Pass It On

Reposting this tonight, because I'm writing a paper for class about the most influential teacher I've ever had. Dr Kathryn Futral was that teacher for me. My prayer is that I would be that for someone else. -DW
If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching.8 If your gift is to encourage others, do it! Romans 12:7-8 (NLT)

How many people have you met in your lifetime? You probably can't count that high. Okay, how many can you say made a real difference? Chances are, out of a list of the top ten, there will be a teacher in there somewhere. Think back - who would you choose?

You'd probably not choose someone who laughed at you while scrawling an "F" on your essay. But that's exactly why I'd put Dr. Catherine Futral high on my list of women who've affected my life.

After a long time away, I had returned to Mercer University in Macon, GA to finish my undergraduate degree. I was majoring in business, because that's what my company would pay for, and was checking off the squares of required courses when I ran head on into Dr. Futral. A fixture for years at Tift College in Forsyth, she was teaching in the evening college after Mercer had absorbed her beloved campus. My goal was to get all my English courses out of the way as quickly and as easily as possible. Her goal seemed to be the destruction of the ecosystem by flooding the world with red ink.

To give you a mental picture of her wouldn't be hard. Think English teacher. That was harsh. Okay, think English teacher with a great smile and eyes that twinkled as she explained just how miserable she would be making our lives for the next 12 weeks.

She was a woman of grace, peppering her lectures with humor, and her comments on our work with wit. A committed Christian, and member of First Baptist Church of Forsyth, she'd often bring her faith experiences into her lectures. She'd quote Shakespeare, Faulkner, and the Psalms all in the same example of how to write a compelling paragraph. But when she evaluated your work - well, you'd better be ready to hear the truth.

I'll never forget one paper I wrote which received this comment: "Until the very last line of this paper, I felt that it was one of the best I had read. However, your thoughtless comma splice in the last phrase ruined it for me - and you." Beside that snippet she inscribed a large red "F".

Can I call that the gift of encouragement?

It was for me. My mission from that point on was to make Dr. Futral see the error of her ways. She kept trying to change my style, wanting me to use less punctuation - create shorter sentences - eliminate the passive voice. At one point, I ran a paper through a grammar checker program (new technology at the time) and handed it in. Her comment? "This isn't your work." "Oh yes it is," I replied, "and it's perfect." "It may very well be perfect as far as grammar is concerned," she shot back," but it is perfectly awful prose." You've never seen a smile leave anyone's face as fast as mine did. "You can do better," she said now smiling as she handed it back to me, "write it like David this time - from the heart."

Maybe she was from another time, when teaching was less a career and more a calling. All I know is that she gave her best and expected ours. I think of her often and thank God for her. In a sense I'm still writing partly for Dr. Futral. She believed in me. Every time I write I remember, "from the heart."

Do you remember someone who encouraged you along the way? Someone who helped you become the person you wanted to be?

Let them know it. They gave you their gift - pass it on.

Grace!

David Wilson

Way Over My Head

And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. 9 My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Gal 3:8-9 (MSG)

Like Paul, I know I am in way over my head. But I also know that God loves me and has chosen me to do this work of telling His story. So I watch and listen.

I was rearranging my office thursday and picked up a wooden plaque dated 1981. On it rested a hand print of one Adam Wilson, my first born son. It was so small. The writing on the plaque was some of that sentimental stuff about looking back at kids when they grow up. Uh yeah. Wouldn't want to do that. I'd be one of those saps, huh.

When Adam came into this world, I had no clue what being his daddy would mean. I wasn't just in over my head, I was clueless. All I could do is look at him and wonder what in the world am I supposed to do now?

I thought back to a baby lying in a yellow inflatable "tub" so we could bathe him. To a little boy who followed his daddy around. To a young man who I played basketball with. Then I thought about times when we worried over him - when he was sick, when those first days of school came, when we left to come down here and he didn't come with us. There were times of great joy - he was an awesome boy, and there have been times of sadness. Yet he has grown up and is a man anyone would be proud to call his son.

Yes, looking at that hand print made me think of God's grace - His love, and His mercy.

For through it all, even before Adam was born, God knew him, and He knew Bunny and me. We'll never know the extent of how God blessed us with His providential care. A lot of things could have gone wrong. An awful lot of things went right. In that boy, now a man, I got to watch God's work and have a part in it.

"And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ."

Well, sometimes they aren't over your head. I've got a hand print on a plaque to prove it.

Buttons and believers

One of those things you find out about after it happens and can see God's hands all over it.

The girls here at New Hope are learning to sew on Wednesday nights. Kinda cool that they'd acquire such an ancient skill, huh. :) Last week they were learning how to sew on buttons and they wound up doing that on two pieces of cloth that Bunny's going to send to the two girls our family sponsors through Compassion. Sean sponsors Ribka, a little girl in Ethiopia, and Bunny and I sponsor "Mookie", who lives in Rwanda.

So the work of little hands will soon be in... little hands. I love the idea of the hands of little girls here in Valparaiso Florida will be held by other little hands in Africa. Buttons and believers.

When Bunny and Sean were sitting in church Sunday, she told him about it and Sean sewed a button on too. Sponsoring Ribka in Ethiopia is something he did on his own. His mom and dad are very proud of the way he has found his own walk with Jesus. I pray the Holy Spirit delivers more than just fabric, thread and buttons to those two little girls. I pray He helps them find their way with Jesus too.

Everything we're doing at New Hope ought to be aimed at the same goal.

Getting What They Deserve

From It's Like Herding Cats - A pastor's life

One of the pieces of information I've picked up in my recent foray into public education is the disturbing realization that some of the same ills that plague the church are also found in the halls of education. For example, I have found that they "we never did it that way before" cult lives within education as well. And it is just as unwelcome and just as harmful to the goal of education as it is in the church.

We were discussing classroom assessments (tests, projects, quizzes, etc.) in class on Saturday. Our teacher, who works with kids in Panama City who are having difficulty learning to read, was telling us about one kid, we'll call him Charles, whose mother is a gang member. Charles doesn't come to school all the time, and has trouble staying motivated. So the teacher and Charles have worked out a system for assisting Charles. If he comes to school and stays engaged, he gets a coke. Sounds simple.

Well, the only coke machine is in the teacher's lounge and when Charles went there last Friday, a teacher shooed him out despite his insistence that his teacher told him to go there. When confronted, the teacher said "we never let children into the lounge." Didn't matter that Charles' attendance had tripled. Didn't matter that another teacher sent him. WE NEVER DID THAT BEFORE!

Later in the same class, the teacher was sharing how she handled homework with a group of kids like hers. She uses homework to see what the kids are learning - to help her help them. The district wants her to count homework in their grades. But because the kids don't come every day, and don't do their homework sometimes even when they come, the resulting zeros would doom any chance they have of passing the class. So the teacher simply uses what they do to see how to adjust her teaching, and then uses the tests to determine their grade.

A woman in my class who is a long time substitute teacher (and who I'm glad my kids never had) was irate with that idea. "But you are breaking the RULES. If the kids can't be troubled to do the homework, what are you teaching them?"

Our teacher said, "We had a test over the chapter Friday, and everyone made a "B" or better and Charles made a 92. It was cokes for everybody."

Then she said, "You have to decide whether you really want this kids to learn, or you would rather them fail as long as they did it YOUR WAY."

It got real quiet.

And I wondered... How many Christians would rather see someone go to hell rather than experience the love of God through Christ Jesus in Salvation simply because "We never did it that way before"?

How many of us secretly root for people who are far from God and caught in sin - to stay there, because by doing so they confirm what we believe about them?

I am sick of it. Sick of people who are graceless zombies. Sick of folks who take some perverse pleasure in pointing out other people's failures. Sick of it.

If you can't love your brother who you can see, how will you love the Father who you can't see?

Listen, if we all -you, me - got what we DESERVE - we'd be toast.

If you can't embrace grace - then at least get out of the way.

Dear 98.170.219.187

From It's Like Herding Cats - A Pastor's Life

98.170.219.187, you've come to my blog 6 times today. You came 5 times yesterday. You live in Niceville, have a Mac with Safari and a PC running Internet Explorer and Vista and are connected to the internet through Cox communications.

I must be one interesting character. :) Life's kind of busy for me right now so I haven't been able to blog as much as I was, and I really need to get better at letting people know what's going on with my family and with our spiritual family here at New Hope.

New Hope is a unique group of people who are really working sacrificially to make a difference here and around the world. We're small, but we're believing in a large God who can do more than we could ever ask or imagine. We figure that no one would have a problem believing a mega church would do big things, but if we see big things happen - it had to have been God.

If you are interested in walking with a group of people who love God and each other, you should come check us out.

Please feel free to email and ask any questions you might have.

Sincerely,

192.168.7.17

Every now and then...

I posted this yesterday on Facebook: "If I were to write about the burdens of the preacher as I have experienced them and as I know them," declared Martin Luther, "I would scare everybody off."

And it's true. If I hear one more person talk about how preachers need to get a "real job" I may scream. After being with people dying and trying to offer comfort, counseling with people at the end of their rope and on the edge of losing it all, making decisions on how to best reach people in a way to change their eternal destiny, and yes, confronting people with the real consequences of their actions - if that's not real...

But you need to hear about the flip side too, about those moments of surpassing joy that make it all worthwhile.

- Like seeing Gracie on percussion last Sunday morning. Gracie's a wee lassie and is always full of life. She wanted to help the praise team on Wednesday night, so Pam gave her the "egg" which is a small percussion instrument. Well Sunday Gracie was giving it everything she had - on beat most of the time. :)

- Or when I was cooking supper last week and Caleb asked if he could help cook. I said "sure" and he got busy. Soon Devon wanted to know what he could do, and before it was over 5 of the boys from the neighborhood were helping the pastor cook supper.

- Or looking out over the congregation and seeing Robert and his kids there. He's had a tough road back but he's done it with honor and his kids (and his parents) are absolutely loving having their son in worship and serving the church that prayed him through hard times and is rejoicing with him now.

- Or sitting in quiet office and marveling at the enormity of God's grace. That Jesus would drop down into the sewer of humanity and not just throw us a rope, not just jump in and rescue us, but that we'd be able to read this...

Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! 1 John 3:1 (HCSB)

That "prince of preachers" Charles Spurgeon read that and wrote:

"Behold!" ye angels! stop, ye seraphs! here is a thing more wonderful than heaven with its walls of jasper. Behold, universe! open thine eyes, O world. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."

If we only realized that what we have and what we have been called to do was the stuff angels only dream of...

Every now and then we need to be reminded that we are what God says we are.

In Pursuit... of God

Began a teacher certification program a few weeks ago at Gulf Coast Community College. It's a program for people who did not originally plan to be teaching and got their bachelors degrees in other disciplines. The Educator Preparation Institute is a Florida Department of Education program, administered by a few colleges and universities within Florida. The basic premise is to give those within it the tools to teach in 6 months. This does not include the other prerequisites of passing the state mandated tests for General Knowledge, Professional Knowledge, and Subject Area(s), but does include some student teaching practicum.

Did I mention it's only 6 months long?

It's a compressed program, and Lord have mercy, it's demanding.

Second week's work product includes:
228 pages of reading and viewing of three videos
Three quizzes over the reading
Two Critical Reviews that you must post into a discussion forum and defend
The writing of a Personal Philosophy of Education
The writing of Student Learning Objectives and Essential Questions for a Unit Plan begun last week
The beginning of an Instructional Notebook on Reading - 10 pages tied to Sunshine State Standards in Phonics and Phoneme work.

The estimate was that the three courses would consume anywhere from 18 to 30 hours each week.

Yep

Burning the midnight oil, we are

But all of that comes after the work God has given me as a pastor.

There's no doubt in my mind that teaching is an awesome way to touch a community and to serve God through your work. I've known too many teachers that were as called to their work as I am to mine as a pastor. They made a difference in my life, and the ones I know now - Diane Weech and Amy Anderson - are true servants of the Lord and are teaching out of their love for Him and His children. I hope to one day be their colleague.

But I am honored to be their pastor. It's what God has called me to invest the rest of my life doing.

Friends, the church/society landscape is changing. Fewer people, particularly in younger generations, have any exposure to Christians or church at all. The mega churches continue to do well, but smaller churches are struggling to stay relevant and alive. So we're going to see if a different model of ministry that uses people working outside the church and also working in the church won't provide more ministry and more resources for the Kingdom.

Ideally we'd get to the point where with that model, at least HALF the money God entrusts to us through tithes and offerings goes OUT of here into spreading the gospel and caring for our neighbors here and around the world. We'd have an entire staff of "tent-makers" just like that 1st century radical named Paul. And we'd have more contacts with more people in the community and outside the church than ever before. Living life with people and loving them makes opportunities to share Jesus increase exponentially.

Other churches may choose a different path - bigger buildings, more programs, more professionals and use that to attract people to them. No doubt it works.

It's not who we are.

New Hope is raw... organic... authentic.

And we think that's what God wants us to be. So pray for the pastor with new challenges and new opportunities ahead. And pray for the church he loves to serve.

In A Quiet Sanctuary

I'm praying now in a silent sanctuary here at New Hope. Praying that God's Son will be lifted up so that everyone can see how good He is, and how a life in Him can be more than anyone ever dreamed. It's rare for me to have this time on Sunday morning, and I cherish it. I look out over the seats and remembering who sits where (we're Baptists after all:) ) I say a prayer for each person, couple, or family by name. Some won't be here today. One couple is sick, and another is away. Others may not come today.

But they will be prayed for.

And I pray for me. The responsibility of bringing the Word of God to people is terrifying. The fear of saying the wrong thing and sending someone in the wrong direction pops up now and then. You never finish preparing a sermon, or finish preparing the person who delivers it. I'm praying that I get out of God's way and allow the Holy Spirit full use of whatever I have to offer.

Pray for me. Pray for us at New Hope. Pray for churches and pastors today who carry the good news of Jesus to people who need His saving grace.

How Much Is A Church Worth?

Seriously.

It's Wednesday night and I'm tired, my throat's scratchy, and I'm on the ragged edge of crabbiness. Studied for school, studied for church, bought food for church supper, cooked supper, cleaned up the cooking dishes, went over to praise team practice, from there to prayer and Bible study. Came home and replayed the day.

Around me tonight were other people who probably had tougher days than I had.

And yet, they were there, serving kids and youth, helping them find their way, helping them find THE WAY.

What's that worth?

Frankly?

More than most people are willing to give.

Outsiders and Insiders

Having started another educational program recently at a local community college, it's taking me a wee bit of time and a lot more effort than I thought it would to get onboard. Thinking back, I realized that for the last 20 years of my life, I've been in school as much as I have been out of it, pursuing one degree or another. Each and every one has helped me grow as a person and as a pastor. But each of them has it's own barriers and "hoops" to jump through.

This particular program to certify teachers has a language all it's own that has to be learned in order to make any progress whatsoever in learning the skills you need. Here's just a sample of the terms I've learned in two weeks.

formative assessment
summative assessment
student learning objective (SLO)
Florida Educator Accomplished Practices
rubric
artifact
and many, many more.

I'm an outsider in the sense that if I don't know the terms used in educational textbooks and lectures, I cannot get to the truth of what they are telling me. Sure I can hear the words, but the meaning doesn't transfer just because I know them. I have to be able to use them correctly and in the proper context.

I totally get that.

Here at the church, we have a language too. Oh we are better at unpacking it than we used to be, but there are still times when I look out at the congregation after delivering some information and see a "huh?" expression on some people's faces. Anyone who teaches has to realize that people don't need any more barriers than they came in with. If the threshold is artificially high because of the language, then make the call - is the language worth it? Or is the truth so important that whatever we need to do to convey it - we should.

I vote for change. I vote to let people hear the compelling and convicting words of Jesus in a way that they can "hear" them. I vote to do everything we can to make sure that people hear those words as "good news" and that they hear them in time to make a difference.

What about you?

Here Am I, Send Me

Getting ready for tomorrow's worship by spending some time praying for my friends who are also pastors. I've been fortunate to establish relationships with men all over the world who have followed Jesus into this role. For the last 20 years of my life, I've given Jesus control of where I lived and what I did with my life. It wasn't something I was looking for, or even something I ever had wanted to do. But once I heard God clearly asking for someone to serve, I answered much like Isaiah did.

The last few years have been spent among people who understand "calling." Our area is filled with men and women who heard their country call and they responded "here I am, send me." There's no way I can ever know of the range of experiences they have had serving our country all over the world, in peacetime and at war. On the other hand, they would have the same limitation in trying to grasp what my family has encountered.

Here's where we meet though - we answered the call. No one really can understand what that will mean.

I was looking at some pictures recently of Jonathan Vandivere's EOD school graduation. I went back to look at them, because word had come to me that one of his instructors had been grievously maimed by an IED. Not too many weeks prior, another former instructor had been killed. I wanted to go back and see if the Gunny was in that picture. I wanted to look at him as he was that day - so confident, so rugged, so much a Marine. Being there that day, among those men and women, was an honor for me. They didn't just volunteer for duty in the armed services, which only 1% of Americans will ever do. They volunteered for EOD work, serving their fellow servicemen and women by putting their lives at risk. The Gunny knew that, and he said "Here am I, send me." That's a hero.

One of my friends in the ministry serves in an area of this country that's been especially hard hit by the recession. Unemployment is well over 20% there, and with jobs being scarce, money is tight. He spent years training for his role as pastor. He stepped forward to go to a smaller church when others wouldn't have gone. He and his wife and ten children live in a home provided by the church. He didn't get a paycheck this week. A part-time job is helping some, and family is too. Looking in from here, he's done everything he can do, and yet his family's welfare is at risk... because he said "here I am, send me." He's a hero of mine too.

Friend, if you're reading this, you need to know that there are people all around you who have stepped up and decided to spend their life for something far greater than just making a living. They weren't willing to look the other way when the need was shown to them.

What about you?

There's a world of opportunities to make a difference with your life. If a smaller church like New Hope has quite a few, imagine what your church might have - what your community might have.

Don't waste the time God gives you by simply making it through the day. Be a difference-maker. Answer the call.

Priceless

I was cooking this afternoon and smiling thinking about the kids at New Hope tonight who make me feel like Bobby Flay at Wednesday night suppers. Tonight's menu was chili and grilled cheese sandwiches. Haute cuisine. :) When I rolled up in the parking lot they were already there. I literally didn't get the chili out of the back of the Element before I got the first "wow that smells good." Friends, I am not a cook.

But they make me wish I was.

If only I could make people understand what life in a smaller church like ours is. Notice I didn't write "is like" because there's nothing like it.

We've been praying and working as a church to navigate through a financial crunch. The adults here and others in our extended church family have given to help us weather the storm. It's been amazing to see what God has done.

But tonight, John Anderson told the RA boys,kids from the neighborhood - rough boys that "good people" wouldn't want their kids to associate with. Whatever.

Those boys heard John talk about the church's need, they prayed, and then they emptied their pockets.

Every dime they had - THEY GAVE.

Enjoy your multi-million dollar edifices.

We're doing CHURCH over here, from the 80 year old to the 8 year old.

And that's priceless.

At the Feet of the Disciple Who Jesus Loved

7 My dear friends, I'm not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you've known it from day one. It's always been implicit in the Message you've heard. 8 On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
9 Anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. 10 It's the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God's light and doesn't block the light from others. 11 But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.
1 John 2:7-11 (MSG)

We're walking through John's little letters on Wednesday nights in small group Bible study, and I wonder if anyone will be tripped up by this. The word love here is "agape" which is a steady directed will to do right by another regardless of the personal cost. It's not a "feeling." And yet how many times have we heard about how our feelings are what matters? John is not commanding anyone to feel a certain way about others. He's saying you must, if you are a follower of Jesus, ACT a certain way toward them.

Think about it this way:

When we act properly toward of Christian brothers out of a desire to be obedient to God, we love them.

I'm smiling right now thinking about all the times when Bunny would call the boys together after they were squabbling with each other. She'd have them hug each other and repeat "Adam (or Sean) you are my brother, and I love you very much." Was it forced? Oh yeah. But every single time they would somehow realize in that moment just how special it was to have a brother. They'd usually wind up laughing.

You have, I have people who you don't like. Maybe they've hurt you or hurt someone or something you love. You don't have to like that. You don't have to like them. But John is saying that if you love God, really love Him, you will act in love to them. Over time, I think you'll find yourself more able to love them naturally.

Who said this was easy? :)

A Garden Or A Place Of Testing?

This is the garden of Gethsemane. Olive trees thousands of years old frame a place of surpassing beauty, against which was placed the rawness of Jesus' struggle between His humanity and His calling.

I can't relate to the agony he suffered. Literally sweating drops of blood, a condition called hematohidrosis, Jesus was pushed to the edge and remained His Father's Son, saying "not my will, but yours." He knew the weight of the sins of the world would soon rest upon Him. He did not fail the test.

It's hard right now for me. Those of you who have arrived here by searching for "a pastor's life" or "life of a pastor" need to know that while many times the life of a pastor is suffused with joy, there are times,like this one, that try men's souls, to borrow a phrase. When it happens, you have to double down on those things that feed your faith and minimize those that don't. Sounds simple. But life is filled with complexity today and trying to practice those spiritual disciplines can be exceedingly difficult.

And yet without them, without a focus on opening your heart and mind to the grace of God, you become less - less compassionate, less loving, less forgiving... less.

So I kneel tonight in the garden, asking my Father for His strength in this challenging time. Pray for me.

Who'll Be Jesus To Them?

Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 1:27 (HCSB)

I'm writing out of frustration today. Be forewarned.

Last week's bombshell from the NYC health department exposing the number of abortions is haunting me. I cannot get a grip on how almost half of the women in the Bronx decide that their baby is disposable. I just cannot. Then I read about the 44 million orphans worldwide, who have been allowed to be born but have no families and I begin to wonder if Christians actually READ their Bibles.

New Hope, in it's smallness, does care for orphans. We have several families that sponsor children through World Vision or Compassion International. We have a class that sponsors the work of Amazima Ministries in Uganda as well as individuals doing so. We raise thousands every year out of a congregation of people that don't have a lot of money to provide water, medicine, housing and schools for orphans. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, person for person, we do a lot for a church our size - for a church any size.

And yet, there's such an overwhelming need. The church in America needs to lead people to value life as sacred. It needs to help those mothers in NYC to see that the life they carry within them is a gift from God. Even if their circumstances are such that they cannot keep the baby, the church needs to move heaven and earth to help bring that which God created into this life and care for them. Too many churches are focused on the next 3D program or the next super colossal building for their youth when babies and children are dying each day. It's a sin. yes, I said that.

We have some people here dreaming of building an orphanage in Africa. And events along the way keep happening to direct our attention that way in prayer. You could call them coincidences, but it's funny how when you pray for God's direction out of hearts already trained by the Holy Spirit to love what God loves... how those coincidences keep occurring.

It is COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE in New Hope's strength, power or resources. No way.

And yet, nothing is impossible with God.

We may have to give up some things that we have now to do it. Could be we sell our buildings here and rent a school to meet in. Could be the pastor goes bivocational to help. Could be God finds a way to provide for it that none of us even have dreamed of. But friends, if we cannot love the orphan as God does, we are going to fall short of what He wants us to do and to be.

Will you pray with me about what God would have you do, have your church do about orphans?
Will you give part of what God has blessed you with to save their lives?
Would you join with those of us who dare to dream impossible dreams to see lives saved and transformed by the love of God?

Sunday Recap - 1/9/11

Wow it's cold!

Had a great morning at New Hope even though some of our folks were out sick. One of the real blessings in this New Hope family is the way we pull together to get the job done. Well that was the case again today.

We picked a worship set today that included some songs that would warm anyone's heart.
Today is the Day
Everlasting God
God of This City
I Have Decided

The sermon focused on how we are to handle times of trial - and handle fear, and came from Psalm 142.



In the text, David has followed God and yet finds himself in a bad way. He complains to God. It's raw emotional angst, and I love that the Bible shows us all of the lives of the saints - not just the good times. David takes his case to God and leaves it there, showing his confidence in God's knowledge of his situation and faith in God's provision.

When David got up the next morning, he was still in a cave.

But he knew what we need to know.

God IS FOR US.

Jesus Wept

The murder capital of the world.

What comes to mind when you hear that?

Baghdad? Kabul? Mumbai?

What if I told you that it's New York City?

Read today that 41% of all New York City pregnancies end in an abortion.

The new city numbers, from 2009, show 87,273 abortions in New York City two years ago — numbers that are higher than the abortion figures of every state except California. If miscarriages are taken out of the equation, 48 percent of pregnancies of women in the Bronx end in abortion, 38 percent of Manhattan women opt for an abortion, as do 32 percent of women living on Staten Island.

I keep reading that article and rereading it. The enormity of this just breaks my heart. This is not happening in a third world country without access to contraception and medical care. New York, like so many communities, has a law that allows parents to drop off children at a firehouse or police house without penalty. The city and the state offer (at great cost to the taxpayer) a web of welfare help.

And yet, 87,273 babies were not allowed to be born.

"Safe, legal, and rare" was the trite phrase those who were for "abortion rights" used to attempt to claw up to some semblance of moral high ground.

Can we agree that having the city of New York be the scene of 87,273 abortions is a national tragedy?

Jesus is weeping.

So am I.

Can't Wait For Sunday To Get Here

Working on the "meat" in Sunday's sermon that focuses on where to put your fears in a time of change. Psalm 142 is such a great text. I love the "rawness" of David's psalms. Then put it in the "Message" version and you can almost feel the darkness and gloom of the cave David was in when he wrote it.

Two quick thoughts - you'll have to come Sunday for the whole enchilada...

Loud cries to the right person work best. We complain too often and to the wrong people.
Knowing yourself, your enemies, and where your hope lies is pure wisdom. That puts everything in perspective which is - you need God.

Lots more Sunday. :)

1 A David prayer—when he was in the cave.


I cry out loudly to God,

loudly I plead with God for mercy.

2 I spill out all my complaints before him,

and spell out my troubles in detail:

3 "As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away,

you know how I'm feeling,

Know the danger I'm in,

the traps hidden in my path.

4 Look right, look left—

there's not a soul who cares what happens!

I'm up against it, with no exit—

bereft, left alone.

5 I cry out, God, call out:

'You're my last chance, my only hope for life!'

6 Oh listen, please listen;

I've never been this low.

Rescue me from those who are hunting me down;

I'm no match for them.

7 Get me out of this dungeon

so I can thank you in public.

Your people will form a circle around me

and you'll bring me showers of blessing!"
Psalms 142:1-7 (MSG)

By faith, by faith, by faith...

Early on in the adventure called "following God's call", I was fortunate to be invited to preach in various churches around the Macon area. Usually I was standing in for the pastor who was away,or even more likely one of a parade of "pulpit supply" preachers. When a small church loses its pastor, many times two committees are formed - a pastor search committee and a pulpit supply committee. The first is thinking long term, and the second is focused on finding someone for each week.

My experiences and venues varied wildly during that time.

So did my preaching.

My first attempt, which I had practiced for over and over again and honed to 22 minutes of brilliance, delivered a stunningly succinct 10 minute message. What the congregation didn't know was that the original 22 minute message had actually been combined with another to make it to the ten minute mark. The funny thing was that I made it back to our home church (Mt Zion Baptist in Bolingbroke GA) before they got out.You'd think I'd have been invited back simply because of my brevity, but no.

Later, after desperately studying preaching fundamentals and having the benefit of the beginning of my seminary education, I got better. One thing a professor told me really helped a lot. "Preach two or three sermons really well", he said. "You are only there once and they won't know you've preached it before." After thinking about that, and considering the alternative, I decided to do just that. So I had a handfull of sermons that I worked on every week and kept practicing and honing the insight and illustrations. People seemed to respond to them. Well, most people. My family got a little tired of hearing one in particular.

Hebrews Chapter 11 is an awesome list of some of those God considers as faithful. It's like a "Hall of Fame" for faith. So in my search for sermons people would connect with, the passage was perfect. Here are ordinary people doing extraordinary things because their faith in God was real. Part of the sermon was my stirring repitition of the passages "By faith (insert Biblical heroes name), repeat, and repeat a few more times.

It's not an exaggeration to say that my family, while outwardly supportive, inwardly GROANED when that began, and gave me fits about it on the long rides back home. I think one even said she'd throw a hymnal at me if I ever did it again. Now to be clear, she didn't have a problem with faith - just the repetitious way I was preaching about it.

You've got to have faith.

As a pastor and as a family, we have to live by faith.

Faith in God, and faith in the group of people that God has placed us within.

We all repeat that here. Often. No groaning accompanies it. Must have been the preaching.

Sunday Recap - January 2, 2011

Beginning the New Year is always interesting. Some years you get the benefit of people deciding that "this year I am going to attend church more." Other years you have people spread out all over the country and on their way home. This year I think we had both. It was good to see some people where were with us after a hiatus and I know some people who were still gone.

The theme for the first few weeks is dealing with change and I chose to look at the life of Abram for insight. He was certainly tested by the change that occurred when God called him to "go to a place that I will show you). Personally, God decided He'd test me Sunday by having me teach the older youth class and then come over for worship and find that the projector had given up the ghost. So our modern church had to go back to the hymnal for a Sunday. Bunny, Kristen, and Brittany did a great job adjusting and leading us in worship. I helped, but after was told that there was a very scant relationship between my arm signals leading the congregation and the actual music. All I will say is... probably a good call. :)

So our retro music was: O Worship the King, Tis So Sweet, and It Is Well With My Soul. The invitation hymn was "Jesus Paid It All."



What was funny about the morning was that the one preaching about change and call was the one who wound up doing major adjustments. Not having the powerpoint meant I was working off those notes I never use and it did bother me to a certain extent. But looking out at the congregation I could see times when the Holy Spirit was delivering what he wanted heard. What an amazing thing to be a part of God's work - a "pencil in His hand" as Mother Teresa once said.

Sunday night we met to discuss some items of critical importance to our church going forward. The response once the church family learned of the need for action was heart warming. New Hope is a special group of people who love God and work to bring Him glory through loving others. Very thankful to be placed here as pastor. We're walking by faith through all of what we find ourselves in as a family of believers in Jesus.

If you don't have a church family, out of all those I have known in 37 years of being a Christian, this is the one I'd recommend to anyone. We're not anywhere close to perfect. We don't have many of the bells and whistles the big churches do.

But we know how to love. And that my friends is all you need to know.

At The End of the Day, Or Year

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

There are great challenges ahead in 2011.

2010 was begun in great anticipation on the heels of the best year we had experienced yet at New Hope. And yet from the very first Sunday as the sermon called on people to be willing to change... change happened.

I wrote:

It (the sermon) seemed to have the potential to challenge people to make some changes to adjust to where God was calling them. That was my hope.  Couple of quick notes about that -
The changes may come, but they might be unexpected and have unwanted effects..
And just repeat that for the second note.

After the sermon a couple called me aside and said they were leaving New Hope because we didn't have enough for their children. It was abrupt. I was gracious. But it shocked me and rippled through the church. No one saw it coming. To go from the core to the door... It hurt personally - hurt Bunny a great deal - but it happens.

And yet, all you can do is to say "God bless you, go in peace." As far as I know the move has given them the church they believed they needed. We did all we could do.

Fast forward through all the roller coaster ups and downs of the year.

At the end of the year, another core family has relocated to Texas. Job related, and probably the best move for the family as it keeps the dad home and not deploying to Afghanistan every 6 months. Another couple we loved, and children we cherished as well. They've left a hole.

Churches lose people. Stats say that the average congregation has about a 10% turnover every year and more in "high velocity" areas like military towns. This year we saw that happen plus some.

For 12 years we have grown at New Hope every year. Some years more than others, but we've always grown. Grown numerically. As we close the books today on 2010, we cannot say that any more. Stinks. We did some great things in 2010, reached out, cared for people, grew closer to God. But...

When a congregation grows like a family does, it enjoys the feeling of seeing it. Everyone wants to know that they're involved in a place God is at work, and numerical growth is easy to spot. "Nickels and noses" are definitely two indicators. But there are others.

I am praying...
I am praying that God sends people to New Hope who need a new life and a new family.
I am praying that God's people at New Hope get their second wind in 2012 and see God be glorified through New Hope.


And I'll pray that I might know the truth of that old hymn and live as one redeemed. Looking back over the year, I cannot say I did not sin. But I can say I tried every day to follow Jesus and love His church and His people. And at the end of the day, or the year..

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

May your New Year be a blessed one. Come see us at New Hope!

As We Close A Hard Year

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."
— Anne Lamott

Chew On This A While

Following the Supreme Court's ruling on school desegregation, Clarence Jordan got into serious trouble with racists and members of the Ku Klux Klan when he tried to assist two African-American students in their application to a formerly segregated business college. This led to shooting, bombings, and vandalism against the Koinonia Farm. But Jordan steadfastly refused to leave. He spoke of these adversaries as people "with their personalities twisted and warped by prejudice and hate . . . If there is any balm in Gilead; if there is any healing in God's wings; if there is any hope — shall we go off and leave people without hope? We have too many enemies to leave them. The redemptive love of God must somehow break through. If it costs us our lives, if we must be hung on the cross to redeem our brothers and sisters in the flesh, so let it be. It will be well worth it. To move away would be to deny the redemptive process of God."

What's your initial response to pain and suffering?

It's not what you just read, is it?

When people hurt us, when trials and suffering comes, we tend to turn away - to cut people off.

And yet Jordan's words track with what I've learned over the years - "Hurt people... hurt people."

Was eating lunch with a good friend yesterday who has known me for many years now. He brought up an incident many years ago at New Hope where an acerbic member came to the church one burning hot Saturday afternoon and found me cutting the grass. She then proceeded to tell me I was doing it wrong.

I can laugh at it now, but at the time it was just another sniper's bullet in the war that was raging between me and a group who opposed changes I believed God would have us make as a church to reach more people who were far from God. That was a tough period of time. Some very hurtful actions and words were thrown at me and even my wife.

I confess I didn't practice what Clarence Jordan did. I moved away and minimized my contact with her and those engaged in the war. Forgiveness is something I have learned to give people who hurt me, but opportunities to hurt again?

Not so much.

A work in progress,I am.

What about you? Are you able to stand in the place of pain and be God's person of peace?

Pray with me for grace sufficient to be who Jesus wants us to be.

The Best Christmas

Sitting here today thinking about all the blessings of this Christmas. I read today one writer's opinion that everyone's best Christmas happens at the age of 10, and it's downhill from there. I guess that depends on your point of view.

From where I'm sitting, I wish people who thought that could have seen the joy in the eyes of a little girl when Bunny and I (like several other people at New Hope did for others) delivered Christmas dinner and some toys to her house last Sunday. Her mom cried, we cried, and Bunny got a huge hug from the little girl.

There's no way a ten year old would understand what the items Bunny and I delivered to Shelter House Friday would mean to the women and kids served by that group. Some of the Child2Child girls that led us in that collection and made the Christmas stockings that the women raved over might be tickled to realize just how much they helped, but they couldn't grasp what it meant, and that's the real joy in the giving to "the least of these."

I don't think a ten year old would have appreciated how awesome it was after our incredible Christmas Eve worship to go with some other New Hope folks and surprise a young woman who had to work as a waitress on Christmas Eve. We ate, laughed, and loved each other around the diner table.

And I'm not sure a ten year old would have been nearly as excited as our friend Allan was tonight when he showed up at the front door (dripping wet from the rain), and we gave him his Christmas presents - a new Bible (with a cool cover that included a compass) and a Hershey Bar. As I drove Allan home, he kept saying how happy he was to have such good friends.

You know, I cannot remember the Christmas when I was ten. But I'll remember this one.

I'm thinking it has something to do with giving. You know, I hear someone once said that was the more blessed way not just to celebrate, but to live.

Merry Christmas everyone.

What we see that the shepherds couldn't

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen.
We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created.
For everything,
absolutely everything,
above and below,
visible and invisible,
rank after rank after rank of angels
-everything got started in him
and
finds its purpose in him.
He was there
before any of it came into existence
and
holds it all together
right up to this moment.

Colossians 1:15-17
The Message

Mary held her son. The shepherds saw it and rejoiced at Messiah's coming.

What they couldn't see is what we know - He holds it all.

And we are held in love, by Him.

Merry Christmas from all the Wilson family.

Sunday Recap 12/19/10 - There's Something About Mary

The Sunday before Christmas and all through the house... okay, couldn't resist it. But there was a great Spirit present at New Hope yesterday. From the initial gathering of people in the fellowship hall for donuts and coffee, through Bible study and into worship, this was a group of people who wanted to spend time together with God and their friends - their family. It's tangible. I LOVE IT!

We keep the worship casual and well known at Christmas, choosing to do carols almost exclusively. One of the things we've learned out of that is that less young people know the carols every year. Pretty sad, really. But without singing them at home or at school, and only singing them a couple times each year at church, it does really constrict our worship. There's nothing like hearing a congregation sing - really sing. So this week we went with:

Joy To the World - awesome opening song to focus us on what we are there for

O Come All Ye Faithful - well known, warm

Away in A Manger - sweet but theologically rich

and Amazing Grace

Taking a look at Mary's amazing act of faith seemed to be exactly what we needed to do during this season. This young woman,when confronted with an angel's message, was understandably afraid and confused. Not about whether God could do this - but about what it might mean. Big difference between her reaction and that of Zechariah the priest who asked "How can I be sure...."

What a faith-filled woman! Loved preaching this because each and every follower of Christ could one day be asked to do something extraordinary for God. Will we be ready? We need to decide now.

I closed the message by reading the Magnificant - Mary's gift to her God. It is pure heart-speak. She praises what God has done for her and for her people, even for things that haven't happened yet, because as far as she's concerned, if God has promised it - it's as good as done.

What are you giving God for Christmas?

Sunday Recap December 12th 2010

Sunday was the third Sunday of Advent and of our Advent Conspiracy attempt to refocus our Christmas on what God did through Jesus Christ.

We flipped the switch and sung all Christmas carols which the congregation really seemed to enjoy even if Sean and I on guitar got dizzy from all the chord changes. The praise team really did well and especially the vocalists on "Silent Night" which they sang without instruments as an intro.

The message was rooted in John Chapter 1 and the idea behind it was to show just what Christmas means to the outsider - like all of us were once.

After the service we had our Christmas fellowship meal. Every time the folks at New Hope get together you hear laughter, see hugs here and there, and see people serving unselfishly. I love being a part of that.

Small group that evening was really helpful, I think. People really seemed to open up and share about what was happening in their lives and what New Hope means to them.

Blessing upon blessing.

We Can Do No Great Things

A small group of us here at New Hope have been going through Francis Chan's "The Forgotten God" book the last few weeks. The group has ebbed and flowed like all groups do nowadays, as people have lives to live. We've had so many we ran out of chairs and we've had a few. But every week those of us who gathered gained insight - into the work of the Holy Spirit, and into the hearts of the others in the room. That's why I love small groups in the home.

The book has caused us to wrestle with some pretty big concepts and I think realize one singular thing - that we as individuals and collectively as a church do not live up to our potential because we do not allow the Holy Spirit to lead and to flow into and through us. We say to God in many different ways "I GOT this." But we DON'T.

This past Sunday we talked about some of our fears regarding the future.

And we talked about what we have together - about what we have seen - about what God is showing us.

Reflecting on that the last two days, and praying for a "what's next, Abba?" revelation, a quote from Mother Teresa popped into my mind.

She said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

As I think about New Hope, certain "small things with great love" came out.

• One friend, Frank Weech, drops by another's (Ian Anderson) home with some peppers, because Frank and Ian share a love of HEAT.

• One adult (Bunny) shared how much it meant to her when the girls she works with surrounded her in a hug on Sunday, and how one of them, Kira, told Bunny "I'll be your granddaughter."

• Last night the phone rings and one of our senior saints, Jewel Hughes calls wanting Laura Marston's cell number. Laura's family is moving this week, and Laura and Jewel have been prayer partners. Jewell wanted Laura to have "a little remembrance."

The brick church on the corner here will never be confused with a mega-church. We can't do the mega-things other churches do.

But we can do small things with mega-love.

And we are.

Praying for Those Who Are Limping

"You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp."
— Anne Lamott

Another reason I love Anne Lamott's writing. That's just real life.

Happened again recently- the hurt flooded back and seized my heart for a second. It passes but the hurt still lives in my soul. This season of joy also comes with reminders of who's not with us anymore. Its not just cold outside - there's a chill inside too as you remember what used to be - who used to be here. Was reading recently about some churches holding a "Blue Christmas" service to help people deal with their grief and loss at Christmas. I hope that's helpful. There are so many people suffering with loss even at Christmas - or especially at Christmas.

For me, the best way forward is to acknowledge that there's more ahead - more love, more grace, more hope, more joy. No doubt it'll be different. No way it could replace what's lost.

And yet, our God is good. Staggeringly, extravagantly good. He gives and gives because He is a giver at heart. Sure life takes its toll, but God is enough to meet every need.

With Him, you come through.

And eventually, you do learn to dance with the limp.

What are you GIVING for Christmas?

Don't race by that question or auto-correct it.

I know that "getting" is what we have been trained and train our kids to think of - but is that really the godly way to approach Christmas?

I don't think so, and from what I gather from the Scriptures, neither does Jesus. He was quoted as saying "It is more blessed to give than to receive" as well as other scandalous statements about giving coats away, going extra miles, and opening your home to strangers.

So if you are really, really committed to keeping the "Christ" in Christmas, my suggestion is start right here.

What are you really excited about GIVING this Christmas?

There are so many opportunities.

Toms Shoes gives a pair of shoes to a person in need for every pair you buy.

The Water Project provides clean water to thousands through drilling wells, repairing older ones, and purification. Every item in their store gives someone life giving water.

The Heifer Project gives you a chance to provide a way out of poverty for someone and your giftee gets a card letting them know just what your gift has done in their name.

Christian Flights International is an organization that serves the people of Haiti. New Hope is sponsoring their "Angel Tree" initiative and angel ornaments that were hand painted by the children in Haiti are available for purchase in our lobby.

What are you giving for Christmas?

You Need To Know This

Love Wins!

You need to know that. I need to know that. LOVE WINS!!!!!

I'm sitting here tonight finishing the power-point for tomorrow's sermon and praying.

I'm praying for people.

A dear friend from church who's headed to Georgia tomorrow to help his family get ready for his father's funeral. My pastor friend in New Hampshire who laid the body of his mother to rest this week and doesn't think he has anything to give to his church tomorrow. Another pastor friend who is supposed to leave his church at year's end but doesn't have anywhere to go. The family of another friend who was touched by grief this week. All of those whose loved ones exist now only in memories - this season is hard for all of them.

So I pray.

The friend still without a job. His wife recovering from open heart surgery. Our niece struggling with cancer. The elderly woman who can't make ends meet. Another with a teenager who tests the limits on a regular basis. Families separated because of a war that seemingly will never end. People trapped beneath a mountain of wrong choices. People dealing with chronic pain, with heartache, with loss.

I pray for them, that God would supply all their needs through Christ Jesus. That the author of all compassion and comfort will surround them with His love. That they will see God and know He loves them.

And I pray for New Hope.

We're the church in the neighborhood, with a heart for anyone who comes through our doors. We've seen many people come to faith here, and others deepen in faith here. But we have many needs. Life in a smaller church has been likened to draining the bathtub with a colander. Sure you seem to be busy, but are you making progress? God is sending us more and more children from broken homes, triple-blended families, and hasn't sent the relief workers yet. And some of our people really could use some relief.

And yet we're realizing there are more needs in our community that we ever knew were here, and God is moving within us to act as His hands and feet right here in Valparaiso and our area. We're getting more opportunities to help with other missions while still trying to take care of basic needs. We're sending out families through PCS moves and other life-changes but we haven't received the replacements for them. I know God is in charge of outcomes and everything comes in His will, in His time, but... now would be nice.

So I'm praying. Earnestly, passionately - praying.

But here's the awesome truth - Love Wins.

No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it-
What God has arranged for those who love him. 1 Cor 2:9 The Message

I stepped back in time today.

Attending a funeral in a Baptist church, I heard a choir sing a Southern Gospel song, a pianist play a medley of several more, sang two songs from the Baptist hymnal, and heard a retired pastor bring an expository message that called upon the hearer to be saved.

I loved it.

Right here I pause to let a few of you clean off the screens of your phone, tablet, or laptop. Sorry, I should have warned you.

But I did. I loved it.

The person the funeral honored would have too.

First, he would have noticed I was wearing a suit. That's kind of a big deal for me.

Then he'd have been crazy about the music. He loved hymns and gospel music. The choir assembled from the base chapel sang "Midnight Cry" like they believed Jesus was coming tonight. The congregation sang "It Is Well With My Soul" like they had inside information. Even the mighty organ was contributing its deep bass voice. He'd have liked that

And the retired former pastor sharing from his heart about what his friend lying in rest was all about in genuine love and humor made me thank God for the job God gave him and gave me. Friend, to be asked to "say a few words" at a funeral is an honor, regardless of for whom. But to be able to stand before a congregation and tell them what your friend's life meant - meant to you, meant to his church, meant to his family, meant to God - well I have heard this pastor preach several times, even shared responsibilities at funerals with him a couple times, and he has never been better. He had a pacemaker installed two days ago and when I went up after to tell him what a great job he did, I asked him if he had that pacemaker set on "11."

The fellow who was honored today didn't like the changes in the church. He never connected to contemporary music, liked his pastors in suits and behind pulpits. And yet, the most moving part of the service was the use of the video projector (which he opposed) to show pictures from his life, and the airing of a recording of him singing. At the end of it, we heard his voice asking us to sing along with him, and weakly at first, but then stronger, the congregation did. I've gotta believe he was smiling as we carried his music forward even after he was gone.

Here's the deal. In that context, with a group of people where the non-gray head was the exception, even though the event was a funeral - the focus was on God. On praising Him, on giving thanks to Him, on examining one man's life and how he lived it and why it mattered. It mattered because he gave it to God without reservation. So when that group today was grabbed by the Holy Spirit the whole congregation responded in praise. When the preacher was grabbed by that same Spirit he preached his heart out. It was one of the best funerals I have ever attended and I get to a few in my line of work.

Yep, I went back in time today and I loved it.

With Arms Wide Open

Was just at our local Dollar General and heard one of the employees laughingly say to another "you'd better get ready, Allan's coming." The other replied, "I've already seen him twice today." Here's what was remarkable about that conversation - it was filled with smiles.

Allan's developmentally disabled, has a profound hearing loss, and cannot speak clearly. He's very persistent, and frequently very animated as he tries to interact with people. He has his routines that he likes to go through in conversation. Ours centers around our dogs, our oldest son Adam, having me tell Sean to "get out of my way", and Scooby-Doo. If you ever walk by my office and hear me doing my "Scooby-Doo, where are you - over here", I haven't gone crazy - Allan is with me.

While I was checking out today, I told the clerk who had been laughing about Allan's impending arrival that - yesterday, in 28mile an hour gusts of wind and rain coming down in buckets, Allan showed up on foot at New Hope to bring Bunny a "Get Well Soon" card.

Allan loves Bunny, and wanted her to know that. He never said one word about the weather, all he wanted to know was "Is Bunny feeling better?"

She smiled and said "That's Allan."

I told her that at New Hope, we think Allan's God's appointed messenger to teach us how to love better.

She smiled again and said "I think he does that for us too."

Friends, God is using everything He has to help us learn to love as He does. Our friend Allan is part of that.

Are we?