Waiting for Gustav in SW Louisiana -- Sunday afternoon

A couple of notes from Gustav land....

At this point, the weather is slightly breezy but certainly not forboding. That is do to change as the day unfolds tomorrow.

I had a difficult time getting home today as I needed to cross the two lane north/side highway that runs through our town. The traffic was epic, it occassionally included convoys of ambulances which I assume were transporting folks from hospitals and nursing homes.

It was reported that the local grocery story announced it was giving away all refigerated items this morning. All you can eat....till your power goes out as well!

Church this morning was interesting. Our attendance was likely about 40-50% of our normal crowd. This wasn't a surprise based on what I had been reading from people's facebook status bars. Many folks are quite concerned about the storm.

What was a surprise was that the folks that came were really quite at peace and far less distracted than I expected. In fact, I went ahead and preached more of a message than I had planned when I came to church.

Our family has spent the afternoon getting ourselves ready to head to church in the morning to join the folks riding out the storm there. The eye of the storm is still projected to go right over our community, but will have lost some intensity by the time it arrives.

Till then we hope to keep power, internet and cell phones up and running as long as possible. A/C wouldn't hurt either.

Waiting for Gustav in SW Louisiana -- Sunday

I woke up this morning with the news the storm is still heading directly to our community. We are 40-50 miles inland, so that will help some.

We are planning to have church this morning, but I am not sure how many will come. Church will be very brief. Likely a few words, a psalm and a prayer. Today is not a day for exposition! Folks need to be reminded of the goodness and the nearness of God, then they need to get back to their preparations.

We have planned to open the church for anyone in our church family that wanted to ride out the storm together. However, things could change. I stopped by the police station on the way to church this morning and several officers standing outside said that it was possible our entire town could be under mandatory evacuation.

We pray for wisdom. We pray calm. We pray for safety.

I wouldn't mind if you joined us in that prayer!

Waiting for Gustav in SW Louisiana

Here is SW Louisiana we are watching, waiting….and talking. For thirty of my thirty eight years I lived in the hurricane zone of the Florida and Louisiana coasts. In this part of the country we have four seasons just like everyone else, except we drop winter and add hurricane season. (Instead of making snowmen, we become experts in weathermen.)

There is a very unique energy that accompanies the approach of a storm. Everywhere you walk you hear the conversations and the storm related laughter. Then, prompted by some invisible signal the community takes the crisis seriously. You have never been to Wal-Mart till you have been to Wal-Mart during the run up to a storm!

At this time, the plot for the storm seems to be heading right for us or just a tick to our west. We are about 50 miles inland, but it looks like it could be an interesting week. Three years ago our church suddenly became an emergency shelter following Katrina. We housed several hundred people in our fellowship hall for weeks. It was beyond what appeared to be the limits of our facility and our people. But it was not beyond the limits of what God could do through a willing people. When I came as pastor a little over a year ago, the experience remained a defining moment for many people in our church.

At this time other resources are supposed to be available in our community and we do not plan to have the same role. But we watch and wait. Ready for whatever God would have for us to do.

Jeremiah 26 -- The Prophet Preached On

God is not loose with His words, He always speaks with purpose. By this point Jeremiah seems to have noticed this. So when another word comes to him, accompanied with the admonition “do not hold back a word,” he should have known something was up.

The message was typical. A charge against the people and the looming threat of judgment. (When you walked in during the middle of a Jeremiah sermon, you never had to ask the person next to you to catch you up to speed. Ever.) Equally predictable was the people’s response. Except this time the resentment seemed extra strong. As soon as he was done speaking his audience cried out “you shall die!”

Needless to say there was not a long line at media table after that service. No doubt as he was preaching, Jeremiah could feel the seeming brick walk of animosity being built by his hearers. To be honest, I don’t preach well enough to receive death threats, but I have preached some obvious duds. It is not uncommon during those messages to consider jettisoning sections of the message for the benefit of all involved. I wonder if Jeremiah did not face a similar temptation as he watched the anger and resentment growing.

But the LORD had warned him, “do not hold back a word.” So he preached on in the face of adversity. What should not have amazed Jeremiah (or us) is that they crowd waited till he had “finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him” before they rioted! It was the politest mob in history.

When God gives us a word we must not cower in the face menacing audiences. God is committed to His word being heard. And the reason is simple…“it may be that they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way.” With that as a possibility, the prophet preached on. (The extra nudge from God didn’t hurt either.)

Tim

Note -- Do all of these posts on the judgment words of Jeremiah reflect a blogger angry with his church? Not at all. Jeremiah simply is where I am spending time these days. The biggest impact the prophet has had on me is the priority and power of the Word. The best way I can care the church I love is speak most clearly and apologetically the word I understand that God has given me. I pray that Jeremiah is making me a stronger preacher.

Celebrating and Consoling...A Monday in Ministry

This morning I had the privilege to join a family to witness an adoption. It was a great experience. Just a few hours later I was consoling a different mother as she processed great pain that was unfolding in her family. It was a difficult conversation.

One family I know well. The other I only met today. One event was scheduled for weeks, the other squeezed into the gaps of a busy day. One oozed with joy and hugs, the other was full of pain and guilt. They represent the diversity of the experiences unfolding in congregations and communities each and every week. But for all their differences, both called for a pastor at a significant moment of their lives. I happened to be that pastor.

Yet, it was not really me they wanted. It was the presence of Christ that I, as a minister, in a small way represent.

On days like today I am overwhelmed by the places that I am invited in. I seem to live way over my head. The key for survival for the minister comes from the simple words of that first Baptist minister....

"I must decrease and He must increase."

Truly on days like today, we have nothing else to offer.

Tim

Go Ryan Hall!

Don't forget Ryan Hall (affectionately nicknamed the "American Kenyan" because he grew up at similar altitude as the great Kenyan runners and is now getting similar results) runs the Olympic Marathon Saturday night at 7:30 PM (Eastern time). Ryan has a real chance to medal in this race.

No matter what happens, I expect God will be glorified through this young man who wants nothing more than to honor God with the gifts and the platform he has been given.

Tim

Helping Deacons Deke

No two churches are like and every church has different strengths and weaknesses. But one place I believe the vast majority churches could improve is in the role of the deacons.

The transition in deacon ministry models that most churches have undergone in the last several decades has been a step in the right direction. But the transition is incomplete. And this has caused deep frustration and confusion that negatively impacts entire churches.

Based on Acts 6 and 1 Timothy 3, I would describe the deacon as “men of Godly character working to improve the kingdom effectiveness of the local church, primarily through serving others”. This perspective moves the deacons away from the old model of being a board of directors or the executive council on all things church. In every church I have pastured I have emphasized that it matters far more who a deacon is, than what a deacon does.

But what am only now beginning to really understand is that biblical deacons were deep men of character….but they also did stuff. Our men today are willing to lay aside the old role of directors, but they hunger for something meaningful to do for the kingdom and they become restless serving without a purpose.

Programs have been developed to fill this gap. (The SBC Deacon Family Ministry Plan comes to mind.) But these plans often only address one area of need in a church and often only fit the gifts of a small portion of our men. I believe each deacon should find his own sphere “to improve the kingdom effectiveness of the church through serving others”.

When I asked my deacons this week, how I could help them fulfill their role as deacons, they simply said “tell us what needs to be done.” I am committed for their sake and for the church to do just that. Because it turns out, it is just as important what a deacon does as who a deacon is.

Still breathing, still learning.

Tim