family to attend to. It was just that the loneliness seemed to crash around him when the church people reached out to him.
The cake caught his eye. It was a big piece. Bill thought to himself, “How dumb am I? ‘Whose birthday?’” He found a fork and took a bite. As he was chewing, he noticed that someone had left a Bible on the counter. Just then the phone rang and it was the pastor asking about his Bible. He asked Bill to keep it there at the desk and he would pick it up later.

As he finished the birthday cake, he opened the Bible to the place that was marked by one of those ribbon bookmarks attached to the binding. He didn’t figure the pastor would mind him reading his Bible. It opened to Luke chapter 2 where it tells about the birth of Jesus in the Bethlehem stable and the angels appearing to the shepherds and directing them to go see the baby. When it said there was no room for them in the inn, he thought to himself, “They should have stayed here. We have plenty of room.” He came to the part where the angels said they had good news of great joy which was for all people. It stopped him cold. Suddenly, he realized his problem this Christmas. That was what put him in his funk. Sure, he was in a rough spot in his life right now, but he usually handled that okay. He knew that things would get better, but Christmas had brought him down, because it seemed to be for other people: for kids, and people with kids, for families with big meals to share. But the angel said the news of Christmas was for everybody. Was Christmas for him too? The angel went on to say that the baby born in Bethlehem was a Savior, Christ the Lord. The pastor had written a little note in the margin by the word Savior that said “rescuer” and by the word Christ that said “anointed leader.” Bill was going to have to think about this. Jesus was born to rescue people and be their anointed leader. If this news was really for all people, could that mean it was for a lonely man like him too? The shepherds believed it. Could he believe it? Maybe he would ask that pastor about it when he came by to get the Bible.

Slowly, the desk began to get active with phone calls and people checking out. No one could see any difference in Bill on the outside, but something was different inside. He wasn’t sure he believed it all yet, but for the first time in months he felt hope. And hope is just a short step from belief.

(Based on a real-life incident)

An Uncertain Christmas – A Certain Faith

We were a daddy and his little boy jostling down the interstate in a 24-foot U-haul truck. It was our third day in the truck which held all the family’s belongings and also pulled our car. The tired tow-headed five year-old, Jarad, tried to sleep, but the ride was just too rough. It was another story for his cocker spaniel. The dog was fast asleep on the hard floor as the boy struggled in the seat. After watching the dog sleep blissfully for a couple of hours Jarad made the dog trade places with him. Soon the dog was fast asleep on the more comfortable truck seat and Jarad was still wide awake on the floor.

I chuckled softly at Jarad’s predicament. It was a laugh at his expense, but I needed to laugh at something. There was not much that was funny about moving the week before Christmas. I was sad that my little five year-old was missing out on the usual Christmas traditions because we were on the road. Sadder still, was the reason we were moving. My sweet wife, Tina, who had long suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, had been fighting an infection for months and no matter what the doctors had tried, it would not go away. It just got worse. She hadn’t been able to walk for a long time; in fact, it was a terrible struggle for her to even get out of bed. Nothing the doctors had done had helped. She appeared to be dying at the age of thirty. I was taking Tina home so she could be near her parents in her last days.

Everything had happened so fast. Tina’s illness had forced her to stop working and I was embarrassed that I didn’t make enough money pastoring a small church to support my family without her income. The church said they couldn’t pay more and they refused to let me work outside the church. I felt I had no choice but to pursue another kind of work. As I started looking for a job, Tina grew worse. Her mom came out to California to help again. My angel of a mother-in-law had spent sixteen weeks at our house in the last year. She was a huge help, but it wasn’t fair for her to be 2300 miles away from her husband the rest of the family in Indiana.

Since we were selling our house, to reduce our debt load, it occurred to me as I watched Tina struggle, that there was nothing holding us in California anymore: I had resigned from the church, and soon we would be out of our house. Since I had to look for a job and a house, there was no reason it had to be out there. Tina needed to be with her family back in Indiana. She needed their emotional support and so did I. I also needed physical help taking care of her, and Jarad.

My parents, who lived in Kansas, traveled to California to help us pack and load the truck. Because she could not have tolerated the four day trip by car or in the moving truck, Tina flew out on the foggiest, dreariest night of the year. The next day, Jarad and I climbed into the truck and headed out with my parents following in their car.

Our plan was to spend the third night of the trip at my folk’s house. The next day they would follow me on to Indiana for as big of a Christmas celebration as we could muster at my in-law’s farm. Everyone was trying to be hopeful, joyous and helpful, but everyone also knew the sad reason for the move.

As we drove a popular song titled “Stand By Me” was broadcast on the radio time and again. The lyrics were of a man promising his loved one that, no matter what happened in life, they would be safe as long as they faced their hardships together. As I drove I would look at Jarad and we would sing it together. I was desperately hoping he might realize, whatever was ahead for us, he could count on me to be with him and uphold him.

It turned out to be a pretty rough trip. When we were going through Albuquerque, New Mexico snow started falling. It was just a few flakes at first, but within a few miles the snow became heavy, after a few more miles, it turned into a blizzard. We passed no towns for a long way, so there was no place to stop or turn around. I had never driven a big truck pulling a car in weather like this. Getting behind a big rig, I copied whatever the driver in front of me did: slowing down as we crested mountains, and carefully trying to keep going straight on the way down. It took four hours to go the fifty miles to the next town and a motel.

My mother took ill in the bad weather. It was not possible for her to continue past their Kansas home, another disappointment in a season of disappointments. After my father and I got Mom settled in her bed, Dad reminded me that the church I attended as I was growing up was presenting its outdoor “Living Nativity” and suggested that I take Jarad to see it. It was a good idea; maybe it would be one special thing in a fouled up Christmastime.

Walking into the church parking lot holding Jarad’s hand brought back wonderful memories of being part of that church and participating in the “Nativity”. This particular presentation was more than a tableau. Actors played out the Christmas story to a beautifully narrated and orchestrated twenty-five minute recording. When I was a youth, I participated heavily in all aspects of the production. As I held Jarad in my arms and watched, my heart was taken up by the familiar Christmas story in a new way. I identified for the first time with Joseph, the one male part I had never played. I was dealing with a lot of uncertainty that Christmas, and it occurred to me that the first Christmas was pretty uncertain for Joseph. Both Joseph and I found ourselves in towns that we no longer called home. Neither of us was happy about the way he was able to provide for his wife. Joseph’s wife gave birth in a stable. Mine was in the midst of moving at time of great suffering. Neither Joseph nor I knew what was going to happen next. Things worked out for Joseph because he trusted God, and God had a plan. I began to realize, that even though nearly everything in my life was uncertain I had to believe that God had a plan for me too, and I needed to trust Him. Whether Tina would live or die, I didn’t know. How I would provide for my family, I didn’t know. But I had given my life and my future to the Lord years before at this little church. Suddenly, I was reminded by the Christmas story, which was coming to life before me, that God would be faithful and that He would not forget my little family. In the midst of an uncertain Christmas, I found a more certain faith.

The next day Jarad and I (and the sleeping dog) jostled on down the road to a new life. Before long “Stand By Me” came on the radio, and Jarad and I again sang with the record. This time I sang it with a new assurance that, just as I would stand by my son in scary times, I, too, had a Heavenly Father standing by me on this uncertain Christmas.

Things didn’t straighten out right away, but the hope in my heart had been reborn. By the following Christmas, things were nearly back to normal. After ten surgeries Tina’s infection was finally cleared up and her health was slowly improving. Our house in California sold in February. After several months of unfruitful job searching, I was asked by my denomination to do something I had always dreamed of doing: begin a new congregation. Christmas that year found me back in the pulpit, my wife doing well, and my son making new friends in his kindergarten class. One thing was certain, God had been standing by us the whole time.

He has continued to do so. In the years since then, Tina finished college with a degree in education. She has recovered to the point that she is no longer considered disabled. After working several years on my staff as children’s minister, Tina now edits a children’s ministry magazine, writes an on-line children’s church curriculum, has authored ten books, and teaches and encourages children’s workers all over the country. Although she still battles rheumatoid arthritis, it hasn’t stopped her. The jostled little boy, Jarad, is an all grown-up and the father of twins. He serves as Lead Pastor at a church not far from Chicago. Tough times will come again, but they won’t be uncertain times because God has blessed us with a certain faith.

What Does God Want the Church to do?

What is the church here for? What is God’s purpose of the church? Why are we called together? These are pretty basic questions, and Rick Warren dealt with them years ago in his great book The Purpose Driven Church. Yet, as I have had occasion to visit many churches, and talk to pastors, and their people, I have found that way too many folks are confused about God’s purpose for the church, and some people are just plain wrong about it. Let me share some things that might help to clear up confusion, and perhaps make some think again about what God wants the church to be and to do.

I believe there are five parts to a Biblical purpose for the church. These all come straight from scripture. Most written church purposes include some of them, but I have seldom seen a church that proclaimed all five as the reason it exists.

The Purpose of the Church in Five Parts:

Part 1 – The church exists to glorify God. That is the purpose of all creation. All through the Psalms we are reminded of this fact. In particular, the church exists to proclaim the glory of God, our Savior. This part of the purpose of the church overarches the other parts. All the rest are ways that we glorify God. Everything the church is and does should be designed to give glory to the Lord.

Part 2 – The purpose of the church is to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus with the message of salvation and discipleship. Jesus’ last words on earth make this very clear:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 (NIV)

In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations. Notice that he didn’t say to go get people to make decisions; instead he said to make disciples. It is not enough to push people into a moment of decision. We are to lead people into a life of following Christ. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told those who were on hand for his ascension to be his witnesses everywhere they went. We are to reach out by simply telling people what Jesus has done in our lives and showing them what it means to be a disciple as we reflect his love and hope on those around us.

Part 3 – The purpose of the church is to grow up to be like Jesus in our thinking, standards and maturity. Take a look at Ephesians 4:11-13:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephes. 4:11-16 (NIV)

Seems to me that this means we all have a lot of learning and growing to do, and that we must never stop doing what needs to be done to become more like Jesus.

Part 4 – The purpose of the church is to grow together in the fellowship of Christian love for each other.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Christ-followers have to learn to love each other. Sometimes that is a breeze, and sometimes it is nearly impossible, because we can be impossible. The love that we share must be a love that others can see and desire to experience. It is also a love that wants as many people as possible to be part of it. The church is to be an open, inviting, fellowship, not a closed clique or club.

Part 5 – The purpose of the church is to lift up those in need simply because they are in need and we have help to offer.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:34-40 (NIV)

This part of the purpose of the church is often missing in written purpose statements. Sometimes, it is thought to be included with the “reach out” part, but I think it stands alone. The church is to help people with out expecting anything in return. If you don’t think Jesus is serious about this read, the whole context of the quoted passage: Matthew 25: 31-46. He is not messing around. He means for us to do it.

The temptation for a congregation and for a pastor is to pick the part of the purpose that they find the easiest, and concentrate on that. That is the reason that there are a lot of small churches that love each other deeply, but don’t do much to bring other people to the Lord. Other churches feel like a school where people have piles of notebooks from all the church courses they have taken. The members do a lot of training, but they never get into the battle. Still others do a lot for their communities, but they have become little more than simply another charity that does good, instead of being a place with more to give to those in need than a warm meal or free clothes. And some churches like to count the rear ends in the seats, but that is all that happens. People come to those churches for the “show”, but there is nothing beyond “the show” for them.

A friend of mine says the purpose of the church is to “grow more and better disciples with emphasis on the more.” He finds that churches tend to concentrate on things that are comfortable. Reaching out to the unchurched is often uncomfortable. Most churches tend to be more enthusiastic about the other parts, so they have to be encouraged to reach out. He may well be correct. I think a church needs to be and do the whole package to the glory of God. Is your church doing all these: reaching out, growing up, growing together, and lifting up? Why not? Small church, large church, and everything in between, all of us, need to live the whole calling of God. The church was God’s idea. It was paid for by his Son’s sacrifice. So it stands to reason that we should do church his way. Are we?

What Now?

It has been a year and a half since I resigned as pastor in Kokomo. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out what God wants me to do with this next chapter of my life. The Lord drew my attention to a verse of scripture that has become my theme:

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation.” Psalm 71:18a (NIV)

This is exactly what I want to do.  Accordingly, I have looked at several possibilities:

1. I looked at becoming a specialist in helping churches as an interim pastor. I did an interim last fall and enjoyed my time with the church in Walla Walla, Washington. To do interim work on a full-time basis is tough, because you never have a real home. You move every nine months or so. That becomes problematic on several levels. I don’t think that it would work for our family as a permanent way of life. However, doing an interim from time to time could be possible.

2. I had hopes of overseeing a group of churches. I spent a long time going through an extensive candidating process with an area church fellowship, even becoming a finalist, but someone else was chosen, so that door was closed.

3. I asked the Lord if He was done with me in ministry and should I look for a secular job? I considered this carefully, but I’m trained and experienced in ministry. Even though I have a master’s degree in business, I have used it solely in the context of ministry. Besides, the secular job world was not crying out for this old pastor.

4. What I would most like to do is to consult and coach pastors and churches. This would directly fulfill Ps. 71:18a, and I think I could help churches that are plateaued or declining see what they need to do to get moving in a positive direction. My age would help me challenge older church members to get behind younger pastors who want to make the changes necessary for a church to reach the next generation. Making a living at consulting and coaching is not a very easy proposition. I’ll continue to seek ways I can do this, but I won’t rely on it as a way to put bread on the table.

5. Perhaps, the most obvious thing for me to do is to return to pastoring somewhere. I put my name out to churches that are looking for pastors, and I had preliminary interviews with six churches and been invited to candidate by five of them. To each I have said no. Not because they were bad situations. All of them held good possibilities. As a matter of fact, two of the churches are larger than any of the churches I have led. I just did not feel that God was calling me to any of them. This past week, when I turned down the last two of these churches, it finally occurred to me that God doesn’t want me to pastor anywhere at this time.

6. Then what am I going to do? What has God led me to do? For the last six months or so I have been working as the administrator for Tina Houser Ministries. I kind of fell into it, because Tina is my wife, her ministry has been growing at an explosive pace, and she needed some help. I’m doing things that I haven’t done very much (bookkeeping), learning to do some new stuff (website maintenance), and getting to brag about my wife (promoting her books and her workshops). I get to travel with her (and lug her books and stuff around), and see her shine as she shares her heart for ministry to children. This is what I believe God wants me to do now. It is a means by which I can make an impact on the next generation. This is a part-time job, so I’ll continue to seek ways to serve the church. Actually, the thing that has made this a hard decision is that it lacks financial security, but Tina and I both believe that God is directing us to do this. In a couple of weeks we are moving to Woodstock, Georgia, at least, temporarily. We will get to be near our son and his wonderful wife. We’ll get to be grandparents to our beautiful grandtwins (see above). In addition, I hope to do some preaching, and I’ll have time to do some consulting or coaching, should those opportunities present themselves. Finally, for the first time in 38 years I will be involved in a local church without being on the pastoral staff. (By the way, I intend to be some pastor’s big supporter!)

So, if you see Tina anywhere in the world, you will probably see me behind her book table. And, if your church can use my help, I am very available. Thank you to all those who have been praying for me through this time. You have been a rock for me. Please keep looking for this blog. I plan to continue to use this platform to share with you all and to proclaim God’s power to the next generation.

My Mother – A Good Woman

At 2:30 on Sunday, October 23rd, my mother drew her last breath, 93 years, 4 months and 11 days after her first one. She was a great mother, a fine wife, a hard worker and I loved her deeply. Wanda Houser, nee Holloway, was born just outside the tiny Kansas town of Anson to a tenet farmer and his wife. She and her twin sister were welcomed by five older brothers. From the beginning she was a survivor. The baby twins were victims of the swine flu epidemic that swept the country in 1918. Mom’s sister died, but Mom recovered. As a child she loved school, and saw education as her escape from the poverty she knew. Soon she realized that if things were to be different for her, she would have to leave Anson and discover the rest of the world. The school in her little town only went to the 10th grade, so at age 15 she went to the town of Wellington to finish high school. Going to school by day, this teenager served a family as a live-in babysitter to support her education ambition. Her dream was to become a teacher, but to do that she would have to attend college and that obstacle proved to be a financial impossibility, so she found a new dream. She chose to continue learning at a business college and received training to be a secretary. To manage this, she had to move to the relatively large city of Wichita and work as a live-in caretaker of an elderly lady to make ends meet. By age 20 she had her training, a good job and she was living in the city.

Soon she found love and married Gene Farris. Not long thereafter, along came my sister, Glenda Jo (Jody). A few months later, Mom found herself carrying her second child. At age 25 all her dreams seemed to be coming true. Suddenly, that all changed when she got the call every wife fears most. Her husband suddenly died on a business trip in Kansas City. Instead of being a working wife and mother of two, she became a widow and had a miscarriage. But mom survived. Her father, who was quite elderly by then, told her that if she found a place where he could keep his cow, he and my grandmother would come and help her “take care of that girl.” So Mom bought a house and some extra lots on what was then the edge of the city. She continued her work for the vice-president (and later the attorney) of the Wichita Bank for Cooperatives and raised my sister with Grandma’s help.

Four years later my mom found love again. She met my dad, Veryle Houser, at a small hamburger café, and after a year’s courtship married him. Four years later along came Claude Raymond (yours truly, Ray). My mother loved her job, but she wasn’t so much a working mother as she was a mother who worked. I always knew that I was her priority. She went the extra mile to be involved in my life. When I was in grade school and they needed a room mother to put on the little classroom parties for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day, my mom took time off work to be there. When I was sick, mom would manage to get away from work to make sure that I was cared for. I don’t think mom ever missed a ball game, Boy Scout event, or anything else that was important to me when I was small.

Mom’s belief in the importance of education extended to her kids. Neither my sister nor I ever considered doing anything after high school except go to college. The question about college was not if, it was where. Mom and Dad made great sacrifices to see that Jody and I were the first in the family to get that college education which elluded Mom. When many of my friends at the small Christian college I attended had to sweat out how they would pay for each semester and finished school thousands of dollars in debt, I could relax because my folks paid for it all. I worked through high school to save for college, but I got to use the money I had saved for student trips to Rome, Athens, Israel, and Peru. At college the pay for the few hours I worked each week was used for personal items and my dating life.

Jody fulfilled Mom’s dream by becoming a teacher, and I became a pastor. Both of us extended our educations beyond Mom’s dream by getting master’s degrees in our fields (to be precise, I earned two). Mom was proud of us. On the day after I graduated from seminary, she rode with me from Anderson, Indiana, where I went to school, to the Louisville, Kentucky area where I was to be married a few days later. Mom, who seldom shared her feelings, said to me, “I don’t know what I am supposed to do now. You and Jody are through school, and now you will both have your own families. I feel like I have done what I was supposed to do.” Her mission was accomplished. She was proud and satisfied.

A couple of years later she retired and began traveling with Dad. For the next 15 or so years they covered all the contiguous states and part of Canada. It was great for her, because she got to satisfy her curiosity and learn many wonderful things. Finally, her body began to betray her and her mobility was limited. Her last trip was to attend my son’s wedding in 2003. I know the trip was very uncomfortable for her, but she would not be denied the chance to be there. The last few years of her life my Dad was her caregiver. He helped her with everything and pushed her wheelchair wherever she needed to go. They celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last September.

My mom had a good life. She was a survivor …. more than that, she was a hero. She overcame a very difficult beginning and tough times along the way to build the life she hoped for. She passed on her love for learning, her sense of fair play, and her devotion to her spouse and family to Jody and I.

I am going to miss you, Mom. I love you. You hated the word good-bye, so I will say what you usually said: so long, I’ll see you later.