Spiritual Alarm Clocks

Minstry is a funny thing. There are times when you just go through the day, or the week, or the month, and do the normal stuff. It can be easy to believe that everything is mundane, that everything that's done is just routine. But there can come a moment or a comment that works like an alarm clock in the morning. It's as though we're suddenly awake and aware that the sun is up and people are up and about. The moment that comes, or the comment that is made, causes us to lift our eyes and look around us, noticing anew that the God of Wonders is alive and active in our life.

I think that people who find themselves slogging through their spiritual life in depresssion, discouragement, and even despair, have forgotten to listen to the "spiritual alarm clocks" that alert us to the work of our Sovereign King.


Spiritual alarm clocks - that's an interesting thought. Lord, don't let my ears grow deaf to listening as your Spirit endeavors to awaken me to your wondrous activity.

Transitions

There are times when it seems that nothing has changed. There are other times when it seems that everything has changed and no one else notices. It's kind of like knowing that you have a bandage on your forehead and no one comments on it. You know the bandage is there but, why doesn't anyone else notice? Obviously, others can't see inside our minds or thoughts and know that decisions have been made - even decisions that will profoundly affect the future.

I found out last Sunday that some of the folk at church who have the responsibility to deal with pastoral issues read the blog and were surprised by my comment that I thought there should be a change of pastors. I still feel that way. I think it's best for the church - forgetting the implications for Suzanne and me. It has nothing to do with being unhappy or anything else. We feel called to go to Asia as clearly as anything else we've felt before. I trust the process our Conference has for pastoral assignments. I believe the committee found God's direction in this, even though the conclusion isn't what many expected.

One of the fascinating things about how God works: we can clearly sense that God has been leading, pray faithfully and expectantly and God sometimes seems to turn things on their head. When we prayed with the committee on Thursday I felt God was taking us one particular direction. I think the committee did as well. After they read the last post they were confused and began to pray more. (It might be that I said something in writing that I wasn't able to communicate verbally.) They came to a unanimous decision to release us and that feels right. I have to admit that hearing the words kind of took my breath away, but it still felt right.

So, now we are on track to leave Colbert for Asia this Summer. All kinds of thoughts are going through our heads. We haven't moved in over 25 years. We will have to relearn how to pack, how to select "keepers" and "tossers" and things to sell. Where will we put our stuff while we're in Asia? What will we do about mail? Subscriptions? There are so many things to learn we're a little befuddled.

In seven months we're due to be on assignment in a new country. WOW! I've been "around the block" enough to know that period seems like a long time but isn't. I've already been asked about how much funding we'll have to raise for this year. I don't have a clue! When will we have a chance to do fundraising and still go on with our work at Colbert? How do we get ready to go and still do the rest of the things that need to be done in the church or in school without short-changing the people who pay our salaries?

Some of the things that I find myself thinking about is, "How do I want to leave things?" I've asked people to pray that I will "finish strong." I don't want to wimp out and quit. There are a number of things I'd like to see happen before we leave. There are people who've "flirted" with Jesus without "selling out" for him. I'd like to see those people get their act together and move ahead. There are others who've never made any pretense of faith. It would be more than exciting to see one (some?) of them make a decision for Christ. Well, let's just say that there have been a lot of things on hold that it would be great to see move forward in the next few months.

I have to admit, there is a sense of excitement about the move we're making. One of my friends talks about how impressed he is that we're willing to leave our assignment after so long and go so far. It's an adventure. I've told people for years to follow Christ. I've told them to walk by faith. I've challenged them to risk for God and watch him work. I guess it's my turn. If I would turn back at this point it I would be turning my back on the last 30 years of teachings. Either I believe it - Him - or I don't.

Several weeks ago I came across an item I wrote for the church newsletter a long time ago. It was called "Wing Walking With Jesus." I don't know how many of the "younger generations" ever saw the old dare-devils walking on the wings of airplanes as they soared above the amazed crowds. In some cases the dare-devils (Nuts?) were strapped in place, but not always. I don't remember the point I was trying to make with the article, but I feel that's what we're doing now.
We're trying to keep up with what the Lord is doing and where he's going. There are forces that are trying to knock us off our stance, but, by God's grace, we'll stay with Him.

I suppose I've used this post to deal with some "emotional baggage" rather than just muse. O well, it's my blog.

New to blogging

I've heard about blogging for a long time. I had looked at a few blogs in various areas but hadn't thought about creating one until recently. While speaking with a friend about doing some extra teaching, he mentioned I could do some on a blog. I don't know if I'll do that but I think I'll try to use this for keeping folk up to date on what's happening with our ministry as we go to Kazakhstan this summer. I think that I'll also use it to just share thoughts about ministry in general.

Throughout my time working in churches - over 30 years - most of the emphasis and involvement has been in the local church. We've always had an interest in international missions and thought at one time that God might be calling us to serve overseas. More recently, the last three years, Suzanne and I have had the privilege of visiting a number of countries: Brazil, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and other parts of East Asia. We've mostly visited friends who are serving in those countries, but we've also had the chance to do some teaching and prayer ministry. We trust that the little we've done has had some positive impact for God's purposes. We've certainly been blessed by the workers and the national brothers and sisters. What a privilge - honor - to get to know them. They have been such a blessing! While we've traveled we've done some of the "touristy" stuff and taken a lot of pictures. The things that we'll remember most is the people we've met and the blessing they've been.

Last May, while I was with a prayer team in Asia, we were asked to share what God was saying to us. That's never a "safe" question and it deserved a thoughtful answer. As I pondered the question I was impressed with one word/thought over and over - change/transition. I was tempted to follow that thought to see where it would take me. I also thought that, knowing me, I could force a number of possibilities into that word. So, I decided to be patient (big struggle) and let the Lord reveal what he wanted at his own pace.

I hadn't been home for more than a few weeks when another "word" came. It's not easy to describe or explain, but an opportunity came that had a certain feel about it that it was something special. I was asked to mentor to some nationals involved in church planting.

In July I had been asked to preach during our Conference's annual meetings. I was asked to speak about discipleship, specifically "A Disciple's Test". The challenge at the end of the message was with the song Today and to follow Christ where he leads. We had a 20 minute prayer time following the message and were to spend it in silence listening for what God might say to us. I did that in good faith. Listening is not easy for me. Too many extraneous thoughts run through my mind. I spent the first 19 minutes trying to listen to God's voice and ignoring my own thoughts. In the last minute God spoke - "Follow Me". "Ok, Lord. Where? How?" Those questions went unanswered.

In August we had our church campout with a guest speaker. One night he spoke about following Christ and we had a great time of prayer and commitment. Several asked for prayer and we spent a good amount of time around the campfire lifting both prayers and praises. During the night I was awakened with a strong impression on the word "connections". As I walked and talked with Suzanne the next day it was clear that "connections" had something to do with "change", mentoring and "follow me".

Within the invitation to mentor was an opportunity to join a team going to Asia in November to visit the countries where mentoring would take place and to investigate other future ministry opportunities. We didn't have the resources for me to make the trip. I had vacation time from the church I could use, but we didn't have the funds. As time went on I needed to make a decision about going. I really struggled with this. The trip made sense and I felt it would be a great initiation into the area and the ministries. I couldn't say I felt that God didn't want me to go, but I didn't feel free to say "yes" without funding in hand. The impression that was so pronounced over the month of September was the tension between feeling I should go but not being able to say yes.

In October I was asked if I could go if the resources were provided. Yes, I could do that. The money was made available and we began to make plans for the trip. But there was something else that jumped into the picture. I was asked, out of the blue seemingly, to pray about going to Aisaf or a year. First of all, the person who asked me to pray was my Superintendent. We had just come off of a very successful centennial celebration at church which the Supt. had participated in. I thought his request was funny. I couldn't imagine myself going to Asia or serving as "President" of a seminary. Well, their seminary is equivalent to our Bible school and a president is more of a ministry head than president.

November involved the trip to Asia with the team. The leader of the team - Dave - was the one who asked the Supt. to pray about someone for the seminary. We spent a great deal of time discussing the role and how I might fit into that position. I also spoke with Folmer, a friend with us, a great deal. It was clear to me that God had something in store for me but I wasn't clear about what that would be. I returned from the trip pretty convinced that Asia wasn't in our future but a greater involvement in international missions was.

December came and what I thought was a closed door for Asia opened when I spoke with the Supt. He indicated that the closed door wasn't closed - in fact it was wide open. I also discovered as I thought about it that I was looking for reasons to say "no" to the opportunity. Suzanne had been ready from day one to go. The "brake" on this was me. Was I resisting what God wanted to do? I realized that I would have to do more investigation and scheduled a meeting with the Supt. and with Dave together.

To make the story move ahead, Suzanne and I spent three more weeks talking, praying and struggling with the question. Should we go? What about Colbert? We decided that we had to step out and go and trust that God already had an answer for the church.

So, here we are. We're preparing to go to Asia for a year and work in the seminary. We don't know what the church will choose. Will they feel as I do that it's time for a change of pastors at Colbert? Will they want Suzanne and me back for future ministry after a sabbatical? We will know more tomorrow.

In the meantime we wonder what it will be like. I come back to God's promise in Jeremiah 29:11. God has plans for us that will be good for us - and good for the church.

The Start

We trust that this will be the beginning of a beautiful relationship with blogging. We're hoping, at least I'm hoping, that this will be a place that we can communicate what God is doing in and around us.

We are in the process of transition in our lives and ministry. We've been at Colbert Chapel for 26 years. It's clear that God has been directing us in a new direction for some time. We're excited about the opportunities ahead, and at the same time apprehensive about just what the changes will bring.

As we look ahead to ministering in Central Asia we're studying and trying to discover what our role will be. We hope that we'll communicate some of the personal challenges we face and the discoveries we accumulate. We're also going to learn what this blogging thing is all about.