It’s Cold Outside, Bluffton Today Article, February 19, 2023

Recently, I have had to opportunity to renew a relationship with  one of my nephews.  I’m not sure it’s a renewal actually.  It’s more of a first time I paid attention.  I will admit, I’m not good at long distance relationships.  In this case, I wasn’t good at a short distance relationship as well.  Regardless ,our paths have crossed, and we are talking.  That’s the good point.  I think I have figured out the younger generation.  They will listen to you if you take the time to listen to them.  They will talk with you if you show respect and not belittle them.  I personally love to listen to a millennial or younger.  Their view is vastly different yet somewhat the same as mine.  It’s like I’m looking from the front, and they are looking from the rear.  Both people can gain understanding if they would just listen to each other.

Meanwhile, one thing we have decided to do was send each other a book we would like the other one to read in a month.  Bering I’am a minister he is interested in the books that shaped my faith.  As for him, I’am just interested in the books he reads.  His faith is being shaped.  So we have traded books for the last three months.  It’s times like this that I love Amazon.  

I sent him Encounters with Jesus by Tim Keller, Scandalous Freedom by Steve Brown and the latest was Gentle and Lowly, the Heart of Jesus for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund.  My first three books are focused on getting the point that I needed at his age…grace.  Don’t we all!  On the other hand ,he has sent me three books with a theme of suffering titled, Telling Secrets by Frederick Buchner, Even in Our Darkness by Jack Deere and the last one being One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.  Telling Secrets was the coming out book in which, due to the suicide death of his dad the author was not allowed to talk about his dad till his mother died.  She died, and he was finally getting it all out.  

Even in Our Darkness was the life story of a preacher, Jack Deere, and the misery he had to face from within his family.  It was, at times very dark.  

The Solzhenitsyn book, was typical Solzhenitsyn.  It was truth from a non-Western view.  There was not a climax or happy ending.  It was just straight up truth.  Sometimes I think we Westerners don’t appreciate such writing since there is no band playing and nobody is walking off into the sunset with the words “And they lived happily ever after.”  

While reading the Solzhenitsyn book, I came across a sentence that just stopped me in my tracks.  I think I almost gulped.  I was reading along and then I read, “When you’re cold, don’t expect sympathy from someone who’s warm.”  

What an interesting sentence.  It doesn’t condemn the warm, but it throws a poke at them.   He used the word “sympathy “instead of “empathy” which is interesting to me.  His view is on the sufferer and his expectations ,yet at the same time the same he is dismissing the attitude of the one who is warm.  Now that is literally genius.

But his genius is not what stopped me.  It was that I considered this to be the climate of the day Jesus lived in.  Jesus was constantly talking about loving (laying down you life for another especially your neighbor) others.  Love would be the warm caring for those who are cold.  It’s letting the ones that are outside in by the fireplace.  Why?  No other reason then the fact they are cold.  

Instead, Alexander hits on a basic human depraved condition where we tend to only consider our own warmth instead of someone else’s chilly fate.  

Recently, two chaplains for Hope For The Community decided to take Christmas gifts up to around 8 mentally ill individuals living in a group home in Yemessee on Christmas morning.   I asked them, “Why are you doing this, taking time out of your Christmas morning for people who might forget it’s Christmas by noon?”  Their reply, “John, they don’t have anybody and they don’t have anything.  They are just left there.”  My reply, “These are the people Jesus touched.  Thank you.”  

This was the rare occasion we find people who are not just writing a check or donating some turkeys.  They are getting their hands dirty with a group of people that are hard to be around.  There will not be many thank you’s.  Few will even know they are there.  But the chaplain didn’t  do it for the reward.  They do it for others.  This is the warm, inviting those who are cold in.  Rare.  

It’s rare, but it shouldn’t be. 

Some people ask me what has gone wrong with modern day Christianity.  While it’s hard to pinpoint one thing, I do believe we have become too warm and find ways to think we are caring for those who are in the cold but really are not.  The younger generations know this is smoke and mirrors.  They reject such faith.  I don’t blame them, but, then again, I can be just as lame.  Inviting the cold in to the warm fire is costly.  That is if you are looking at the cost.  Those who understand realized it costs more to not let the cold in.  I think Solzhenitsyn understood that clearly, and for Christ to be relevant to our younger generations once again, we must understand it much deeper than we do.  

The Hawaii We Don’t See, Bluffton Today, February 12, 2023

I had the trip of a lifetime in December.  I had the opportunity to go to Hawaii.  We ended up staying on Oahu.  That is the island where Honolulu is ,as well as the famous Diamond Head volcano and Waikiki beach.  Other than that, there is the North Beach where a lot of the surfing championships take place since the waves are pretty awesome at times in that location.

I will be honest.  It was amazing to be in Hawaii.  The water was so blue and clear.  The temperatures were steadily around 80 in the day and 70 at night.  The flowers were very beautiful.  However, outside of the resort where we stayed, Hawaii was not what I anticipated it to be.  I will admit Oahu is the most populous of the islands, containing 75% of the entire population of the Hawaiian Islands.  It has a lot of people for sure.  Where there are a lot of people there are problems.  

The people outside of the city were pleasant for sure.  I’m not sure we really engaged the true Hawaiian spirit.  One thing for sure, we were in traffic and yet people were generally very nice letting people in and out.  Of course, even in traffic, there is no place on the island that is very far away.  So, why not go slower? The culture on Oahu is definitely slower and kinder.  

We got away from Honolulu a couple of days.  We went horse back riding on the North Shore.  The horse owners were talking about the rude tourists.  They talked about how they don’t tip them and complain all the time.  

We went on a complete island tour.  That was well worth it.  We got to see things we would never have found on our own.  The tour guide was fantastic.  A Hawaiian who knew just about everything on the island.  As many times as he honked the horn at people along the road ,I think he knew just about everyone on the island as well.  

Our favorite was jet skiing on the back side of Diamond Head.  We got to paraglide as well.   The grandkids loved it. They got to experience the water, and it was fantastic.  We made sure to protect ourselves against the sun.  No sunburn that we could find.  Our goal was accomplished.  

There was a social issue that really disturbed us.  No sooner had we arrived and rented a car then car company told us to never leave any valuables in the car.  At first, I thought it was a typical warning.  However, everywhere we went we heard the same thing.  The problem is that the homeless population is so big due to the outrageous price of homes.  Let’s just say I never held a job that could afford any of the homes for sale on Oahu.  We think Bluffton prices are outrageous.  I found a place where it is worse.  We were told during the pandemic the price of homes tripled.  So, if you lived in an already expensive home of $500,00 it is now worth $1.5 million.  Who can afford that?

Well, that is not the only reason.  The government decided about a year ago to put into place a mandatory requirement that one must be 50% Hawaiian to live in government subsidized housing.  This would demand a blood test to determine true Hawaiians.  If hey were  not, immediately removed from the housing.  Many were surprised to find out their heritage included Japanese or Philippine blood.  They had no options.  They were removed from their housing, and since they could not afford the prices, they ended up in tents and make shift shelters along the beach, in the parks, behind dumpsters, and just about anywhere one traveled.  A lot of times they set up a tent on the beach or win the parks to be near bathrooms and showers.  The closer I looked I realized they were no different than me.  Many had jobs.  They just can’t afford the housing.  

So, the next thing I did was try and check out the response of the churches on Oahu.  The good news is there are some who are paying attention to the crisis.  The Assembly Church of God in Honolulu is providing a dome building to house some.  Some churches are feeding the homeless.  That is the good news.  The bad news is the lack of unity under the name of Jesus to have the government reverse its blood requirement.  The bad news is the lack of a unified effort to seriously breach the homeless issues.  From what I could tell, it was like a drop of water in an ocean of problems.  

That seems to be one of the biggest problems with Christianity as a whole.  Many churches believe in salvation by grace, bu,t outside of that try getting anyone to work together on social ills.  The homeless problem on Oahu is serious.  As we flew out, a bad storm was coming to the Island.  High surf warnings were being issued.  The hundreds if not thousands camped along the beaches would be disrupted for sure.  We hear about airplanes that experience the disturbance, but we do not hear about the homeless issues.  

Church, it’s high time we put denomination affiliation to the side to meet the greater social issues every community faces.  No one church can meet the needs in any community.  We need to join hands in the name of God, putting aside our differences, focusing on our likeness and the grace and love of God to address social ills in our communities.  

Pray for the homeless of Oahu.  It’s a very serious situation of which you will not find any news.  It’s one of those problems we turn our faces from.  Pray the government will extend mercy and grace to its people.  Pray for the churches to bond together in care for the people.

As we left our resort and headed to the airport we had leftover food and water.  We stopped for gasoline and found a beautiful young lady living behind the dumpster of the gas station.  We gave her the food and water.  As I gave her the food, I realized this could be me or my daughter or even my granddaughter.  Their crime…their heritage.  Pray for the love of Jesus to change the hearts and minds of those in such a beautiful a place on earth.  

Should I Stay or Should I Go… Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, 12.18,22

Church.  A word that has a lot of different expressions and opinions that surround it.  Before the pandemic, church was a place we went to most Sundays.  Since the pandemic closed some for a little while and we entered the digital world, attendance is an option.  We can now be a part of the community in our pajamas with a cup of coffee in our hands and never leave the house.  Who would have thought?

Whether we are one of the regular attenders or a member of the digital community we tend to pick a church for various reasons.  Often it is the dynamic preacher.  It’s funny.  We call the person in the pulpit a preacher on Sunday but want him to be a pastor the other days of the week.  By the way, there is a difference.  A pastor is more of a shepherd.  The one you want by your bedside when you are ill, or when life falls apart.  The preacher, he’s the one who  occupies the vocal expression of church for about one half hour each week.  

I’ve done the calculations.  If the preacher preaches for half hour a week, and, for various reasons, we miss four weeks a year (vacation and illness), the preacher’s input in our lives is 24 hours a year.  But we tend to pick a preacher we like even though his influence in our lives is somewhat minimal at 1/365 days a year.  

Other times we go to church for friendship.  We basically like the people that go to church there.  Often, we go when the age group we are in has a strong representation.  Thus, there is a communal aspect of church

Today, I was talking to a friend about the reasons I go to the church I attend weekly.  I never mentioned the preacher by name or title.  I didn’t say a word about the friends I do or do not have at church. We talked about the life in the church other than on Sunday.

In my life I have been a member of seven churches in my 63 years of life.  It started at Faith Bible Church.  The only reason I went there is my parents told me I was going and there was no choice.  What I remember about the church was the Vacation Bible School and being around kids my age for the first time that sang and talked about Jesus.

From there we went to Arlington Baptist Church.  The main reason?  A dynamic pastor who could “bring it” every week.  They also had a school I eventually ended up attending in high school.

Halethorpe Community Church was a brief stay.  We went due to a really cool assistant pastor.  He left to take a pulpit full time and we left as well.

Chapelgate Presbyterian Church was next on the list.  The main reason we went is my brother attended there and they had a really good softball team.  I wanted to play softball.  So off we went to church to play ball.  

After Chapelgate we moved to South Carolina and spent 17 years at Grace Coastal Church. We ended up there since the pastor was interested in hiring me as his assistant.  That helped for sure.

Now, we attend Church of the Cross.  It is here that I have remembered the real reasons to attend a church.  The pastors are pretty good in the pulpit.  The church is active in caring for “the least of these.”  They have a decent youth group.  At least that is what my grandkids tell me.  All of that is good.  But there is something more.  Deeper.  These three issues will be there determiner of what church we attend in the future if we move from the area.

The fisrt element that has caught my attention is theology.  It’s important.  We must agree with the interpretation of the Scriptures to grow.  There must be consistency in not just the statements of faith but their practice as well.  

But let’s get to the more important issues that should help us determine if we should stay at any church.  Do they preach Jesus?  I have attended church all my life.  I have heard a lot of sermons.  I do believe there are churches that preach the Bible but not Jesus.  There are some that teach systems and not Jesus.  There are those who preach a man focused faith and not Jesus.  In order to preach Jesus there has to be the revelation of the depth of our need.  No need, no Jesus.  This is an important element of church for my family.  Did we hear about Jesus every week?   I believe I heard about Jesus just about every Sunday in the churches I have attended. 

The third and final element of church attendance is focused on grace.  Do we hear the answer to our life issues is the grace of God?  Not only do we hear about grace do we see it practiced especially to those on the outside looking in.  This one is also very important.  Why?  The Apostle Paul told us our salvation is by grace through faith and not of ourselves so no one can boast.  If we are saved by grace, then let’s make sure we live by grace.  As far as I’m concerned, no grace, no Jesus.  No Jesus and I hope the pews empty.

All the other reasons we should be a part of a church are bonuses.  Let’s keep it simple.  When you watch on the internet, view a service on T.V., or attend a service on Sunday, make sure we know what they believe (theology), do you hear about Jesus clearly, and is grace proclaimed and practiced.  If so, grab a seat.  

Think, Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, December 11, 2022

There are a couple people in my life that make me think.  I mean really think.  They get my brain synapses firing.  I love it when they do.  There is plenty that doesn’t make us think too deeply.  I’m not sure the unholy trinity (the world, the flesh and the devil) wants us to think deeply.  

I remember growing up when I was told Christianity was not a thinking mans religion.  They were sure wrong.  

Jesus was constantly talking in a way that, from time to time, I bet had people shaking their heads.  He spoke in parables that made people think deeply.  He had this way of getting under the skin just enough to get the mind working, but not deep enough to draw blood.  

One of my favorite stories in Scripture comes from some great thinkers, Daniel.  Daniel faced a lot of the problems we do only worse.  His culture changed and he was subject to respond to the culture at hand.  If he did not “grow’ in that culture he more than likely faced death or enslavement.  Now, that is pretty motivational to tow the line.  

Daniel and his three friends needed to adjust to the culture of Babylon that was not God friendly.  They needed to do so and yet, they did not want to deny their God.  Classic struggle that plays out in our lives only without the fear of death or enslavement.  For us today it looks more like being ostracized, friendless, and criticized.  Those three elements can leave anyone emotionally scared and fearful in an already unstable world.  

I appreciated one of our priests, Nathan Weaver, for preaching on this topic this past Sunday.  I told him I needed it.  I did.  For, Daniel and his friends committed to the faithfulness of the Lord in the face of death, one time a fire pit and the other in a lion’s den.  The indication is they did so with full assurance of God’s provision.  

Now, this is where I get thinking.  What do we believe in regards to God’s provision, care and protection?  We can say and declare on a sunny day with not threat of showers that God will provide.  We can say we believe God will take care of us in our illnesses and health situations we face.  We can make claim that our protection is in the Mighty Hand of the Lord.  Now, what happens after we utter such statements?

Let’s start with God’s provision.  Now, we don’t stay home from work and declare God’s provision do we?  We go to the doctor when we are sick and don’t claim his provision in our battles against the common cold and upward to cancer.  In Jesus day there were no pharmacies and Mayo Clinics.  In Jesus day, there were no 401k’s and google searches.  So, how does all that work?  

Let’s look at God’s care.  We have just as many helicopter and lawnmower parents in the church as anywhere else.  Homeschooling is big in the Christian church.  Why?  One element is protection of our children.  But, what about our children being in the hands of God?  Do we believe that God is in control in the best of situations but also the worst of situations?  I’m not so sure we do.  

Earlier this year I was in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.  I was asked more than once if I feared for my life.  Well, no, I did not.  Crime in the inner harbor exploded recently.  I had no idea.  In Jesus day, people traveled by foot from town to town.  No cars, buses or trains.  Thieves and robbers abounded in their day.  So, what do we believe about God’s provision.  

How about when a hurricane is forecast to potentially strike the area.  What do we pray?  We praise God when they circumvent us and go away but let’s take the last one, what about the Christians who live in southwest Florida?  Who had the better prayers?  What do we believe?

I was actually asked by a non-believing friend how does prayer work in regards to a hurricane.  I was not expecting that one.  He too got me thinking.  What do I believe regarding prayer and hurricanes?  Does God spare some and not others from such disasters?  Is somebodies prayers better than others?  What makes God say “yes” to some prayers and “no” to others?  Am I driving you crazy yet?  

For the most part, we don’t look very deeply into issues of our faith.  We kind of accept some things and shrug our shoulders at others.  I”m not so sure that was what God intended it to be.  Jesus constantly was asking “next level” questions.  He constantly challenged issues that man didn’t want to look very deeply at.  He wasn’t stroking the persecution fires.  He was displaying something that we all need to he reminded.  We are not God and yet, we are to be seeking after HIm.  

Christianity is not a buy your ticket to heaven and hope you get there faith.  What Christ did was make it possible to once again have a relationship with God thus making asking hard questions possible once again.  

I’m not so sure we will get all the answers we are looking for.  I’m sure we won’t get answers that will make us happy.  But, what it will do is awaken us to a God who in his holiness lets weak human beings into his family.  I want to sit at his table.  I want to ask him some questions.  I want to be challenged in his answers.  Why?  The alternative is not what I would call faith.  Faith says “ask away.”  Faith says, “Get ready to be awakened by the power and yet gentleness of an awesome God”. That’s the faith I want to have.  I need to be challenged by the author and finisher of our faith.  Do you?

Doubt Lives, Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, December 4, 2022

From time to time I hear a sermon or presentation and sometimes I read something that gets me thinking.  I think that is called inspiration.  Well, it happened again this week.  Jonathan Riddle at Church of the Cross, spoke on the doubt of John the Baptist as to whether Jesus was the One.  It was an excellent sermon.  I needed to hear this one.  I give a lot of credit for this column today to Jonathan Riddle.  

I have found that it is not the unbeliever that doubts about Jesus.  They can’t doubt about Jesus.  Doubt only happens when one puts their trust in something or someone and it doesn’t work out like they thought it should.  I am that way from time to time with Jesus.  I think something (usually spoken in prayer) that I have a good idea.  In fact, if I work it out, God can surely get the glory.  The same with John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was in prison at the time.  Jonathan pointed out that he was questioning Jesus probably based on the idea that Jesus would rescue him from prison.  Prison in those days was not three hots and a cot, like it is today.  I was watching a show about prison in the Middle East in our days.  In one prison the conditions were so bad (rats, bugs, fellow psychotic prisoners and more) survival was the only means of life.  In another there were so many prisoners in the one prison room they had to walk all day long in a circle and then agree on command to lie down to rest so no one would get trampled.  Did I mention even in t

Phat case the rats, bugs and psychos made life miserable.  

That was Middle East prison in our day.  In Jesus’ time it was probably about the same, if not worse.  Let’s remember, while John the Baptist is considered a Biblical hero, he was human just like you and me.  He also knew with little doubt that his life was on the line.  He was the cousin to Jesus.  He believed in who Jesus was.  So, just like me, wouldn’t it make sense to bring glory to God through his timely release from prison?  

No.  It was not to be.  

Let’s be honest.  We might not have had to suffer prison and we might not have had to worry about an untimely early death, but, we have all had moments when God didn’t seem to function like we thought he should.  We are not alone.  Job, the man not the profession, was there after he lost his family, income, and home.  Jeremiah had his issues in a friendless society  that did not want to hear anything about the truth.  There are times King David expressed his frustration in the Psalms with such words as “Why, Lord, do you stand far off?Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble?  The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; the oppressed are trapped by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up” (Psalm 10).  Jumping to the New Testament we see the Apostle Peter wondering if he put all his eggs in the wrong basket.  The Apostle Paul asked God to take away his thorn in the flesh three times only to be told “No” three times.  I’m not so sure Paul was satisfied with the answer even though Jesus told him it was through such weakness that He would be made strong.  The disciples when faced with storms wondered why Jesus was asleep, while they were going to die.  Doubt and fear is not uncommon in the Christian faith.

I appreciate Jonathan Riddle admitting he has had times of doubt from the pulpit.  I commend him for such confession.  Just because the preachers might be ordained doesn’t mean they wear a superman suit under their robes.  I will join him.  I have often wrestled with God over the events here on this earth.

I’m not alone either.  My neighbor recently asked me how did prayer work with hurricanes.  I had to tell him that I don’t know how it works but I’m told to pray.  Sometimes we see God in our image instead of we being transformed into his image.  We get the relationship backwards.  Yes, the Word of God does say “all things (for the believer) works together for good.”  Only we are not the definers of “good.”  Our good is usually dependent upon popular opinion.  God stands alone out of the realm of popular opinion.  He doesn’t have to be told by mere humans what is good and what is not.  All I know is He is the only one that can take what looks bad, and sometimes real bad, and make it good.

Recently a lady have grown to respect informed me I should not refer to certain times as failures.  I stood with my mouth open wanting to defend my choice of words.  She went on to educate me that if we believe in God, as we say we do, then we are in his hands.  He has all tings in His control.  We might think we failed but as she went on to ask, “aren’t they learning experiences?”  I humbly replied after thinking quickly about it, “Yes, you are right.”  In the end of the day we must join King David when he doesn’t understand what Gos is doing and declare “I wait for you.”  Jesus did the same with John The Baptist.  He sent word to him that “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”  Ahh, the most important point is in one word…”poor.”  In Jesus day the poor were left out of things.  Not so with Jesus.  Everyone is invited to the good news that it is no longer man that calls the shots but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  There is hope.  Even in our personal prisons and facing death hope lives.  

Be Still, Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, October 2, 2022

I looked at my resume the other day.  I was impressed.  I hope God is as well.  My wife asked me, “John, do you think God is happy with your resume?”  After I settled down, I took what she said and considered it seriously.  I thought, “Why wouldn’t God like my resume.”  Can I be honest for a minute.  My first response was not about God liking my resume but being impressed with it.  So, I thought.  

At this point I did not hear a voice from heaven saying “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.”  And I didn’t hear one say, “What are you doing?”  But I began to look at my resume and pray about it.  Maybe I should have prayed in the beginning of things instead the end.  

A lot of good ideas can come every day.  Man has a habit of staying busy.  Often, we think the busier, especially in ministry, the better.  A man once told me, “Idle hands are the devils workshop.”  Guess what?  That one is not in the Bible.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  There are a lot of things on my resume that were Godly.  But I’m not sure all of them were.  In fact, many of them were not done to the glory of God but for my own desire to be recognized as an important cog in the gospel story.  

That is what pride does.  It makes us think we are more important than we really are.  When we reach that level, God will humble us for sure.  My humbling was by looking into the Scriptures.  They have a way of speaking to the heart.  By the way, a humbling is good for each of us.  It’s not fun, but running or exercising isn’t either.  But it’s good for us. Same thing here.  Going through a humbling season can be rough.  But it is so good.  

What does the Bible say about being still, rest, being quiet and listening before God?  I have never heard a sermon on the topics. I have never been to a conference on such a topic either.  So, I didn’t think the Bible said much about it.  Boy, was I wrong.

The Bible says a lot about being quiet, resting and listening.  There are over 25 references to such.  When God repeats things, it’s worth the time to pay attention.  Let me share a few.  We all know the classic, “Be still, and know that I am God.”( Ps. 46:10)  Most of those I talk to about the subject think this is the only verse that addresses silence before God.  Well, there is one in Exodus that talks about God fighting for us.  It reads, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”(Ex. 14:14)  That one caught me by surprise.  I will surmise that God doesn’t need cheerleaders. 

The references don’t stop there.  There are plenty in the Psalms.  In Psalm 27 we find “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently.”  Psalm 62 says we are to “wait in silence.”  It’s one thing to wait.  It’s another to be silent.  The silence is that act of surrender to the Lord.  

Psalm 23 also gives a reference about resting in and with the Lord.  It reads, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”  Lie down!  Rest!  The opposite ways of man are to get more, do more, and be in a hurry to do so.  The Lord of Peace says to lie down.  Take a break from the issues of this world.  

Psalm 131 is interesting.  It says, “…but I have calmed and quieted my soul.”  The author says it is like being a child who has his belly full and is content in the arms of his mother.  I love the pictures God paints.  Being secure in the safe embrace of a nursing mother is the place a baby finds complete rest.  That is where we are to be with Jesus.

There are more in Psalms, but there are two more I want to share with you that really caught my attention.  We expect such from Psalms.  But, in Lamentations and Isaiah, we find the same theme.  Lamentations talks about tough times in this world.  Jeremiah writes, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”  We all thirst for the goodness of the Lord.  Who wouldn’t?  The process to invite God’s goodness is not a rambling voice or active hands before the Lord.  It’s quietness.  As I read this I hear, “Shut up.  Be still.  Stop telling God what to do and then you will see his goodness.”  Now that is a way to get through the struggles of this world that I had not thought of.

It gets better in Isaiah. This is the one that really caught my attention.  Isaiah 32:17 reads, “And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.”  Hold on, this is not what my parents taught me.  This is not what most preachers have said.  I’ve even heard, “Got Jesus, get busy!”  Instead, the prophet Isaiah ,who said to the Lord, “Here I am!  Send me,” later knows what this means.  The effect of God in our life is not being busy for busy sake.  The effect is being at peace.  Isaiah tells us what that means.  He said it’s to be quiet and trust.  But why?  It is only through quietness that we can hear the voice of God.  The world is trying to drown His voice out.  We can hear, but we don’t listen till we stop our crazy pace and be quiet.  

How do we do this?  Just that I and I believe you ask this question shows we need to do so.  We are to literally turn off the tv, computer, cell phone and get away from the many voices and be quiet.  In Biblical days it was called meditation.  We focus on God and then listen.  Then we can join with King David, the man after God’s own heart and proclaim, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.  He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.”  (Psalm 62:5,6)

Just Jesus, Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, September 25, 2022

Last week I wrote about the book, Next Sunday, that challenged me to think and dive deeper into my beliefs.  Often when we are confronted with differing systems of faith and life we run away.  Why?  We have been trained to do that, and it makes my nicely boxed faith work for me.  I thought long and hard about not finishing the book.  I’m glad I didn’t quit it. 

The final chapter was worth it.  Don’t get me wrong, I still do not agree with the baby-boomer mom and her final response, but I appreciated her perspective.  She is a typical “fix-it” person of her generation.  I can see how she has been successful in her church service.  She gets things done.  

The last chapter was about life in the church behind closed doors.  Ahhh, now we are into the real issues we face as believers, young or old, seasoned or new to the faith, women or men, white, black or yellow, gay or straight, and any other category we can find.  We like to think church is what we see on Sunday morning.  Sunday morning is the outward expression of what goes on behind the closed doors during the rest of the week.  It’s what oozes out of staff meetings, elders meetings, small group leaders’ meetings and any other “planning team” in our churches.  It is what ultimately oozes out of the pastors office.  

Did you know that the Barna Group (Christian researchers) have found that 4 out of 10 church members have experienced life altering pain through their church experiences?  Some actually think that number is low, and it is more like 6 out of 10.  Often, the pain deliverers are  not from the pew sitters but from those who attend the closed door meetings.  We call them church leaders (preachers, pastors, elders, deacons, and staff members).  From my fifty some years in the church, more than half of those years in leadership (yes, the closed-door group), the one person that is at the center of it all is the pastor or priest.

In the book I read to the end, a true statement was made; “There is nothing like a church that is functioning well.”  At the same time I would like to add, “There may be nothing worse than a church that is not functioning well.”  

I write this column not for the churched.  I write it to those who have made a decision to leave the church but not Jesus.  When we reach our breaking point with our church (leadership) we tend to have a time of abandonment.  It hurts when we leave for a month, and nobod,y calls.  It hurts when you put a lot into a ministry, and nobody seems to notice you are hurting much less gone.  Why does it hurt so much?  We all fall into the trap of pleasing man (pastors and leaders) instead of just Jesus.  

So, what is the answer?  Now, if you read the book, you will find the mom in the book had a plan.  She has a plan for everything.  I appreciate her diligence to address the problem.  However, I believe she misses the point.  A church moves and grooves due to the pastor and his first level of decision makers.  It is the closed-door meetings that we need to address.  We need to swing those doors open.  

Jesus swung the doors open on the religious right in his day.  Boy, did he ever.  They didn’t like it.  Yes, they crucified him.  But he rose from the dead.  I think we don’t pay attention to the closed-door meetings for we fear crucifixion.  Maybe that is a theme for another article.  We will see.

Being in church ministry for the last half of my life ,I have suffered much pain.  An alternate youth group and Sunday school class was started in a church I was in just to counter me and my methodology even though no one debated it with me.  I have been shown the back door in ministry.  We like to think that after years of dedicated service we can bow out with arms raised high and the trumpets blaring.  Well, that is Hollywood.  Most leave ministry with their tail between their legs, licking their wounds.

I have lived long enough and suffered enough to say this, “Don’t run!  Open the doors!”  Does your church provide a confidential companion for your pastor?  Are everyday members attending your deacon and elder meetings?  If you were a fly on the wall, what would you hear at these meetings?

Would you hear methodologies to build big crowds ,or would you hear the gentle and lowly heart of Jesus?  Would you hear manipulation and control issues ,or would you hear ways to listen and have compassion on what the Bible calls “sheep?”  Would you hear complaints or encouragement?  Would you hear excuses or confession?  Would you hear grace or the law?  Would you hear what Jesus wants or what “the elders” wants?  

I have come to believe the closed-door discussions are more important than the sermon on Sunday morning.  Why?  Sunday morning is the offspring of the closed-door meetings.  Grace, the life blood of the church, must be evident in the closed-door times so it is proclaimed on Sunday and eventually fills the heart of the ones who may want to run away one day if we don’t take care of them.  Whether it’s Sunday or the rest of the week, just give me Jesus.  That is the only way a church can be functioning well.  Just Jesus.  

Forgive Me, Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, September 18, 2022

I’m reading a book that has left me with more questions than answers.  I picked it up since the premise, a baby boomer and a millennial daughter give their view on various issues of the Christian faith, caught my attention.  The first few chapters were basic and almost predictable if anyone has an idea about the two generations.  They both had the same beliefs basically but their perspective was different.  It was not written to determine who was right or wrong but to share how two generations with different views can be united in a gospel cause.  

However, the last three chapters of the book are far from basic.  They wrestle with topics that plague the modern expression of Jesus.  It wasn’t just about perspective.  It became a book about justice, love and inclusion of those who are often left out of the picture at least from most  modern day conservative churches.  They wrestled over women leadership, the race divide and the gay community.  Suddenly, what seemed simple was not so simple.  Anyone can jump on a soapbox and proclaim their call right or left.  Applying the grace of the gospel as well as the God of justice does not make things clear but actually in my opinion muddies the water.  

It isn’t the issues that got my full attention. It was a chapter written by the millennial that quoted a pastor who wrote an apology letter to his congregation and community.  That letter was long, heartfelt and very apologetic.  It mad me think and think deeply.  

If I was the pastor speaking to my community what do I think needs to be said and apologies offered rang through my mind for a few days.  Obviously, my first thought was defensive just like all of us.  Why should we have to apologize?  Who says we have to apologize?  Here’s a good one…There has been plenty done against the church so who is going to apologize to the church?  Lame if you ask me.  

So I began to pray deeply about it.  I asked the Lord what might I have to say to the Bluffton community about such a topic.  Things have to be said and I don’t want to just say “I’m sorry.”  If we have offended we are to ask forgiveness.  “I’m sorry” in my mind simply says I might do it again.  Forgiveness says I am going to do my best to not do it again.  

So here I tread where few dare to.

As an ordained minister I am asking forgiveness for:

Our failure to love those who are not in our pews well.

Talking more about condemnation than redemption.

Speaking words without any intention to change our ways.

Failure to understand others especially those who don’t look like me, talk like me and act like me.  Jesus invited the outsiders in.  We should as well.

Thinking like a white, educated, believer in Jesus Christ instead of walking in your shoes.

Not remembering your name. 

Not remembering your prayer request beyond a few seconds.

Thinking at times that you have to be like me.  I don’t at times want to be like me.

Talking and not listening.

Preaching to prove I’m worthy of your attendance instead of preaching the gospel.

Expecting more than you are capable of giving.

Thinking Jesus fits my box of understanding.

A Christian was named by the community in Antioch.  It meant they were mini-Christs.  We have failed to live up to the honorable name.  Forgive us.

Now, there are things that I do not think should be on the “forgive me” list.  Our culture thinks it has to make Jesus in the image it wants.  We are to be living to walk in the image of Jesus Christ.  WE often get it wrong.  We are not the potter.  We are the clay.  We are not the King.  We are the servant.  We are not the Shepherd.  We are the sheep.  We are not the Father.  We are the children.  In these clear Biblical pictures the only way we can be molded by the great designer, serve the King of Kings, hear the voice of the Shepherd and live in the awe of the Father is by the grace Jesus so wonderfully gives, the mercy he disperses endlessly and the love that is incomparable in this world.  That is humbling and that is exactly what it is to be.  

Forgive me community when I get these roles reversed.  I’m human.  I need Jesus just as much as anyone who has ever lived on this world.  The song says, “I need thee every hour.”  That 60 minutes is too long.  I need the presence of the Holy Spirit reveling Jesus to me every second of the minute; every minute of those long hours.  That is my hope, my only hope that will allow me to fulfill the two greatest commandments.  They are to love the Lord with all I got and to love you as I would want to be loved.  It’s a journey.  Let’s walk together.  

Sleepless in Bluffton, Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, September 11, 2022

Sometimes my mind is so full of thoughts and ideas I can’t get one out.  I’m sure if you are a regular reader of this column, you have experienced some of my mindless chatter.  Well, I’m like that today.  

I have a book that I am reading titled Next Sunday that has given me some thoughts to write down.  There are the sermons I’ve been attending lately that have really juggled the neurons in the brain.  Then there is regular life.  Somebody says something or I see it on television and I have to quickly write it down or it gets lost in the unattended world of my mind-numbing skull.  

I often wonder in these times, “God, what do you want me to write?”  

Today as I type (does anybody use that word anymore?) I wonder, is God in the middle of a mind that needs help at night to shut off?  The answer is, “YES!”  He is!  That is the good news.  The bad news is…my mind is still running with the pedal to the metal.  

I hope.  I really hope I can keep it going and not get sidetracked on this one.  No, I have never been diagnosed with ADD.  Everybody is a little bit OCD, but I don’t think that is the problem.  It’s just…my mind is going continually.  I wish that was a sign of extreme intelligence.  However, that is not the case.  So, I reach out once again, “How can God be in the midst of my chaos?”

Easy.  He’s God and I’m not.

I have done some reading on an active mind.  It’s true, an active mind is not a sign of intelligence.  I was hoping.  Everything I read says it’s anxiety.  Ily’m anxious about something and my thoughts should reveal what that is.  Ummm, I’ll be real honest right now.  For maybe the first time in my life since I was a kid who didn’t know better, I’m not anxious about much of anything.  I really am not.  

Now, my mind gets going.  Maybe there is something hidden in the dark recesses of my mind that I have not discovered yet.  Here we go.  NO!  I’m not going to obsess about something I don’t even know exists.  That is just not worth it.  

I did find one resource that indicated an active mind is possibly due to not having enough intellectual interaction with my community.  Well, if you know me, you will know that I talk to just about everyone about anything.  Today, I talked to three people, two I have never met before, about all sorts of things.  That is not the problem either.

Is it O.K. to have an active mind?  The obvious answer is, “Yes.”  I would rather have a struggle to turn off the active mind than be thoughtless.  Have you ever met anyone who has no opinions or free thoughts/  I have, and that is a place I don’t want to go.  I remember my mom as dementia overtook her. I would ask her, “Mom, what are you thinking about?”  She would honestly answer, “Nothing.”  I would poke her for a few minutes and then discover she really was not thinking about anything.  On that hand, an active mind is a blessing.

Paul talked about our thought life.  He said if anything is noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable, think on these things.  Did you see that?  He didn’t say, put it all to the side and let your mind go to waste.  Paul ,said to “think on them.”  

When my head hits the pillow I like to think about books I’ve read, movies that have impressed, conversations that have intrigued, and Scripture that has come to life.  I like to think what it was like to be Noah, King David, Solomon, and my favorite, Nehemiah.  I like to wonder what it would have been like to be living in Jerusalem when Jesus hit the streets.  I like to think about things like this.  When I put my head down on the pillow, it’s the only time during the day I can really let my mind go to such places.  

Maybe I have some sort of psychosis.  I doubt it.  I suspect there are a lot of people just like me.  There are questions I have about life and God that cannot be answered, but I sure like to ask them.  Questions like, “Why weren’t Adam and Eve surprised by a talking snake?”; or “What in the world was going on in the beginning of Job and does that go on today?”  Better yet, “What will heaven be like?”  

These thoughts consume me.  Anxiety?  I really don’t think so.  A desire to know it all?  It would be nice, but I know that won’t happen.  How about just wanting to know more about my God and how he works?  That one rings a bell.  He is in the middle of my mind-numbing pace.  Guess what, there is good news.  He still loves me.  He still walks with me, and when my mind takes me over the edge, there is no reason to be anxious about that either.  Jesus himself pointed out in Luke 15 when the sheep gets lost, he will come find it.  Yes!  The good news is I don’t need therapy.  I don’t need medicine that will make me a zombie.  I don’t even need CBD (I looked into that one).  I don’t have to stop thinking.  He will love me on days my mind is on hyperdrive and he will love me on days I am mindless.  He won’t even shake his head in disgust or roll his eyes in sarcasm.  That’s who Jesus is.  I think I’ll take that one to bed tonight.  See you in the morning.  

The “Used Tos”, Bluffton Today Article, Sunday, September 4, 2022

Our son came to dinner.  Dinner was going to be loud.  It always is when the kids and the grandkids come over to eat.  It’s a lot of fun at our dinner table.  At times the noise level may equal the crowd at a home game.  We can sure tell some stories just about life at the dinner table at the Ring house. 

My son is an old man in a young man’s body.  We think sometimes he is the grandparent.  He likes to talk about the days from long ago.  It is not uncommon to hear him at the dinner table say something like, “Do you remember when we went to Disney World for the first time?”  As soon as a statement like that is on the table, get ready for the sound level to increase.  Maybe I need to invest in some ear plugs.  

He lives in the “used tos.”   “Hey we used to go to all your softball games, Dad.”  “Remember when I got my front teeth knocked out when you threw me the ball?”  That is a good one.  I made a commennt like, “Yeah, I remember.  I remember your mother rushed you to the hospital while I stayed a played a double header.”  We laugh now but we were not laughing 30 years ago.

I have to admit, there are many of the “used tos” that I cannot remember.  He remembers.  He remembers details I can’t seem to conjure up anymore.  I don’t think I have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. But I don’t remember a lot of details about anything.  I’m more of a big picture guy.  So, I nod my head and shut my mouth.  Here come some more of those “used to” moments.  Where are my ear plugs?

A lot of church life is lived in the “used to” moments.  It is not uncommon to hear someone say something like, “We used to serve in…”  Or we might hear it in the “We used to….. I just don’t know why we don’t anymore.”  

I get a chuckle when I hear that one.  We don’t anymore because times have changed, and you still live in the midivil days.  Things change.  I’m just not sure we have. 

Churches can get stuck in the “used tos.”  I’ve been thinking a lot about this since a few weeks ago when  somebody asked if we used to be involved in a certain ministry.  We did up until the pandemic.  It has since become a ‘used to.”  

One problem we have is we like to dream of the “used tos” but don’t bother to get serious to talk about how the event, person or thing feel into the “used to” category.  It’s almost like we think if we put all our minds together and think hard, it will pop up like it used to be.  

Maybe we don’t want to talk about the “used tos” in the “how did it disappear” column because we know deep down, we dropped the ball somewhere.  Sometimes things change because they have to.  Sometimes things change because the pastor or the leadership has a new vision.  Even at that, we don’t talk about the “why” and the “what” because we fall short of the mark.

I was at a church that used to have Stephen Ministry.  Every one that engaged the ministry loved it.  But it fell into the “used to” column of local church history because we were consumers and didn’t want to be providers.  After the first onslaught, the caregivers started to decrease and the care-receivers did not want to put in the time to give back what they received.  That is the truth.  So the ministry that was so good becomes a “used to” ministry and we never deal with the issue of having only 10% of the church membership actively engaged at any level.  

It’s like Family Promise right now in our area.  Many churches have been hit with decreased numbers, and therefore the volunteer numbers are diminished.  Congregational coordinators disappeared and were never to be seen  again.  So, here comes the call to restart this valuable mercy ministry.  Some churches can’t get off the mat.  The vital ministry of the church has fallen.  It is now a “used to” ministry.  Yet we won’t talk about how we can motivate our congregation to give back to those who Jesus would have called “the least of these.”   

We won’t talk about it since doing nothing is easier, and if we do talk about it, it might become painful.  

There is another reason we don’t talk about the “what happened” ministries.  Often many ministries are driven by a leader who has little support system.  I’ve seen it happen many times.  They run out of gas.  Once that happens the once vibrant ministry is on the path to be labeled “used to.”  

There is one more that hits too close to home.  Vibrant, life changing ministry can fall into the “used to” file quietly since it gets little support from church leadership and newer fancier and better reproduced ministries suddenly spring forth.  The hard-working volunteer team gets left in the dust.  They slowly die on the vine.  Not only do we lose ministries we lose the people that are engaged in the ministry and their trusted friends as well.  They say if one person is irritated it is really 7 to 10 who become irritated which will include family and close friends.  Don’t look now,  but in your church a ministry is close to the “used to” column as a new ministry pops out up.  That new one will one day fall into the “used to” category when leadership forgets it’s there or the leader is burned out.

There is “used tos” in the Bible.  However, they are not mentioned in a negative manner.  They are used to keep the reader focused.  The most infamous “used to” is the idea that God is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.  Why did the reader need to be reminded?  So that God wouldn’t fall into the “used to” world of human existence.  Paul ,when defending the faith, would refer to the “used to.”  He reminded the reader that the same God yesterday is here with us today.  It might have different wrappings, but what is inside will not be different.

There will be “used tos” in our lives.  But do we remember them as evidence of the presence of God or just something to do?  If they are just something we do, they had to go.  If they are gone, did something take their place.  I’m afraid we will stay with the “used tos” and never inch forward and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Prove me wrong.