Archive for the ‘pastors’ Category
You can shine like stars in the universe.
"But I'll never get this project completed!"
"Those potholes are so huge – why doesn't someone fill them?"
"I'll never get these books read."
"I don't care for this music…. it's too loud/soft/fast/slow."
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The litany of complaints never ends. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that what you complain about with words but refuse to take action on will never be resolved.
Instead you stew, you vent, you get red-faced. And in the end you look like a clown: your face is discolored, your actions are animated (looks like you're juggling), and you might even shoot steam out of your ears.
Paul once wrote on the subject to the Christians in Philippi, "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." -Philippians 2:14-16 NIV
I have learned that merely complaining never fixes anything. I used to be a big complainer – to waitstaff, to 800-number customer service reps, to my friends, to family, etc.
I learned that in all those wasted breaths I accomplished nothing – it was as Shakespeare wrote, "sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
Instead of complaining, I choose to make a difference. So where I see injustice – I seek justice. When I am confused I pray for clarity. When I am lost I seek guidance. When I see that something needs to get done – I do it.
Funny thing is – when you become a person of action – you feel healthier because you're doing something about the situation. Others however, get jealous very quickly and say, "What's so special about him?"
The answer is – nothing special. Except for being fed up with being the clown. You can do this – it's easy. Instead of problems focus on solutions.
May you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life!
Linchpin: Seth Godin’s look at art
Seth Godin's Linchpin takes a look at the artist inside of all of us. Nothing short of sparking a revolution in the way we think about our daily lives and work – Godin challenges the reader to become indispensable by engaging our work with passion instead of becoming the dull, monotonous "cogs" in a corporate nightmare.
I'll be completely transparent here: I love Seth Godin's writing/speaking/blog/etc. You may or may not be a fan, but in my view every person who's ever had a dream and not taken the next step (dream to shipping as Godin would say) then you need to run and get this book now. It's a quick read at just under 250 pages and it might just alter your success trajectory for life.
Painting our current grim corporate situation akin to Orwell's dystopian society in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Godin casts a vision for a world where people are paid to do what they are passionate about instead of what they've been trained to do or what they think will generate the most cash for them.
I felt that Godin's perspective was a compromise of Pollan and Levine's Die Broke from several years ago. Pollan and Levine proposed that your job was just a cash-generator, you need not associate yourself or self worth with what you do. Rather jump to the job that pays the most and has the best benefits. Once you've found something better jump, because who you are has little to do with what you do for a living.
Godin, I think, would rather encourage his tribe to jump to something they feel like they are passionate about. He does however make the point that we can find purpose and meaning in our current job – often it is more about our perspective. He strongly encourages the reader to not think of their skills as who they are, because skills can easily be replaced with someone with the same or better skills.
Rather, to become indispensable one must be willing to work within a broken system, not be content with the present, but remain optimistic about the future. Godin tells the reader "we" (meaning all of society) need artists, independent thinkers, and people that realize our primary ability to connect with others is the paramount virtue. Our society has taken the process or system and removed the humanity in an order to provide consistent, cheap, and automated solutions.
In Godin's mind this is the antithesis of progress. The artist creates, gives his gifts away, and goes back to the drawing board to create once again. Sometimes this may be profitable, other times it may be done at a loss, but the end result is art given freely.
Reminds me of another good book by my favorite author, "Freely you have received, freely give."
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2:00 am and driving to a hospital
The pastor that helped me begin to follow Jesus Christ, baptized me, taught me to golf, preached at my ordination and wedding, and mentored me through my early years in ministry died recently from complications with a brain tumor.
Phil embodied to me the calling of a pastor and the desire to pursue God in all things. As I drove home at around 2:45 am this morning from the hospital it was Phil I remembered teaching me about the life of a pastor. He told me to never be surprised when in the middle of the night I’d be called upon to offer comfort, hope, and peace to a family in crisis.
I was reminded of Matthew 18:19-20 as our small group huddled in prayer in the ER, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” NIV
Phil exemplified a simple life of prayer and care as a pastor. It was evident in his prayers and his leadership that he was not an angry man but rather a determined person seeking to walk in the presence of God as he did his best to shine the light of Christ into the dark times of our lives.
Perhaps the most telling thing Phil taught me was by an action where he didn’t say a word. When my grandfather died while I was a teenager at youth camp, Phil drove 6 hours roundtrip to stand in the back of the crowded room in a little Nazarene church. I didn’t see Phil to talk to him that day…his presence spoke volumes.
-Pastor Clark
Bowled over
Wendy, the boys, and I embarked on a new adventure this past Sunday as we were welcomed to our new church home in Edmond at Coffee Creek Baptist Church.
Something more and more rare in ministry, this church took great care of us as we transitioned to their ministry. We were welcomed with a luncheon and honored with an overflowing table of food and other staples for our new home. Stephen and Sam were remembered with fun toys which they immediately tore into.
We greatly appreciate the honor our new church family has given us and how they’ve made every step of the way thus far so extremely pain-free and easy even in the midst of the hustle and bustle of moving with toddlers!
I recall the text in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.” TNIV
We definitely are blessed to have a church family that is living out this philosophy! Thanks for the great welcome Coffee Creek – we’re excited about what God is doing in our midst!
Asking the tough questions
An increasing trend among my fellow pastors on facebook is the collaboration during message preparation. Often I’m the one asking for help with a text or thoughts on an illustration.
This week a friend posted a need for info on the topic of the “uniqueness of Jesus” in the context of faith. I offered my humble and probably insufficient words but as others add to it one has several thoughtful beginning points.
I wonder how many messages could be improved by use of other ideas, research, and viewpoints if we all took time each week to ask the tough questions?
I’ll be honest many times my in-depth study is frustrating as the more I study the more questions I have. Sometimes Sunday creeps up and I’m still mid-struggle and up to my ears in research without a clear victor.
That’s why you’ll hear me offer options and sometimes say, “I don’t know” – because the simple fact is as I approach the interpretive task many times the questions are haunting.
However I don’t see the message as a mountain-top experience – it’s just another step on the journey, another opportunity for us to talk about what it looks like to try to describe the undescribable.
Sometimes in my life I’ve been afraid to ask the tough questions – it seemed easier to just bury my head in the sand and pretend they didn’t exist. I’m sure I could have done much more good by authentically trying to answer those questions – even when the answers might never come.
Clive Staples Lewis once wrote, “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
Are you ready to ask the tough questions? What if doing so meant “loosing” some things that you’d “bound”?
About
Clark Frailey is a husband, father, and Lead Pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.
clarkfrailey.com
