Why I left the local church and why I returned

This one could be a series. And honestly, it is one I am quite sure I do not yet know all the answers to. Many who read this blog know that I served as a local church pastor for 12 years. Then I went to LifeWay where I ministered in a completely different world for 10 years. Almost one year ago (May 1) I returned to pastor a local church (ClearView Baptist Church in Franklin, TN).

The church I came to out of seminary (I pastored for 2 years in seminary) was in suburban Atlanta. We relocated and experienced some significant numerical growth. So, why leave and go to a denominational role? In reflection, there were several mixed reasons. Some were for the right reasons and some were not.

Why I left ...
1. I felt I could have a broader impact by leaving the local church and taking a role that allowed me to travel and touch many ministers. I have always had an interest and a passion for leadership development. Going to LifeWay (then known as the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention) was an invitation to do this on a national level.

2. A chance to work with pastors. My dad is a pastor and I had pastored for 12 years at that point. I just love pastors. They (we) are a strange breed. I admit. But I don't know of a group of people that, as a whole, are more passionate about what they do. Most pastors (despite the few that might make the headlines) are committed to The Mission. They (we) come in all shapes, sizes (no preacher jokes here), ages, and personalities. Most do what they do because they believe God has called them to do it.

3. I was tired. I went to the church in Atlanta in my mid 20's with all the energy and strength of somone that age. I ran at an all out sprint for 10 years. We relocated the church. We physically built a 28,000 sq. foot building volunteer over a year span of time. We transitioned a church from the 1950's (I arrived in 1988) to about 1980 (I left in 1997). We added a lot of people (In the last 6 years we went from 70 to over 500 in average attendance). That's a lot of change to manage for a kid (remember, mid 20's to mid 30's ... I was a kid). That's messing with alot of people's world in a short period of time. It truly felt like changing a flat while traveling at 60 mph. Some didn't like it and I just didn't know that was normal. I really didn't realize just how tired I was until the first day I sat down in my office at LifeWay.

But God blessed the church in ways I would never have imagined. And He taught me things I would never have learned otherwise. He then provide rest and a learning experience during my 10 years at LifeWay I could not have gotten any place else on earth. I will forever be grateful for the people and the opportunities I encountered while there.

But there was always that "song in my heart" (phrase I borrow from my friend Ralph Hodge) that would not go away. The song to pastor again. I was not sure God would ever lead me back to the local church, but heart really never left.

Why I returned ...
1. Seeing lives changed. This really is the big one. To see someone come to Christ and sell out. To see them begin to understand what it means to follow Christ and live their faith out loud. What a rush! There is nothing like it in the world.

2. It is who I am and what I was made to be. The "song in my heart" turned out to be what many refer to as "the Call". At the core of who God made me to be is a pastor.

3. Turns out, the local church is the best place to base the broader ministry I was seeking. During my time at LifeWay I had the opportunity to study churches. Churches with a Kingdom mindset helped me understand, it is from the local church we could best launch ministries with broader impact than the local church.

4. The right church. God made it possible for me to spend time with the people of ClearView before I was asked to serve as pastor. I served as their preahing interim for 8 months. It gave them time most churches don't get to take a close look before they felt God leading that direction. It gave me time to fall in love with the people before taking the leap back into the only role for which I was made. Thank you ClearView for allowing me back in the game!

This is a subject I come back to in my mind often. I'm sure there will be more ...

This is real ...

I have a friend currently serving on a pastor search committee. He received this by email. This is from a real member of a real church. The person writing the letter below included a web site and I checked it out myself. Since this is going back on the internet, I am editing out the church name. But this is for real! I don't know whether I feel more sorry for the poor pastor or the people playing church headed for an eternity apart from God! Wow! I've been around church all my life and I knew there were people that thought this way, but I would never have believed they would actually put it in writing and try this ...

Blessings,
Over the course of much prayer by a group here at ___________Baptist Church, I have been assigned as the desginated writer for our small group, we are a small SBC church that would like to recommend our pastor to you for a number of positive reasons: PLEASE HEAR US OUT BEFORE JUDGING US. We have a wonderful pastor who has a lot of ideas about how we reach our town or area, the problem is that most of us (the older one's) in the church do not desire to see the changes. We are afraid that our pastor will get frustrated after a while, all we are asking is that you please contact him to see if he might be interested in serving a church that has a desire to change. We have no access to his resume - and he is not currently sending resumes out (that we know about) - however if interested we suggest you contact him directly. We do know a few churches have contacted him -but we do not know if he is considering any of them. We believe the best for him to be where his gifts and talents in preaching and leadership can be used by the Lord, rather than where the heartbeat is faint. Our only desire the best for our pastor and we know he would be much better suited for a church that wants to reach and grow and reach people with the Good News! The church has a web site is www._________.org

Friends of ______________Baptist Church

Ears to hear?

Often we see Jesus in the Gospels telling a story or teaching a principle, followed by the words, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear". Did you know we honor God (or not) by how we hear His Word? My role in preaching is to teach God's Word Sunday by Sunday. But you (ClearView attenders) also have a role ... to hear in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.

Here are a few principles to practice to help with your listening.

1. Come with a prepared heart. Come to the service ready to hear. Double check to make sure you are ready spiritually to hear what God might say. Sins confessed. Distractions eliminated. Mind and heart open to whatever God may say to you through His Word.

2. Make personal application. I always attempt to make application of the passage we are studying. But there is no way I can know or speak to every personal situation in the group gathered on any given Sunday. But the Holy Spirit can. As you listen you will do so through your own filter of experiences and life situation. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you make application.

3. Take notes. Every study ever done related to communication and retention tells us that taking notes (writing it down) assures greater retention. Jot down the thoughts the Holy Spirit prompts in your mind as you are listening. Write down scripture references if they are not already in your notes. Underline words and phrases emphasized in our study.

4. Review the notes during the week. Any student will tell you if you don't review the notes from class, you will not do well on the test. Well, we are all students of The Word. If we walk away from Sundays but never return to the things God taught us that day, we will not assimilate those lessons into our lives.

5. Teach what you learn to somone else. "And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
2 Tim 2:2 (HCSB)

You may think, "I'm not a teacher." We are all teachers. There are people in your life for whom you are in the best position to be a teacher. That new believer at work. That lost person open to spiritual conversations. Your child. Your spouse. Your parent in an assisted living facility.

6. Put it into practice. "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22 (HCSB)

Warning: this is for serious disciples only! We see commercials on TV that say, "Don't try this at home". Well, my challenge is, "Try this at home!" Today we learned that a life of impact is a life full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, faith, and power. What will you do with that? Do you have all of the wisdom you want? All the faith you want? All the power? Controlled by the Holy Spirit every moment every day? Me neither. So, what will you do to pursue each of those?

What translates?

I spent the week of March 15 - 21 speaking through a translator. Always an interesting experience. I am grateful for Jocelyn and Gregorio who shared translation responsibilities during my time in Belize.

I was assigned to do our group's devotion time Tuesday morning of the trip. I went to Belize with it all planned, but during the first few days God changed those plans. I was journaling the things I felt could be learned and taken home by all of us (the things that translate) and the things we could not take home (things that would not translate.

These were my thoughts as I shared with the team:

Things that would NOT translate:
1. The heat. It was hot and humid. We flew back to Nashville where the temperatures were in the mid 40's
2. The language. The villages in which we were working spoke Spanish as their primary language.
3. The pace of life. Belizeans simply do life at a different pace. No watches necessary!
4. The advantage of being American. Belizeans would show up sometimes just because the Americans were going to be there. Kids would run to the van before we would get stopped.
5. The value of the US dollar vs. the Belizean dollar. One US dollar equals two Belizean dollars. BUT the price of gas was $5.00 (US) / gallon even with the exchange.

Things that SHOULD or DO translate:
1. We were surrounded by lost people. Just like we are in the US.
2. Sensitivity to lost people. When on a mission trip, it just seems we are more sensitive to the fact the people are lost. We should translate this into our everyday lives in the US.
3. Boldness to share. We (me included) seem to be more bold about sharing our faith with people we don't know in another country. That just should not be the case.
4. Seemingly everyone has a need. It is easy to see the needs in a place of poverty like Belize. So we feel compelled to help. Fact is, everybody is hurting somewhere in their lives even in the US. The difference is, we can mask our needs because of our financial means. But if we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading, we will see below the surface and find most people around us would also be open to our ministry here.
5. The Mission. Our mission does not change from foreign soil to the house around the corner. We are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

We saw at least 15 come to Christ in a week in Belize. This is by my account of hearing the testimonies of those that made the trip. The number could be higher. I fully believe if we were as sensitive to the Holy Spirit, focused on the mission, and bold in sharing our faith, we could see those kind of numbers every week right where we live. The math is really impressive. Twenty four people focused on the mission for 7 days equals 15 (approx.) coming to Christ. What would happen if the 1300 - 1400 that gather every week at ClearView were just as focused and just as bold? Are you looking for the red apples (see post Evangelism Strategy 2)?

Belize Pictures

I promised pictures of the Belize mission trip. Thanks to Dan Ferrell and Rick Barnett you can view them here and here.