Fishrapper

The Body of Christ

I am dumbfounded.

I received this note yesterday from the church I led in Seattle for 12 years (I’ve now been away for more than nine):

Dear Van and Shirley,

We felt led this year to select you as our Christmas family, to bless you as God led individuals to respond. We trust that you were blessed by your Christmas celebration and we pray for a fruitful year to come.

                                Love in Christ,

                                Your brothers and sisters at Grace Fellowship

 I wrote back:

Thank you for the note, for the generous gift, but most of all for helping to restore my faith in the church.

I am grateful to God for what He has done at Grace Fellowship. God bless you all.

May He “enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your pegs.”

It is one thing to be the pastor of a church, subject to both hiring and firing. It is quite another to be considered family.

Thank you Father for making us one with You, and one another.

Cultural Diversity in Blythe

For a small town far removed from the mainstream of Southern California, Blythe offers tremendous diversity – socially, economically, racially, and ethnically.

I was born and lived in the south where it was black or white, rich or poor.

I ministered in southern Louisiana where those differences were joined by Catholic vs. protestant and Cajun vs. non-Cajun.

Here in Blythe my wife and I have been blessed by relationships with such a diverse group of people – Hispanics, Koreans, Blacks, and Caucasians from so many places.

As a southern journalist who covered much of the racial unrest of the 1960s I had some understanding of the struggles of blacks and whites. But I had no concept of the problems Hispanics have faced over the years.

Our time here has been a wonderful education in the Hispanic culture. To which I can only say, “Wow.” And “thanks!”

Shirley, my wife, has had a special impact on the community through her work at the Sheltering Wings Thrift Store. Her caring heart and penchant for remembering names has torn down walls of division for many people here. God is pleased when we actively love and accept people despite differences.

Emotional Update

    Still here!

    Still frustrated! Still discouraged! Still overly sensitive to criticism! Still seeing God at work!

    God has His act together. But I'm lacking.

    Just thought I'd let you know.

What I Occasionally Think

    I thought the other day, "What's the use? I quit!"

    And that's not the first time.

    Then God...

    Reminded me:

    There is an open door.

    He called me.

    Whatever is accomplished here is His doing, not mine.

    The God who blessed Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Peter, James, John, and Paul is capable of working out His purposes through my life.

    Don't give up!

    God's commissioning guarantees success -- if obeyed.

    He is at work. And so is His Son.

    I think I'll join them.

Questioning Easter

    Being a journalist I raised six questions Sunday. I called them the who, what, when, where, how, and why of Easter. A seventh came to mind today -- do.

    Do you know what you are doing?

Thanks, I Needed That

    As a youth pastor 25 years ago I met weekly for breakfast and Bible study with six college guys. We grew together. Three of those men are pastors today, in North Carolina, Louisiana and California.

    One of them, Tony Hand, blessed me recently .  "You have had such an impact on my life," he said, recalling our past times together. "And I've tried to carry that on with others."

    His comments brought to mind one of my favorite verses, 2 Timothy 2:2, "And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."

    And I was reminded of those men who impacted my life spiritually. Ken Lyle, now retired in West Texas, was the pastor in New York who awakened me to the idea that there was something more in the Christian life than just being saved. Robbie Goss, Danny Daniels and Peter Lord impacted my life greatly during the '70s. Robbie was my youth team leader. He trained me for ministry. Danny discipled me and I am forever grateful. Peter gave me a vision for ministry, preaching and pastoring. He has remained my friend and encourager to this day.

    Where would we be without men (or women) who have poured themselves out for us.

    As I write this I'm reminded of the woman who similarly impacted my life -- Lila Frances Foote, age 95, my high school English teacher, senior class sponsor, who I've come to realize was like a mother to me in my high school days. She believed in me.

    Thank you all!

A Word for the Church

    California's On Target Evangelism Conference offered some juicy comments with a heavy dose of encouragement.

    Erwin Raphael McManus of Mosaic: "The train wreck that is keeping people from Jesus Christ is Christianity."

    Ken Blanchard, co-author of Lead Like Jesus:  "If all people would act like Jesus the lost would want Him."

    Matt Brown of Sandals Church: "The world is totally shocked when it discovers churches that care."

    Wayne Chaney Jr. of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Long Beach, CA, outlined a chemical element equation for effective evangelism -- W (Word), S (Spirit) and O (obedience): "I want a God-breathed original, not a cheap copy." The problem, Chaney said, is we have left out the Spirit.

    I have often abhorred Evangelism Conference sessions where local pastors spoke glowingly of their accomplishments, whether in Michigan, Washington, or California. But not this time. The Spirit was not left out and there was no cheap copy.

Quotations That Stick

    For maybe ten years I've regularly used the saying, "Insanity is continuing to do the things you've always done and expecting different results." I don't know the originator, but my pastor in Titusville, FL, Peter Lord, introduced me to it.

    Recently I discovered Albert Einstein had made a similar comment, "...the problems of the world" he said, "cannot be resolved by the same type of thinking that created those problems in the first place." Touche!

    Speaking of quotes or sayings, I like Charles Stanley's recent comment on church: "If you do not allow God to change the way people do church, you will miss out on what God wants to do."

    A street-side sign in Seattle once caught my attention: "The dread of criticism is the death of genius."

    Preaching on marriage, I once made the statement, "I liked you until I found out what you were like." My wife objected to what it meant, so I added, "then I had to learn to love you." Isn't that what it's all about?

    On Monday, I heard Ken Blanchard, author of Lead Like Jesus and The One-Minute Manager,  say "if all Christians would act like Jesus the lost would want Him."

    Talking about the sin of the unchurched versus the churched, Sandals Church pastor Matt Brown told the California On Target Evangelism Conference, "the only difference is they show it and we hide it."

Take Care

    Would you like a challenge? One for a lifetime!

    Steve Farrar issues one. He asks, "do you have a son" (or daughter), and then reminds us of Jesse's hesitance concerning his shepherd son, David, when the prophet Samuel was looking for a successor to King Saul.

    I like Farrar's answer.

    "Don't make Jesse's mistake...that great leader for the next generation may be running around your house right now with a diaper that needs changing and stuff hanging out of his nose. So make sure you take good care of that kid."   

    Or maybe he's a junior higher struggling with self-esteem and peer pressure, a high schooler demanding independence, or a young adult wavering on the teeter-totter of life.

    Take care. Be a shepherd.

My God Is Big

    God is able.

    He is "able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we (dare) ask or think (infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams...", according to the power that works within us..." (Ephesians 3:20, NAS-Amp) That power is "to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13, NAS)

    But the question is, "Will He?"

    That depends on our perspective, our expectation, and our faith. Let's consider these questions:

1. What do we need God to do?
2. Is it something He might want to do?
3. Do we think it is God's will?
4. Why do we think it is God's will?
5. How does He want us to cooperate with Him?
6. Are we willing?

    I expect Him to care, to act and to know what is best! And whatever His response, as the line goes in the movie, Facing the Giants, "I will still love you Lord. I will still love you."

    Meanwhile, "I will watch expectantly..." (Micah 7:7