SBC=>ENCOUNTERS

When Ministers Weep and Grace Abounds

Ever feel led to pray for someone in the middle of the night?  You are sleeping, dreaming, and then you are wakened.  A name comes to mind and you begin to pray.  You haven't prayed for them in a while.  You are not even sure if the problem weeks ago is still a problem. You just know you are to pray.  That happened to me a few days ago.  It was not enough to lift my friend in prayer.  I turned on my computer and wrote:  "am praying for you tonite.  May God bring great blessings into your life today.  I pray you see the doorway He has opened for you.  May grace abound.  May peace and comfort fill your heart.  Believing "God will perfect that which concerns you." Ps. 138:8

A church decides to terminate a minister. They meet to vote on the matter.  No Biblical or moral grounds, nothing unethical, nor illegal.  Supporters are silenced when Matthew 18 is rejected as a means to reconcile, because no sin has been committed.  The church constitution and by-laws is totally ignored--people are told it will not be adhered to and would be changed.  Someone states, the church just wants to move on.  A standing ovation occurs and the minister leaves.

He knows no good will come of allowing injustice to take root in his heart and fester.  God led him to use this time to teach His principles of grace, sovereignty, and steadfastness.  He felt sorry for those who wronged him.  He knows God does not condone injustice--nor will He honor it.  What does he do as a result of his dismissal?  With his permission I share what he wrote: 

"The first Sunday away, I led my family through passages of 2 Peter, Matthew 5, Hebrews 11-12. We took time to express hurts, to forgive those who hurt us, to choose to love them, pray for them and to bless them. We took time to express our total dependence on Christ and to avoid becoming bitter. We took time to express our love for Christ, His church and each other.  I believe God as ministered grace to us and we are in a good place.  Again, thank you for your prayers, as of now we are just looking for what is next."

He has no pulpit from which another committee can come hear him preach.  He has an interview for a job in the public marketplace and knows he may have to provide for his family through secular means until the Lord provides something else.  He could be bitter.  Instead, he turns to God.  Completely relying on His grace, he guides his wife and children in how to be forgiving.  And what does he ask of God?  That whatever employer he gets will allow him time off to do missions that he is involved in. Completely relying on God's grace, he guides his wife and children in how to be forgiving.  He writes, "We have learned last year about the tremendous impact of forgiveness.  And God has given us an opportunity to practice it (James 1).  We are overwhelmed by His grace."

 

His words touched my soul and heart.  This trial he is going through is not new; it happens to many ministers who find themselves unwelcome for whatever whim or reason a congregation has.  It happens at the accusations, and attacks of others whose only desire is to see a minister fall.  It happens when lies are spread, or man sets himself up as judge.  Ministers need as much inspiration and courage to walk the faith they have been teaching, as folks in the pew.  So often, so many think ministers weep for themselves in these hours of darkness.  Few realize the tears they weep at the behavior of their sheep.  I've met ministers of the Gospel who've been so brow-beaten and discouraged that they leave the ministry.  Car salesmen.  Insurance salesmen.  Bankers and administrators.  It is not easy to stand in the midst of persecution from fellow Christians we never dreamed possible.  But when grace is found and mined into pure gold of God's refinement--we know grace is greater than all our sin and the sin of others.  The greater the difficulty, the more vile the persecution, the greater grace abounds.  The sweeter is its sound to our ears, the more comforting is its peace to our hearts.

 

Perhaps you'd like to pray for him.  For his family.  For future people who will be ministered unto by a man seeking the face of God?  When I was wakened to pray for my friend, I was reminded again, that God does not sleep, nor slumber.  His Spirit carried my prayer straight to the Father.  Though I was wakened to pray for another, God returned to me a sweet expression of His grace.  I thought of so many ministers and Christians today--for those who need our prayer.  Will you pray for the minister you find offensive to you?  Will you pray for the people who are maligning his character?  Will you pray for the minister you have heard vile accusations about?  Will you pray for his attackers?  Will you follow the example of this minister I mention here?  Will you pray God uses all these things to bring about a refining of a soul?  If you do, you'll find when ministers weep, grace does indeed abound.

 

My friend emailed back that circumstances had not changed, but he had.  So have I.  Will you?

Sometimes I Wonder About the SBC

Well, truthfully, I wonder about the cyber SBC.  I wonder why so few bloggers I encounter in the SBC circles share the same view on faith, ministry and missions.  Even when they claim to hold the same doctrinal views, they heatedly debate those doctrines and how they should be applied and implemented within the church body.

I wonder why I can write a positive post about positive things going on in the lives of others, and when I solicit similar stories, I get slammed with all the negativity in another's church problems.  Does God not work in the lives of the churches?  Can we not smell the fragrance of the rose?  Must we always focus on the thorn pricks when we gather the bouquet?  The World-Wide-Web is a big mission field.  Can they see the gospel from our blogs and writing?  I wonder.

I wonder about the young seminarians and young tech savvy minsters in churches, who surf, twitter and friend one another. Do they have any mentors?  I wonder.

My husband pastored for 23 years in Kentucky.  There were many difficulties we dealt with in ministry.  However, the blessings and progress far outweighed the trials and blockades.  Through the difficulties and mistakes we made, we gained an insight akin to the grandfathers of everyday life today.  People like to mow grampa's lawn, stuff themselves with grama's Sunday dinner.  But they have no need to inquire or solicit their 6 to 7 decades of wisdom.  Just like the adolescent teenager who rebels against a parent who just don't understand, they go their own way.

There are so many God-led, wise ministers who have weathered the difficulties of ministry--have learned from mistakes. Do the young and struggling ministers seek wisdom from these God-called, seasoned ministers?  Or are they content to have their ears tickled, teased, and taught by their peers who are young and struggling and, toying with making church relevant.  Many of whom have not even finished seminary, let alone served more than a couple of years in a church.  Do any of the young ministers have older, wiser mentors as Paul was to Timothy?  I'm not talking about someone ten or fifteen years older.  I'm talking about men who have been in ministry for 20 or 30 years.  So much wisdom.  So little tapping into it.

I wonder why most conversations deal with what is relevant.  Never mind making church "relevant", worship "relevant", Bible study "relevant".  Who makes Jesus relevant?  Where are all the posts on Jesus?  Where are all the discussions of how marvelous and mind-altering the words of Christ were to the pharisees?  Where is the encouragement?  How has Jesus manifested His presence in your life this week?  Last week?  Today.  Where is the love?  What are you doing others know you are Christians by the love you show the brethren?  Where is the grace so many write about yet fail to reveal in words or attitude when conversing?  I just wonder sometimes.  Do you?  selahV

PASTOR, HERSHAEL YORK'S PRAISE IN AN AGE OF DESPAIR AND FEAR

[In this climate of financial and, what-is-going-to-happen-to-me, fears, it is refreshing to read a testimony of one church's outpouring of generosity for furthering the Great Commission.  I stumbled upon (if one does not believe in God's sovereign leadership), a post written by Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church and professor at SBTS in Louisville.

As it happened, I was researching the four remaining bloggers in SBCVoices Blog Madness competition.  I was not familiar with any of the top contenders for the 313-dollar prize Tony Kummer is offering.  So I wanted to cast my vote wisely in favor of whom God would use in a mighty way with future blog-posts.  I had to go no further than the post I offer below as proof that God is using this man for His purposes, and his church for greater works in the Kingdom to come.  It was a joy, a blessing and an inspiration to read Pastor York's obviously humble insights and accounting of his church.  In these days, when some Southern Baptists feel we are declining, waning and dying in evangelical pursuit and Gospel relevance, it's uplifting to see another side...and get "the rest of the story" of a group of faithful saints who gather as Southern Baptists and fellowship as brothers and sisters.  Bro. York has kindly given me permission to reprint this here.  Read and enjoy. (and if ya get a minute, go vote for him in the Madness Competition.)]

Buck Run Baptist Church, the church I serve, is not a big church. We average just below 600 in worship attendance. Nor are we a wealthy church. The majority of our members work for the state of Kentucky or in some business that serves state government. We are as middle as middle class can get.

But Buck Run is a giving church that loves the Lord and desires to see His name proclaimed among all people. We have an exciting and effective ministry to single women through our oil-change ministry. By giving away free oil changes and servicing their cars, our Womens' Ministry builds relationships with single moms so we can help them with food, clothing, heating their homes, and getting them established in a relationship with Christ. We also meet lots of other needs. Just this fall we completely remodeled a home for a family of five that was living in the woods without any plumbing or even an outhouse. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of Buck Run members, that family now has reliable shelter, indoor plumbing, and a warm home. Additionally, Buck Run went on five mission trips on four continents last year, as well as several mission trips to Slidell, Louisiana, and one to Eastern Kentucky.

Missions is the heartbeat of Buck Run. In 2007 the Lottie Moon Offering was over $24,000, and when our Missions Committee set a goal of $25,000 this year, I knew it would be challenging in this economy. Still, we felt that God is most willing to do extraordinary things when He takes us beyond our own abilities, and for our congregation to give $25,000 over our regular budget offering would truly be the Lord's doing.

In the two weeks prior to our offering, I challenged everyone to give more to the Lottie Moon offering than they would spend on anyone. After all, if it's the Lord's birth we celebrate, it makes no sense to spend more on others than we do on him. In my own family, we chose not to swap gifts this year so we could give more to missions. On the Sunday before Christmas, each family walked to a manger in the front of our sanctuary and put their offering in it. I was moved to see senior saints as well as children, working adults and retirees, bank presidents and ex-cons, all recipients of God's grace, make their way to the manger and lay their offerings there.

When our church treasurer called me on Monday and gave me the news, I was stunned. Our Lottie Moon offering on Sunday alone was $33,737.57. All told, I believe our missions offering will surpass $35,000. Perhaps the best news is that there were not any extremely large checks, just lots of them. Nearly everyone gave something significant. Furthermore, when churches have special offerings, the regular budget offering usually suffers. Our budget requires about $23,000 a week, but the same week we received that great Lottie Moon offering, our budget offering was over $30,000. All told, God moved in the dear saints of Buck Run to give over $67,000 on that Sunday.

To God be the glory!  What a blessing to serve with people who desire that God's name be great among the nations.   Posted by Hershael W. York  

[Want to Vote in the Madness Competition, now?]