Jane & I have a child’s toy that seems to have been a favorite with all of our grandchildren.  It is a small aquarium sphere looking thing that makes music when moved and you can put balls in it.  It is smaller at the top than inside so that the balls stay in when rolled around unless taken out or turned upside down.  A few days ago my grandson Easton was playing with it as I watched.  Now Easton is very fond of balls.  He had two at the time and put them both in the aquarium.  The hole at the top is just big enough for him to put both hands in at the same time so he decided to do just that.  As he grasped the two balls, one with each hand, and attempted to pull his hands out he discovered that he couldn’t do it.  The hole was not big enough for him to remove both hands holding on to both balls at the same time.  It took considerable persuasion on the part of wise old granddaddy to convince him that he had to let go of one to get them both out!  Once he did of course, he got them both out (hands and balls).  While I watched my 17 month old grandson struggle with this puzzle I considered the lessons that were wrapped up in that little toy.          

            Greed – Had he been satisfied with one ball he would have had no problem.  How many of us will settle for one ball when we see two?

            Listening – The Bible speaks often of having ears to hear.  It usually means people refuse to listen to God.  Even at 17 months my grandson understood what I was saying to him.  But until he would do what I said, he was stuck.  How often do we remain stuck because we will not listen?

            Patience – Once he had his hands around both balls it was very difficult to let one of them go with the prospect that by doing so he might eventually get them both out.  A hard concept for a small child, and just as hard for a 60 year old man I can tell you!

            Selfishness – When I first noticed his problem I attempted to help by offering to take the sphere from him.  Being a third child and in the absence of his older siblings he was not interested in this kind of help which he was used to.  He pulled away determined to do it himself.  Have you ever done that to God as He attempts to take a problem from you in a way that means you must give something up, or at least it seems that way to you?

            I’m sure there were other lessons to be learned, but about that time Easton had extracted both hands and balls and changed the game to dodge ball with Granddaddy as the target for the treasured balls. 

            As the new game ensued, the toy aquarium was forgotten along with all the previous toys played with on this seemingly endless day that would end all too soon. 

I love being your pastor,

Russ

            One of the biggest problems in the world, and that is no less true in the church, is that too many people tend to only see black and white.  The result is people have a hard time accepting and forgiving one another.  Maybe it is because the medium we have watched all our lives is TV.  On TV the characters are almost always black or white.  Not in the sense of when I started watching TV and it was literally in black and white but in the sense in which people are all bad or all good.  I grew up on westerns, and there were always bad guys and good guys.   You could tell by the hats.  (Black for bad, and white for good) Today my favorite TV and movie genre is murder mysteries.  Except for the lack of hats, things have not really changed.  It is still true that in a 1 hour or even full length movie there is little time to develop characters that are in fact true to life.  Nobody is really all bad or all good.  In fact, we all do good things and bad things.  We all have good attitudes and bad attitudes.  We all have good days and bad days. 

Imagine how you would feel about David from the Old Testament if all you knew about him was the fact that he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed in order to cover things up?  That would make a pretty good film and certainly would take the whole hour.  Think how black he would look as he tried to get Uriah to go home and have sex with his wife and then failing to do that just had him killed.  There would be no doubt that he would be a bad guy.   But suppose you never heard that story, and the only thing you knew about David was the fact that he refused to kill Saul when he had a perfect chance even though Saul was trying to kill him and he already knew that he would eventually be the king? Talk about a good guy.  Give him a white hat!  The truth is, David was both of those guys and many more.  He loved his family, but was a lousy father.  He was a brilliant warier and a beautiful psalm writer.  He was many things.  He was not black or white, he was grey.  Most important, when it was all said and done, he was a man after God’s own heart according to the Bible.  That means that in spite of his failings and they were significant, he loved and followed the Lord. 

As Christians, we accept that.  I have never heard any in the church say that they cannot accept David of the Bible.  We know his weaknesses and his strengths, and when it is all said and done, we know we are no better than he was.  We are sinners saved by grace. 

In other words, we all know we are grey.  Too bad we still think everyone else is either black or white!

I love being your pastor,

Russ

How important is your job?

            Most people would say that depends on what your job is.  And that is so as far as it goes.  In reality though, all Christians have more than one job.  There is of course the job that you do in order to function in the world.  That is a job that provides material income by which you can live in this world.  Those jobs vary greatly of course, and since they are all by definition secular, they are appropriately valued from a secular perspective.  That is to say, a medical doctor’s job is more valuable than shall we say a roofer’s job.  That is so because we value human life more than we do our roofs generally speaking and especially if it is our own life.  Another way we consider worth in the secular world is by how much money our jobs produce for us.  By that standard, the work of certain sports personalities and movie stars is far more valuable than almost any job in the world!  Never mind the fact that all they are doing is playing or in some cases playing around!  Other factors that must be considered of course are relative risk, competitiveness, interest etc. These and a host of other factors set the worth of a given job at a given time.  So in the world, it is most certainly true that one person’s job is more important than another’s.  Therefore your secular job may or may not be all that important in the world. 

            But if you are a Christian you have another job.  A far more important job no matter what your secular job might be.  That job is the same as all other Christian’s jobs.  And they are all of the same worth.  So what is our job as Christians?  We are to live for Jesus, and share him with others.  It is as simple as that.  The details of how we are to do that vary from Christian to Christian.  For instance, there are Christians whose specific task is to preach to masses of people the good news of Jesus Christ.  That sounds important.  Others are given the task of sharing in places like jails or schools or industry.  Some teach and preach in churches.  Then there are those whose task it has been to die for their faith (Any volunteers).  For many the task is simply to share the good news of Jesus Christ with friends and family.   The variety of tasks is endless, but the jobs are ultimately all the same, and of the same worth.  IN every case the job is to influence others to know Jesus Christ.  As with any job, we need both on the job training and education.  Thus the Bible was given to us to read and understand.  Jesus established the church and ordained it with the oversight of seeing that the job of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ is carried throughout the world.  

            How should that make you feel Christian?  It should make us feel greatly important!  What you do impacts eternity for someone or ones.  That’s bigger than a multi-million dollar contract with a ball club or movie!  You are special and important.  It should also challenge us to take our jobs seriously.  Are we training properly and preparing for the task for which we have been chosen?  Are we performing the task? If not, get busy.  Read your Bible, go to church, and make sure you are praying for God’s direction regarding your all important job.  Then make sure you show up and perform!

I love being your pastor,

Russ

Becoming a Thing of Beauty For several weeks I have noticed a pile of sticks in the churchyard from my window.  They had accumulated from the various storms over the last couple of months and someone had stacked them up for eventual removal.   Today as I write this I am watching Brenton Collins do just that.  I was interested to see how he would approach it.  First he pulled his truck as close as he could to the pile.  Then he walked around the pile and examined it a bit.  Then he started picking up sticks one at a time and methodically placing them in the bed of his truck for removal.  Eventually, the pile in the yard was completely gone and it was as good as new.  All the sticks were in the bed of the truck, which could handle them easily.   Do you see an application for your life from that illustration? First of all, if you are like me, there are a lot of sticks in the yard of your life. From time to time we have storms that leave us vulnerable to sin and that sin settles in.   How do we get rid of them?  Someone with a truck big enough to handle the job must come along side to help.  That someone is Jesus.  He wants to remove the sin from our lives. Not just once at the time of our acceptance of Him as savior, but daily as we struggle to live in this fallen world.    Why doesn’t He just sweep it all away quickly and without effort on our part?  Because we need to understand the cost and the process of His cleaning up our lives one part at a time.  We need to see the work involved in taking the sins from our lives and putting them on Him.  He does all the work of salvation.  But if we are to grow in the Lord, we must be involved in the cleansing of our lives as He empowers us to remove the sticks, one stick at a time, and place them on His back.     By the way, once the sticks were gone, Brenton mowed the yard.  Once the sin is out of our lives, we are in a position to mature and grow.  Only then do we become a thing of beauty.   I love being your pastor, Russ

We live in the foolish age of youth. 

Wisdom, like everything else today is looked for in our youth.  Do you ever get tired of hearing people talk about how much smarter kids are today than they used to be?  Next time you hear that ask them what study they are basing that fact on.  It will probably be the fact that their kid knows how to use the computer better than they do.  That is not greater knowledge, just different.  Try getting your order from a McDonalds when the power goes off.  The kids at the register have no idea how to make change.  They are used to punching a picture of a burger and wahlah, out comes the right change.  There is nothing wrong with that system, but trust me, it is not indicative of intelligence, let alone wisdom.  As a matter of fact, in our culture today youth is seen as being synonymous with all things desirable.  The only hope for those advancing in age is to stay as young as possible for as long as possible.  Don’t believe me?  Check out a recent copy of AARP to see the parade of all the young old people!  I am not suggesting that there is no value in youth or that we should all wish away whatever youth we might have left (Granted, since I am a card carrying member of AARP I don’t have much to loose).  I am however suggesting as have many before me that while there are advantages to youth, namely strength and energy, it is a decidedly foolish time in a person’s life.  That is not all their fault (only the part where they think they are wise).  The fact is they just haven’t been around long enough to know any better. Who among us with any time at all on this earth has not at one time or another uttered the words, “If I had only known then what I know now.”  Well why didn’t we?  Because we did not have the experience that comes with age.  (Or is it age that comes with experience – As they said in some generation - Same difference.) 

There is only one true source of wisdom if you believe the Bible, and that is from the Lord.  Proverbs, often referred to as the book of wisdom attests to that fact.  Within the book or Proverbs and supported elsewhere in scripture we find that there are basically two ways of attaining wisdom.   The most effective and popular way is experience.  It also takes a long time and is often very painful.  The other way, which is highly recommended by God, is to listen to and learn from the experience of others who have learned by the first way. 

 The fact is, our strength is in our youth, but our wisdom if we have it, is in our aged.  Please note there is a difference between aged and senile.  Confusing this truth is an error often made by the wisdom of youth. They can’t see the difference.  Partly that is because they usually don’t bother to listen long enough to an older person to discern whether the person is senile with age, just old, or wise from the experience of age.  If you pay attention you will find all three kinds of older people.  If you find one with wisdom, spend time with them.  You might skip some of their experiences that they wish they had!

There was a time when age was equated with wisdom.  Proverbs 20:29 says, The glory of young men is their strength, And the honor of old men is their gray hair.   

While a cursory reading of this verse might suggest that the only thing an older person has to offer is good looking gray hair any study of the culture of that age (born out by any commentary or study bible you might wish to consult) will point out that it is in fact a reference to the understood wisdom that comes with the experience of age.  It is at once to be both revered and respected. 

Sometimes the elderly long for the strength and energy of their youth.  But since that is decidedly impossible regardless of whatever remedy the most recent study on aging might be hawking, it would be wiser to use what energy we have left to impart some of our wisdom purchased with our spent youth to those who have not had opportunity to gain it themselves.  However, that can only be done it the extent that they are wise enough to see its value.  Rarely do the youth long for the wisdom that comes with age.  They foolishly think they know it already, or at least as much or more than the older people around them. 

My advice to the young is as follows:  Lesson number one - find a wise older person and listen to them.  (Caution - pick them carefully, and make sure they are Godly.  If they are truly Godly they will encourage you to verify what they are saying with scripture).  Lesson two through whatever will come from that person. But remember, you have to listen.  That does not mean you will or even necessarily should always do what they say, but to not listen is truly foolish.  By the way, in doing this you will honor and respect them, which is what God says they should expect from you.  And that my friends is a win win!

I love being your pastor,

Russ

 I am deviating from my study of the book of Mark and specifically the parables found in the 4th chapter today in order to look at one verse of scripture that God has laid on my heart this week.  

Psalms 37:34 (NLT)
   Don’t be impatient for the LORD to act!     Travel steadily along his path.     He will honor you, giving you the land.     You will see the wicked destroyed. 

This past week has been difficult for me in a couple of ways.  One has been the critical state of the church’s finances.  The offering last Sunday was not even enough to pay salaries and the past due mortgage payment.  I have seen this coming since May, but until I was unable to deposit my check this week it was possible to delay concern over the problem.  By the way, this is not going to be a tithing message.  I have done that several times this year which is more than enough for those who have ears to hear (And especially for those who don’t). 

Instead it will be a message that should find application in all of our lives at one point or another. 

The application is for when you don’t get what you pray for.  You know, it is when you ask the Lord for something and it doesn’t happen.  You pray for healing or a job or a relationship or your wayward child or your unbelieving parents or whatever it is you are asking the Lord for and not getting the proper response.  The proper response of course is yes to whatever you are asking for.  By the way, I am talking about legitimate needs here, not the new Cadillac or condo. 

For instance, in this case I have been praying that the Lord would bless those who are faithful in our church so that they could give more, and that those who are not faithful to the scriptural mandate to tithe would be convicted to do so.  So far that has not been answered with a resounding YES from the heavens.  As a matter of fact, as the summer has worn on, things have gotten worse to the point that we are unable to meet even the most basic needs of our budget. 

So what should I do?  Not as the pastor of the church, but as the person who didn’t get the check?  (By the way, please do not misunderstand and blame anyone for this situation.  The finance committee has done everything in their power to make sure that this did not occur even to the point that one person gave an additional 700 dollars last Sunday.  That allowed us to pay the mortgage and other salaries. It was my decision to hold mine instead of the late mortgage payment or other salaries.)  So again, what should I do?

I was having trouble sleeping Tuesday night as I pondered this and other concerns and my wife Jane during her quiet time (which is during the night) found a verse that she gave me that she thought was from the Lord.  It was. 

I believe this one little verse is a clear action plan for me and for anyone else who finds themselves in such a situation. 

You apply it to your life as I apply it to mine.  I believe if we do so we will find joy and peace and deliverance from the suffering of what we believe to be unanswered prayer. 

Let’s break the verse down into short phrases. 

Don’t be impatient - In other words, wait!  Like many of you I am a fixer.  When I see a problem my first reaction is to see what I can do to fix it.  This little verse violates that human desire with the command to be patient, or don’t be impatient.

Actually the command is don’t be impatient

For the Lord to act - God has His own time line. He will act in His own good time.  Have you ever been in charge of something and someone thought it could be done better or faster their way and they get in and muck it all up.  That’s what happens when we get impatient.  God will act in His time, not ours.  That does not mean there is nothing we should do ourselves. 

The verse goes on to say

Travel steadily – While you are waiting on the Lord there is plenty to do.  If you have been walking with the Lord you have things you know He wants you to do.  Keep doing them.  Keep moving in spite of the pressure to sit down and wait.  Wait, but do not sit down.  Waiting for the Lord to act without continuing down the path He has already shown you will result in depression.  Waiting does not equate with inactivity. 

However, it is imperative to make sure that the traveling is

Along His path - Be careful that while you wait you do not veer off of the path He has given you.  If he does not respond when we expect there is a tendency to panic and take a short cut path.  One of the most infamous illustrations of that is King Saul who could not wait as he was instructed to for the prophet Samuel to bless him in 1 Samuel 14.  Had Saul waited just a little longer, things would have gone great, but because he was impatient for the Lord to act, he took a short cut and did it his way at a great cost. 

We are often unaware of the fact that

There is an intersecting trajectory where God’s action meets our steady traveling down his designated path to accomplish His greater purpose in our lives.    If we stay the course while waiting for Him to act, we will reap the rewards that He has in store for us. 

The fact is

He will honor you - If we are patient and stay on the path, He will honor us.  What a joy to be honored by the Lord! An ataboy from God is worth a long wait any day.  What’s more the verse says

 

He will be   

Giving you the land – That implies some kind of blessing as well.  It may not be the thing we were asking for specifically, but it will be something special from the Lord. 

What’s more

You will see the wicked destroyed - Those who oppose you as you wait on the Lord will be undone, and it will be in your seeing.  Sometime the wicked are obstacles that pressure us to forsake the Lord’s admonition to wait and stay the course.  Sometimes they are individuals who would defeat our effort to follow in the Lord’s path, either intentionally because they are jealous or covet what we have.  More often they do so unintentionally, thinking they are helping by offering the short cuts around the long wait on the Lord. 

So what now?  As for me, I will continue to pray more than ever that God will resolve my problems in a way that I would like, but at the same time, I will wait for Him to do things His way, and while I do that I have lots of work to do.  As a matter of fact, the pressure of this week has made his path all the clearer for me to see. 

I hope you find an application from this verse for your life as well. 

I would be happy to pray for you if you would like.

Russ

  

A very special day!

Yesterday was July 15^th, 2007.  For most of you that was just another day I suppose, like July 14^th, 2007 was for me.  For others it was probably special for some reason.  For Becky Collins (church pianist) it was her birthday (I will not risk life or limb by identifying which one).  For Dave and Laura Horning (daughter and son-in-law) it was their 12^th wedding anniversary.  It was also a special day for me.  It was the 5^th anniversary of one of the best days of my life.  On July 15^th 2002 I suffered a massive stroke (a three inch bleed in the left side of my brain).  The doctors did not expect me to survive, and when I did not die right away they expected me to be institutionalized for the rest of my life.  After months of hospitals, therapy, learning how to talk, walk, dress myself, and eat (I really got good at that by the way – two months of eating through a tube in your stomach is a great motivator), I was as normal as I had ever been (note the qualification), and began preaching again. 

So why did I say it was one of the best days of my life?  Obviously there were ups and downs following my stroke, and for that matter there are still today, but one thing has changed forever.  When I stop and think about it, I know without any possible doubt that God is in charge of everything.  The doctors did a great job, but they did not expect it to be enough.  When I walked into the doctor’s office some months later for the first time, my doctor kept introducing me to other patients and nurses in the office as their miracle patient!  It was not because I am a fighter who just wouldn’t give up and die.  Nor was it because I was so spiritual and trusting the Lord.  I remember almost nothing of those first two weeks during which time I spent 10 days on a ventilator.  What time I do remember was spent in fear and trembling that I would die.  Yes, I prayed, but it was not the prayer of a confident Christian.  Just a man afraid to die.  I do know that during those early days and weeks there were those around me, especially my wife and children and church family who were much more confident in the Lord than I was regarding what was to come.  They prayed fervently for me.  I have done that kind of praying for others as have many of you, and sometimes it is God’s will, and yet there are other times that in spite of our prayers, God has other plans. 

I have considered over the years since that event what really happened, and my conclusion is simply this.  God has a plan and it happens to include my being on the earth for a little while longer.    Why?  I do not know.  It is not because I am significant to the world.  I am not.  But it is still God’s plan.  Nothing else can account for my existence.  So I can only assume that I am here to do what I do to the glory of God.  That includes being a Christlike husband, father, grandfather, pastor, friend, and most of all, an example of God’s grace.  I should not be here, but by God’s grace I am.

And I love being your pastor, Russ

I’ll pray for you!

            When someone asks you to pray for them what do you do?  As a pastor I get many requests from people wanting me to pray for them.  Usually they have a specific prayer in mind that they would have me to pray.  I’m not sure why, but there is a widespread misconception that the prayers of a pastor get ranked higher on the answer list than the average persons. 

            I just returned from spending two days on a personal prayer retreat.  This is something I do from time to time.  Usually when I realize that my life or the life of my church is overwhelmed and I think some time alone with God might right my ship.  After all, it never hurts to check in with the captain when you think the ship might be going down, or at least taking on water.  As usual, I gained some perspective from my time alone with Jesus.  Most of it is very personal and I do not wish to share that, but one thing was very freeing and enlightening that I wish to share with you. 

            As I started to pray I decided to list those people and things that I needed to pray about.  As I did so, I developed a process for praying for them that I have not used before and while it may or may not be original I think it is worth sharing.  As a matter of fact, I intend to use it as a process of praying for those who would ask me to pray for them. 

First, identify the person or thing needing prayer.  That would include requests from others and personal observations in your own life. 

Second, identify the need.  This is a little trickier.  It is not necessarily the same as the request from the individual.  They might ask for you to pray that they would find the right person to marry.  On reflection and in prayer, you might understand that you need to pray that they will find God’s will for them on the subject of marriage.  (They might be being called to be single, or they might need some character change that would make them more likely to get married, or they might need to look in a different direction for someone etc.)  Once you have identified what you believe to be the need, pray for that, not what they actually asked for.

Third, identify your part. This is a hard part for me.  I am a fixer, and so when someone tells me they have a problem of some kind I am inclined to immediately start trying to see what I can do to fix the problem.  This is usually not my part.  We need to pray to determine what our part might be relative to the need that we see God has for the person or issue.  As a pastor, often my greatest part is to simply listen and to try to understand a person’s hurt.  Sometimes it might be to council.  Sometimes it might be to organize others to help with the problem.  Always it must be based on what I believe to be God’s direction for me in prayer, not my first inclinations based on the problem. 

Fourth, identify God’s part.  Only God can do a miracle.  Only God can do most things quite frankly.  Often, the person needs to be convicted and redirected.  At times a prayer request simply identifies a person’s total lack of spiritual maturity.  They need to know that, but unless they are asking for council and direction, that is not my part.  Instead, I need to pray that God will convict them according to their spiritual need. 

Fifth, identify their part.  It may be that a change of lifestyle or activity is needed in the person’s life to solve their problem.  Identify what that is and be ready to say so when the opportunity presents itself.  That would be when they ask your council or opinion about what they should do, not when they ask you to pray. 

There is a huge difference between a request for prayer and a request for advice.  Do not mix the two up. 

For instance:

Someone might ask you to pray that they will have more money because they cannot pay the mortgage.  You may well know that they are mismanaging their money or they are fairly lazy.  How does that get fixed?  Do as they ask.  Pray.  But do it as I have identified above. 

You know the person.

Identify the need.  Then pray that need will be met.  You might find yourself praying that the person will be motivated. 

Identify your part.  It might go beyond the scope of the request.  God might convict you to help solve the problem, or pray a different way.  Whatever it is that you believe God is directing you to do, do it.

Identify God’s part.  Don’t interfere.

Identify their part.  Be prepared to share that with them if and when they ask for your council. 

That kind of praying frees you from the helplessness of not knowing how to fix a problem you can’t fix, and more importantly, focuses your prayer toward the need of the individual. 

I love being your pastor,

Russ

  

The following blog was cross-posted from Dad’s June 15 article. The full text of the newsletter can be found at http://www.sharonbaptistchurch.com/data/newsletter.PDF

Several times in the last few months one of my sons (Dave, he’s the one that looks like Josh but isn’t for those of you who don’t know Dave and therefore don’t understand that since he is the oldest, Josh actually looks like him instead of the other way around) has suggested that I should start a blog. After explaining to me what it was, that is. I have not done so for a few reasons.

First, it would seem that you need to have something to say that others are willing to read, or at least you need to think you do! I am a rather egotistical person I must admit, but age has convinced me that the rest of the world is not nearly as interested in what I have to say as I once thought. As far as I can remember that seems to have started with my children. (So why would Dave suggest that I start blogging?)

Second, it sounds like work, and while of all the kinds of work there are, talking is my favorite, it would still be more work.

Third, and this is probably the primary reason, after reading a number of blogs I have noticed they all contain a place for the reader to respond, and I’m not sure I want to subject my opinions about things to discussion. After all, as long as I don’t allow others to discuss them, they are safe in my mind as fact. (So that’s what Dave has in mind!)

Now that I think about it, maybe it is a good idea.
Proverbs 15:22 - 23 (NIV) 22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.23 A man finds joy in giving an apt reply and how good is a timely word!

As a test of how I deal with reason three above, what do you think? I will seek to apply Prov. 15:22-23 to your answers.

By the way, I asked my other son, the real Josh, and he seemed to think that since I already write an article twice a month that everyone in the church gets, there would be little purpose. He’s probably right. But I am interested in what you have to say, so send me an e-mail back. I will let you know what happens. No matter what, I intend to do a better job of applying the Proverbs passage. That is undoubtedly what the Lord had in mind for me through this whole exercise.

I love being your pastor,

Russ

P.S. Since my spell check won’t accept the word blog, and I know it is right, I am feeling smarter than my computer today! No comments on that statement please.

No doubt this blog entry will be updated by Dad soon.

–Dave Preston

When I say “Unofficial blog of Sharon Baptist Church” what I mean is that I created it against my father’s wishes and hope that he will forgive me as he takes ownership :).