Why Do We It

Thanks to my friend Ron Freeman for sharing the following Journal. Ron currently serves as Pastor of Worship at Lakeview Baptist Church where I am the Intentional Interim Pastor.

Why Do We Do It?

“The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

Do you ever search to find what is at the root of why we act the way we do? We all follow traditions and many times have no clue why we do what we do. Some of those traditions may still be needed and some may have been adopted because of a certain need at the time. Why do we just follow blindly and not ask questions?

Over the years I have watched how we in the church have operated. I have watched us become convicted by a need and then out of our concern create a program to meet that need. We become passionate about it for a while then when our interest is sparked by something else we let it die. Why do we do that? The needs most of the time are still there but it is our commitment to them that wanes. We see the need to reach the lost in the community so we decide that we will start a program to reach the lost of the community. It works for a short time then interest dies and the lost of the community remain lost. Oswald Chambers said: “When the Spirit of God comes into a man, He gives him a worldwide outlook.” What I think he is saying is that God gives us something to look at that is bigger than ourselves. We always seem to be the center of the universe.

In this passage where was the focus of need? It was on a tax collector named Zaccheaus that “the people” said was “sinful.” Have you ever noticed that? It was the people present and not God pointing the finger? Who were “the people” that Jesus was drawn to? It was the tax collector, a prostitute, and adulteress, beggars, and lepers. The ones Jesus had the harsh word for were the ones who thought they had it all together and were above need.

Romans 3:23 says; “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.” Notice the word “All” We must realize that none of us are better than the one “people” call sinners. If it were not for the grace of God and the forgiveness offered by the shed blood of Jesus there would be no hope for us at all. Let us resist the urge to create programs to put band aids on problems. Let His mission become ours.

Prayer: Lord, Thank You for your grace and forgiveness. Let your seeking and saving of the lost become our desire too. Amen

The Wait

WAIT!!!!! That is such a short word. Even though it is only four letters it has a powerful meaning. From the beginning of life we have had to wait. I remember when we waited for our first child to be born. First, she was a month late in getting here so we waited. Then, there was the thirty hours of labor so we waited.

As time goes on we wait for school to start, for Christmas to come, for sixteen so we can get our driver’s license, for graduation and the big job. Life is full of waits. In the end the wait is worth it. We enjoy rewards for our wait. I can remember the feeling I had when I held our children in my arms for the first time. Christmas was always worth the wait as we opened the presents and enjoyed the events of that wonderful day. Our granddaughter posted on facebook tonight that she got her driver’s license today and drove to the store by herself. She was excited. The wait was worth it.

For the past two weeks I have been waiting. Two weeks ago Sunday something happened in my back and I was unable to walk because of the pain. After a trip to the ER the doctor told me that I had to be down for four weeks. I have not been able to preach on Sunday or go to the office. All I can do is wait in my recliner until my back heals. I must admit the wait is awful because I do not wait very well. My problem is that I have forgotten that the wait will be worth it. My back will heal and I will be able to be back to normal.

I have found that church members have as much trouble waiting as I do. We see this often when churches are in their pastor search. I can remember questions like, “Are we close to getting a pastor” even before I got settled in as Intentional Interim. We have to be careful that we do not forget that the wait is worth it. When we have issues that need to be dealt with the only way to deal with them is in time. That means we may have a longer wait than normal. When we wait we must keep the big picture in mind. Just like the birth of a baby or the excitement of Christmas or the driver’s license, the wait was worth it. The wait for churches is worth it if they just stay the course and let time help heal the wounds.

At http://www.ministrytogether.com we try to address the issues that cause wounds in churches. The matching system helps to match churches with pastors with like beliefs and skills so they will not cause some of the wounds that exist in many churches. Too many of my peers have found that they were not really a good match for the church they are pastoring. They answered all the questions and the churches stated what they were looking for in a pastor but in the long run it just wasn’t a match. By using the matching system we can get to the heart of what causes the issues in the first place.

I am reminded of the Scripture in Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah tells us very plainly that the wait is worth it.....Preacherman

Another One Bites The Dust

One of Queen's songs says "Another One Bites The Dust". Today, that song title applies to one of our friends. The church leaders met in a secret session and then told the senior pastor that he is terminated. This is immediate and he is not allowed in the pulpit again. He only has a few weeks to vacate the parsonage and will get three months severance. When he asked why he was told the church constitution states they do not have to give him any reason. The congregation was told Wednesday Evening that he resigned and they guess he just didn't want to come back.

This would be different if there was a moral issue or he was preaching heresy but neither of those applies. It is getting hard for me to understand why my friends keep getting hurt by churches. This story could be told of many churches in our country. It happens all the time. This time, it happened to a friend. That is why this one makes me mad. God's people should be better than that.

First we need to understand that God considers that His preachers are special people. Romans 10:14-16 says "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? Even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!"

I know that my feet are not physically beautiful. I also know that God has called me and therefore He will take care of me. I believe that churches that abuse pastors and then spew them out will be held accountable to God. The emotional and spiritual damage done to pastor's families is unconscionable and is a terrible indictment against the church in general.

The above scenario occurs when expectations for churches and pastors differ. Too often the search committee and church in general will not give an accurate description of what kind of pastor that are looking for. When they say "we want a pastor to lead us", ask probing questions. Does that mean the church is willing to follow when it is in a direction that is different from the past? Does that mean they will follow even when it is out of their comfort zone? Will they follow if it means new people will be involved and the old guard will no longer be in charge? These are healthy questions to ask before accepting the call. Too often we have a false impression of leadership styles and desires. Because of this false impression, things come crashing down after the honeymoon period ends.

Most often I try to acknowledge that church issues involve both pastor and church. I will leave that for another discussion because today I have a friend and his family who are hurt. We have to stop this trend. Too many pastors are leaving the ministry and some go to extremes and take their life. How does God get glory in that?

At http://www.ministrytogether.com we attempt to ask those probing questions. Our 54 point matching system helps determine the type of leadership the church wants and matches it with the same leadership style of the prospective pastor. Perhaps we need to revise our questions to include "Why did your last pastor leave? Was he forced out or did he resign? Will you be willing to give contact information so the prospective pastor can talk with him about his ministry there." That might help stop some of these hurts.....Now that I have vented I have to go. I have to determine what Joy and I can do to help this family pick up the pieces from this tragedy......Preacherman

Interim Pastor

For the past four months I have been serving as Interim Pastor at the beautiful Lakeview Baptist Church. This has been a very rewarding time as well as being very tiring. When I retired from full time pastoring I thought my life would become simpler. My thoughts; get up when you want, do what you want and enjoy the view of the lake. Well, I can tell you that has changed. It takes a lot of time and energy to pastor a church with almost 300 active members. Some of my goals during this time are to heal, hope, and have. We will spend the first few months healing our past. I believe every church needs a time for healing. We create wounds even when we do everything right. Our church has had some very good years and also some times when things didn't go so well. The healing must take place in order to go into the future with a new pastor who can lead us to ministering like God would have us minister. We have seen great progress with this healing. I have been speaking about living our lives with the Christlike spirit. The sermon series on living out the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives has been very successful in getting us to focus away from the past and looking positively toward the future. We can have hope as we see the changes take place. I am encouraged as I see people sitting across the table from each other on Wednesday and eating together, laughing, and just being a family. We now see the glass half full rather than half empty. We are looking to the future with excitement instead of despair. We also have a plan to get from where we were to where we need to be. We have accomplished much but have a ways to go. Our next step is to get our transition team together and begin looking at some of the issues that hamper ministry. This will be a challenge as we will look at some of the traditions and reactionary measures our church has taken in the past. One of the things we address at http://www.ministrytogether.com is leadership. Some churches will say they want a strong leader but in reality they want someone who is going to come in and keep the status quo when it comes to traditions and policies. Also, some senior pastors will say they are strong leaders but when it comes to addressing the past traditions and status quo, they either do not want to fight the Battle or they do not have the skills needed to do it. Our website uses the 54 point matching system to bring churches and pastors together with like skills and desires. Some churches will not allow change therefore they need to be matched with pastors who are willing to live and minister in that environment. My leadership skills and other skill sets have made it possible for our church to address the hard issues and come out stronger. We are not there yet but I am very thankful for a church that really wants change. That combination makes the road ahead much easier. At the end of that road lakeview will be much healthier and I will be able to again enjoy retirement...That is a great outcome.....Preacherman

Pastor Search # 11 The Wounded Warriors

While searching on a church website recently I saw a link for "Injured Ministers". This link offered support and help for those men and women who have been wounded by churches. This caught my attention because I have so many friends who are carrying baggage caused by very difficult pastorates and sometimes ungodly church members. I was pleased to find this help and encourage more support to assist those who are hurting. I especially am thinking about a couple of my peers who have left the ministry because of unpleasant and very hurtful situations. Their wounds are still open and will take years to heal and they may never get back in the pulpit. I believe we as encouragers and our denominations have failed these good servants of God by not offering more support in their times of struggles.

There is a lot of support for churches dealing with open wounds. I wrote last time about the "Intentional Interim Program" that addresses and heals the wounds caused by all kinds of things. This and other programs offered to Churches can do wonders in a short period of time. A church can go from a crippled body to a vibrant growing church. This is encouraged and supported by many denominational leaders.

Where is the support for the wounded warriors? The men and women who have put their lives and families on the line only to have them crushed. Why isn't there more intentional support for these people? My own children were hurt so badly in one of our pastorates that they wanted to speak personally with any church committee that invited me to an interview. They wanted to be sure we were never hurt like that again. Often the children are the fallout. Pastors and wives will move on, baggage and all, and will do their best to serve again. Many times children will say if that is the way Christians treat each other they want no part of it. This is a sad commentary on how we treat the wounded. We are blessed that our children are both still serving in their churches.

At http://www.ministrytogether.com we try to address issues related to pastor/church relations. We discuss leadership styles, conflict resolution and many other questions that will help to match a prospective pastor with a church that has like styles. This can eliminate the conflict that arises when a pastor has one style and the church has expectations that are just the opposite.

To my friends who are hurting I want you to know that I have just said a prayer for you by name. I pray that your pain will ease, your needs are met and that you will be used in a mightier way in the Kingdom. And to the countless PKs who ask the question,, "Why do Christians act that way" I must confess that I really do not have an answer for you that is not trite. All I can say is we are all sinners with a very strong sin nature and sometimes that nature wins out. God help us to be aware of the hurts that we can cause to the innocent and God help us as denominations and as caring brothers and sisters to reach a hand out to the wounded and help them heal..........Preacherman

Pastor Search #10 Intentional Interim

Last spring I planted potatoes in our garden. This is a new garden space provided to us by a kind neighbor. He plowed it for us and told us to treat it like it was ours. I got my tiller and went to work preparing the ground for the potato seed. Occasionally I would find a sprig of johnson grass sticking its head through the plowed ground and I ignored it thinking it wouldn't be a problem. The rains came and my seed began to sprout and soon I had some good looking potato plants. In addition to the potato plants I had johnson grass growing. I ignored it again thinking it could be managed. It was too late to spray weed killer so I just ignored it and thought the potato plants would outgrow the johnson grass and smother it out. Not so!! I soon had johnson grass that was five feet tall smothering out the potato plants. Well, it took about seven hours of work in the extreme heat in order to pull each bed of grass out by the roots. When that was done the potato plants were visible and it seemed that the johnson grass was conquered. There was a problem with that thinking. Deep beneath the surface were johnson grass roots that would spring up after a shower and I would have to pull them up again. I will dig potatoes tomorrow if the weather permits and we will enjoy the fruit of our labor. This would not have turned out nearly as well had I not spent the time and pain to pull up the johnson grass by its roots and stay on top of it until it was all gone. That plot will now be ready to plant anything I want for next year and we will not have to worry about the pesky johnson grass.

Our church is looking at an Intentional Interim position to help us refocus and redifine who we are. We have allowed some johnson grass to grow untouched for a few years and now it must be dealt with in order to pave the way for our next pastor. I believe most churches could benefit from an Intentional Interim position. Working alongside the Transitional Team he can force (pulling by the roots) the church to define what has brought us to this point, determine who we are, declare our market by demographic studies and other methods and delight in our new vision.

Unfortunately, most churches keep the problems buried under the surface and never really address them. The church family does not know who they really are, so they can be easily changed when a new pastor comes and preaches the latest and greatest. Often the source of power in the church is so in control that their only goal is to retain control. As one person said recently, "we just need a preacher to preach for us and let the few people who have made the decisions for years run things. That has worked fine for twenty years." This church has never faced its past to determine what has brought them to the point of needing an Intentional Interim. Like most things in life, power is a good thing and a bad thing. When applied properly power can be wonderful. I love to push on the gas pedal and feel the power of my engine pulling my car. Our heating and air service technician was replacing a capacitor on our furnace and touched the contacts with his pliers and sparks flew scaring us all. In that case power was bad. He had failed to flip the breaker. Churches are like that. So many people wanting to be in control. The Intentional Interim will be able to help channel the power in the right areas and sometimes, like the furnace guy, will see the sparks fly because he crosses the wrong people.

It is imperative that churches adress the issues before calling a new pastor. After the Transitional Team has determined who we are and what direction we should go, the church can then find a person that will be a fit. At http://www.ministrytogether.com we provide a 54 point matching system to match prospective churches with prospective pastors who have the same theological beliefs and skills so that they will be able to smoothly go forward with the vision of the church. Too many pastors today have to spend their time pulling johnson grass and never get to harvest the potatoes.....I believe strongly in the Intentional Interim position.
Preacherman

Pastor Search # 9

"Why Aren't We Happy"

I am writing this from the ninth floor of Seawatch in Myrtle Beach, SC. This week should be perfect. We are here with our son, daughter in law, three and a half year old grandson and our daughter in law's parents. What can get any better than spending a few days at the beach with family, especially grandchildren. The problem is that I am inside. I am looking at the sea from behind a glass patio door. The reason is the temperature. It is cold!!! Who ever heard of having to wear heavy coats when you go to the beach. It just isn't right.

I have seen this play out in too many churches. You go a long time without a pastor. You go through the process of finding "God's Man". Your long awaited day finally arrives. You are excited, ready to go forward, enjoy the new chapter and all of a sudden you realize that it is not turning out like you had planned.

Sometimes it is because the committee may have overlooked some very important information. Too many times the church family is in such a hurry to fill the position that they put pressure on the committee to hurry up and call a pastor. When this happens the results will not be what you want. The warm body may not be a fit for the church.

Sometimes it is because the committee did not get the information needed to make the right fit for the church. We all have been guilty of sending the "sugar stick" sermon DVD to the committee. One sermon will not give a good picture of the pastor's style, personality or theological depth. It is important to use all tools available to get the greatest information in order to make the best decision for the church and the prospective pastor. One of the best things a committee can do is say to a prospect after going through the process, "We are sorry but right now our church is not a good fit for you". It is better to acknowledge that up front rather than wait until the pastor has accepted the position and moved on the field.

At http://www.ministrytogether.com we use a 54 point matching system to address these problems. Our matching questions deal with theological, contemporary, education and many other issues that will match the prospective church and pastor. When the senior pastor position is entered into our system the questions are answered according to the needs and beliefs of the church. The prospective pastors answer the same questions and the database finds and matches them to each other. It works very well and the outcome is a senior pastor or staff person that is matched to the particular church.

If we had chosen a different date for our trip to the beach or if we had checked the weather forecast in December when it was booked we may have had a different outcome. We might be walking on the beach with our grandson rather than cuddled on the couch looking out the window watching the waves.....Preacherman