Gratitude & humility as we approach Thanksgiving

It seems we are all busy these days. From children to adolescents to adults and even retired seniors, it seems we’ve packed our lives so full of events and obligations that we barely have a chance to breathe. I’ve given a couple of messages recently on the dangers and pitfalls of busyness. But as I think about it now, perhaps we should make a distinction between simply keeping ourselves busy - and that hectic, frantic lifestyle that does its best to suck us into its vortex, sap our energy, crush our spirit, and leave us totally spent.

I can generally tell that I’m near my breaking point when I start having trouble summoning the patience to deal with stressful situations, or difficulty gently communicating with people who refuse to listen. Another “tell” that I’m getting depleted is when praise music leaves me overwhelmed and speechless, and my prayers come out as sobs.

Sometimes, simple things like keeping up with the maintenance on our vehicles and home repairs can start to become overwhelming. That’s when I remember how many folks would love to have my concerns. I think about all the people that are scrambling to secure basic transportation and dealing with the uncertainty that comes with inadequate housing.

What I am saying is this. My lawn and garden might have pesky weeds, and yet I am blessed to own property. The walls might need to be painted and the rugs replaced, but I am still living in a comfortable house. Our vehicles all need their regular oil changes and periodic maintenance, but thank God I haven’t had to replace any of them in a long time.

The day-to-day responsibilities of being your pastor can sometimes seem daunting, yet I am blessed that God saw fit to put me in a position where part of every day is spent stuyding the Word, searching for those interesting nuances that bring the text to life. And that He has made me part of a loving and caring congregation. Of course, I also deal with a pervasive, ongoing feeling of inadequacy. Yet week-in and week-out, He keeps feeding me the words to say.

I know without a doubt that this “job” - this position as your pastor - is far above my ability to perform. So I am left thanking God daily that I don’t have to do it alone.

Your pastor and friend,

Ed

Keep your eyes on Jesus, not other people

Pam and I came back early from vacation this year after spending only a week on the raod. And once again I am stunned at how quickly a week passes. It seems no sooner do you get used to traveling and living out of motels - and it is suddenly time to head home.

This year our time got cut short a few days due to an intermittent problem with the motorcycle - and a wisdom tooth of mine that started acting a fool just as soon as we hit the road.

Now personally, I always look forward to being somewhere new, enjoying the scenery driving new roads, eating at unfamiliar restaurants and making our “home” in a different location each night. I find even doing laundry on the road is more enjoyable thatn doing it at home. And people - Oh the people! It seems everywhere we go we meet folks who are pleasant and accomodating. Everyone has their own unique story, and if you are willing to listen - they are often willing to share it with you. Of course, one of the highlights of our week is when we get to drop in on an unsuspecting church. And this year was no exception.

We woke up early Sunday morning in Lexington, Virginia and checked our phones to see if there was a Baptist church in the area. This year, we found two within a couple miles, and chose one called Faith Mountain Baptist Church - because we liked the name. We got there before anyone else showed up, and so had time to wander over to the edge of the property and pet the neighbor’s goats. That seems like a really great way to start any day.

But soon enough people began drifting in. And honestly, the first ones thought it best to avoid “those hooligans” on the motorcycle. But then, I suppose Pam can come off as a bit intimidating in her road gear . . .

We soon found our way inside where we began meeting people. And they began the vetting process to see who we were, and why we were there. After some polite conversation, we were soon plugged into a Sunday school class where the teacher continued his ongoing study of the book of Acts. I had to bite my tongue a bit since Gary just finished taking us through an in-depth study of that same portion of Scripture. In some settings I have to remind myself that I am a guest and a student - NOT a teacher.

Soon enough we were off to the worshiop service where everyone kept apologizing that their church was so small and that they had no pastor (though they probably had 70 or so in attendance). Since their minister retired, it seems that they have been making due with pulpit supply pastors as they contemplate the idea of merging with another local church from the area that is growing exponentially - yet has no buillding. I can sympathize becuase I’ve watched that same scenario play out with dwindling congregations in our own area.

But in all honesty, I think a church’s mindset is what makes all the difference. During Covid, it got to where I was thinking of our church as small, and maybe even insignificant. And some might still call us small. But looking back to where we were - we have actually grown by leaps and bounds! And just imagine how our folks would welcome and even celebrate a new family - or some soul off the street coming to join us in our time of worship!!

When we read the Gospels, it’s hard to den how it was only about a dozen blue collar, uneducated men who faithfully followed Jesus . . . and went on to change the world! Let’s all do our best to get over the comparison trap, and work on being faithful to the cause of Christ.

Your brother in the Lord Jesus,

Pastor Ed

Why I visit men in prison

Though I’ve certainly talked about it before, I keep running into folks who seem to have a real curiosity about why I go to prison on the first Sunday of every month. The short answer is “it’s a ministry thing” or “a Kairos thing”. And yet most wondering what the attraction could possibly because we all know prisons are those dark, foreboding places where they keep all the bad people.

So let me back up just a bit and explain that Kairos is an international prison ministry that is designed to take the love of Christ to the men and women who find themselves behind bars.

Back in 2000, as I was going through a Lay Ministry program, I began to sense the Holy Spirit nudging me towards getting involved with some sort of prison ministry — which was quite a shock to a conservative, middle class, middle aged guy who had successfully avoided something like that. So I considered it a fluke — some wayward notion that would go away in time. And so I did what any reasonable person would do. I ignored God’s calling for two whole years.

But then some of my church friends convinced me to attend a four day Emmaus Walk - prayer retreat at one of the local summer camps. And I had a great time! It was spiritually encouraging and enlightening. It really took my walk with God ot a much higher level. And that would have been the end of it except for the fact taht those same people talked me into attending a reunion banquet. Now, I’m not the banquet kind of guy — endless socializing with people I don’t know and will never see again this side of heaven just doesn’t seem like my “cup of tea”. But the very last speaker of the evening stood up and mentioned how he was affiliated with his “Kairos” organization, a group of men who volunteered to take the Word of God inside prison walls. And at that point, the Spirit inside of me started screaming. I suddenly realized that my earlier inclinations were no mistake.

After some extensive training, I took part in my first weekend at Grafton Correctional somewhere around 2010. During those four days, I met guys who aare still some of my closest friends today. not the volunteers necessarily, but the residents. Over that weekend, I saw men give their heart to Christ as we worshiopped and sang and ate and prayed and laughed and even cried together. I heard horror stories about how some had been abused as children, or about how they got blined by drugs or alcohol and feel in with the wrong crowd. And the whole time I’m thinking, “It could have been me. It could have been MY story.”

Oh, I suppose I started off with the best of intentions, thinking I would bravely take the Word of God to men who desperately need to hear the Gospel, only to discover one of the greatest blessings of my life. I am so much richer now for spending this time wiht my newfound friends. They have taughtme so much about my limited perception of the world and about myself, especially about the incredible love of the patient and forgiving God we all serve.

Please pray for these men — and for your pastor as we all seek to follow Him more closely.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Ed

Summertime & seasons of life

In school many years ago, I can remember we were given the assignment to write a paper on "What I did this summer”. Of course, by that time we were back at our studies, so it seemed all we had to get us through those long cold months of drudgery were the memories of the fun we had and the things we experienced until summer finally rolled around again. And here I am all these years later, asking myself the same basic thing. Yet somehow, it’s all different.

When we were in school we assumed we had our whole life ahead of us. Of course, a couple of our classmates “checked out” early - “before their time” as they say, but they were always the exception, rather than the rule. And back then, the years passed sooo slowly. Of course, a lot of the things we heard and saw and experienced were totally new to us. Yet someohow we knew that many of those experiences had the potential to change the way we would see and think about our world from that time on. I should have cherished those years more. But then school years were miserable for me, so I was just anxious for it all to end.

Soon enough I found myself in the workforce where I could finally start “living my life”. That’s when I learned that jobs are not all the same - some are good, and some are not. Yet everyone of them exposes you to a different culture and a different side of life. Everyone of them has good points and bad. Everyone of them provides you with yet another piece of the puzzle so that one day, when you finally begin to get a better view of the overall picture, hopefully, you can start understanding things just a little bit better.

But that is a dangerous season, and those are dangerous years. In our woefully uninformed frailty, we sometimes cling to the things that were meant to be temporary, while allowing things to slip through our fingers that we should have held onto.

Fortunately God has held onto me through all the turbulence and all the questioning and all the many, many mistakes I have made along the way, so that now (on my best days) I strain to see things through HIS eyes.

And here we are again in the middle of summer, but I no longer have my whole, limitless life in front of me anymore. So I can’t help but look back and wonder what I did, and perhaps more importantly, what I should be doing. I get the impression that I should be out making memories - seeing new things and doing new things - so that when that long dark season comes, I will ahve something pleasant to look back on.

Lord, save me (and you, too) from the business of life so that (you and ) I can once again live life to the full, even as I gather more pleasant memories. Amen

Pastor Ed

From mechanic to minister

As I sit down to write this article each month, it ends up being my chance to reflect on where I am at in life, and even to assess the state of my overall mental health. Now some might be surprised that a pastor has concerns, doubts and troubling thoughts just like everyone else. But the fact is that we are all made of the same stuff. We are all born into sin, all are prone to making mistakes. So it seems that we will be forced to struggle with the effects of this lower nature until the time we eventually pass from this life.

Though truthfully, I think being expected to write a message each week has probably helped me more than any other kind of therapy ever could. Iit’s when I have the chance to look deep into God’s Word and then hold it up as a mirror - and start to see my self as I really am - and that’s often where the trouble begins.

Now as a motorcycle mechanic, I took a great deal of pride in what I did. And while personal pride is often frowned upon in Chrisitian circles, the quality of my work came as a result of doing the needed research, taking the time, being more careful than most of my peers, and putting in the extra effort required to make sure things came out just so.

It was also a job I could do with a high degree of precision - no matter my personal state. As long as I could drag myself through the door of the shop, I could generally find refuge, distraction, and even a certain degree of solace there. You see, machines tend to bow to the laws of math and physics, which means that as long as you push the right buttons and follow the right procedures - and do everything in the proper sequence - you usually get the desired result. It’s where I found my comfort, satisfaction and fulfillment.

Today, I suppose a person could well lsay that my main product is words; long rows of words, carefully selected and strung together into sentences and paragraphs and chapters, all with the goal of bringing honor and glory to our incomparable Lord and Savior. And this is where the problem lies.

See, I doubt my ability to express myself clearly enough to explain just how good and righteous and perfect our God really is. I fear that I may never have the vocabulary - or the metal acuity required -to express His holiness to the people who need to hear His message the most.

It is not small responsibility being the messenger for the King. It makes me wonder how I ever ended up with this lofty position. My gravest fear is that a person will look at me, recognize who I truly am, and turn their back on the church as a result.

All that said, it seems that our church is growing - and growing stronger all the time. So without claiming any of the credit, all I can do is sit back and be amazed as God works His miracles.

Go with God,

Pastor Ed

Thoughts on Easter

It has always amazed me how God in His Brilliance chose to set our Easter celebration in the Spring of the year. Now, I’ve always been kind of a “nature guy” myself in that I enjoy seeing how the crocus’ and daffodils and hyacinths act as the harbingers of Spring; how they will go so far as to push themselves up through the snow if they have to, just to announce the changing of the seasons. And quick on their heels come the forsythias, as that bush begins to bud and bloom with a myriad of surprisingly yellow flowers. All of nature comes alive this time of year - which I think makes it the perfect backdrop for Resurrection Day.

Now if you happen to walk through the woods in November, December or January, after a short while, it can start to seem as though everything in sight is as dead as dead can be. Yet faith (and experience) tells us that all IS NOT lost, and that if we are simply patient, we will soon witness another bountiful season of growth.

In many ways, the age we are living in can seem very much the same. Sure, we have a lot of politicians and liberal pundits promoting and defending hideous agendas like the “drag queen story hour” or abortion on demand, student loan forgiveness, defund the police movements, and the “green new deal”. Our government is handing out multiple trillions of our (and that of future generations) hard earned money to lavish on untold millions of illegal immigrants with incredible cash and prizes - in the hope that it will buy them our nation’s upcoming presidential election. And yet, in the midst of all the nonsense, blatant corruption, and unabashed perversion, the church of Jesus Christ is still poking its head up through all the mess to show the world that THERE IS a better way.

The Christian church in America was decimated by the arbitrary and draconian restrictions that the fear of the Covid virus brought with it. Yet our church seems to be slowly and steadily recovering. And my sense is that we are developing stronger and deeper roots than we had before.

Occasionally, we will even hear about miracles - like th e”Asbury Revival” - where a simple chapel service at a Christian university grew into a major awakening for untold thousands of people of faith. Now some might look at the world around us and think that Satan has already won. And Heaven knows there is plenty of evidence for them to cite . . . but our God has NEVER begun a project or a progeam and failed to complete it. Or as Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

So, the next time you are tempted to give in to discrouragement, look to the daffodils and hyacinths in the garden. Or better yet, look at our Lord’s empty tomb.

Pastor Ed

A funny call about baptism

People are funny . . . I guess I always knew that, but honestly someone should write a book about all the different delusions people put in the place of the truth today.

Several months ago (safely in the past), I got a phone call here at the office. Not that unusual for a Saturday afternoon, but it gets better. An unknown woman was on the line, and I could tell by her voice that she was “mature”. In our conversation, she mentioned how she and her brother were closing in on retirement age and were looking to find a church to baptize them!!!

That perked my interest to say the least! There is nothing more inspirational for a congregation than to witness a baptism service! I immediately began dreaming of having two new members - and their friends - and their friends! So I quickly begain the interview process.

I asked, “Do you presently have a church?”

She answered, “No but we’re fairly new to the area.”

“Well, were you raised in a church?” I queried.

“No, but we watch preachers on television sometimes,” she replied.

“Which ones are your favorites?” I wanted to know.

“I can’t remember the names. But then, it’s been a while,” she informed me.

It seemed the longer the conversation went, the less I knew . . . So I changed tactics and asked what prompted her call. Had she just received a spiritual epiphany? Or had she gone through some sort of traumatic event. Her answer was, “No, nothing like that.”

Asking the next question that came to mind, the truth started to dawn on me. I asked her, “So I presume you and your brother are looking to JOIN a congregation, to become part of a fellowship of like-minded Christian believers?”

Her answer was, “No, not really. We don’t socialize that much. We’re not looking to change our lifestyle or anything like that.”

So, being pretty much at a loss now, I told her how baptism by immersion was simply following in the footsteps of Christ. We do it after we pray to accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, asking Him to forgive our sins.

That’s when the bomb went off. She told me, “Oh, we don’t sin anymore. We used to, but we quit all that years ago.”

Incredulous, I stammered, “Well, that’s a lot better than an old Baptist preacher I know . . . “

Withmy head starting to explode, I simply had to ask the follow-up question, “Well, if you don’t sin, and you don’t want to join a church or associate with other believers, then why do you want to be baptized?”

Without hesitation, she exclaimed, “So we can go to heaven when we die.”

Totally undone, I explained how there is nothing magical about the water, and how God loves her and wants to be in an every closer relationship with her . . . and how I would love to meet with her and her brother so that we could sit down and talk. But it seems I’d lost her interest. I suspect she went right back to whatever list in which she found our name to see if the next church down the page would baptize her and her brother.

Like I say, people are funny.

Stay focused on Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

In Christ,

Pastor Ed

Another holiday season is almost history

It seems we’ve just skittered past another Christmas celebration. While everyone else was cooking, shopping, making holiday plans, and decorating these last few weeks, I spent most of my time reading, writing and worrying about every little detail connected with our Christmas services - and even stressing over the maintenance of our building. Because I knew that even if my prayers were answered and the service ended up being deeply moving and spiritual, if one of the bathrooms suddenly ran out of supplies, that would be all someone is likely to remember for the next year.

But then, I’ve never been much of a cooking, shopping, making plans, and decorating kind of guy. It seems that I am much happier and better suited to sitting alone in an office where I can struggle with putting words together. And the cleaning and maintenance chores I do around here on a weekly basis have actually become a welcomed distraction - something more akin to what I’ve been used to all my life.

When I began preaching here more than a dozen years ago, it was in early December. At that time, I thought to myself, “Who in the world BEGINS their preaching career during the holiday season!” But somehow I made it through that first one (and only by God’s grace).

And now, as each year approaches, I think to myself, “Surely THIS is the year that things get easier. Surely I have learned SOMETHING that will make this year go smoother . . . “ Yet it never seems to.

Though when I think about it, I’m kind of glad it never does get any easier. Becuae if it ever got to the point where I could “do it in my sleep”, then I might be tempted to - do it in my sleep. What I’m saying is this - I think struggle is good for anyone aspiring to present the Gospel message. It is the uncertainty and even the fear of failure that tends to keep a person on their toes.

And at the end of each service when I finally get to go through the church, turning out lights and locking the doors, if it was a good service, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I had very little to do with it.

God bless you all. All of us here at Goodyear Heights Baptist Church wish you a very Merry Christmas season and a blessed New Year.

In Christ,

Pastor Ed

Am I grateful enough to help, even when it hurts?

This morning, as we prepared to take my wife to the appointment to get her cataracts taken care of, I was busy and distracted and was so tempted not to take the time to pray.  And I found myself using that all too familiar excuse, “After all, God knows what we need . . . “

That’s when I began thinking, “What if God only gave us the things we’d thanked Him for yesterday?”

Most of us take our breath and our overall health for granted, just like we take our safety and security for granted.  Instead, we put our faith our bank accounts, on our comfortable routine, on our locked doors, our ingenuity and on our possessions . . . 

So, is it really any wonder that God will occasionally take away one of our “props”;  take away a resource - or a job - or even a relationship we’ve leaned on for so long?

While we might react and think that He’s being mean or vindictive or even that He just doesn’t care, I think it is quite the opposite.  He cares so much that He refuses to leave us in our stupor.

He would rather see us suffer for a season than allow unto simply “sleepwalk” through life. He knows the real enemy of our soul is not the terrible things that happen to us.  The enemy is the complacency that inevitably creeps in when we are comfortable, when there is no tragedy.

We have a loving Father Who has promised to supply our every need - yet we get so fixated on our wants and desired that we become deluded into thinking that THOSE are the things that make life worth living.

So, in the quest for a “better life” for his family, a man will work all the overtime he can - even as the family he is purportedly looking to pamper drifts away.  Or in our effort to make sure our kids are able to compete in the world, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and send them to universities where they are indoctrinated into the socialist/Marxist mindset. And to be kind and loving towards someone trapped in a sinful lifestyle, we choose not to confront or offend them essentially leaving them adrift in their sin.

Very few of us like confrontation.  In fact, most of us will do nearly anything we can to avoid it.  Yet, sometimes the hard things must be said. sometimes we have to simply “man-up” and put what we know to be true into words.  Sure, it might sting, but those are things that heal in time.

Remember, a person will never look for a cure if they don’t first understand they are ill.

In Christ,

Pastor Ed