Baptizing Zion

Yesterday I had the great honor and privilege of baptizing my son Zion, as we concluded our Easter worship celebration. This is the second of my children that I have had the honor of baptizing. For me, of course, this is a very emotional experience.

Zion began asking me if he could be baptized almost a year and a half ago. But, because he was only 5 years-old, I told him that it would be better if he would wait to be baptized. He has asked me several times over the past year and a half and every time, after a bit of conversation with him, I conclude by telling him that it would be better if he would wait until he was older.

The reasoning that he gives for wanting to be baptized are reasons that I would encourage others to be baptized; I want to receive communion, I want my sin to be completely washed away, and I want to tell others that I am a Christian, to name a few.

Knowing that I was preparing to baptize three individuals yesterday, he asked me Thursday - as I laid him down for bed - "Dad, can I be baptized on Sunday?" Once again we had a conversation. And, once again, he gave good reasoning for wanting to be baptized; "I want to take communion with you and mom." Then, once again, I old him that it would be best to wait. And on Saturday - before I laid him down for bed - "Dad, will you baptize me tomorrow?" Once again we had a conversation. And, once again, he gave good reasoning for wanting to be baptized; "I want Jesus to wash all my sin away in front of the church." Then, once again, I old him that it would be best to wait.

As we sat down in the front pew on Sunday morning, with music playing, and anticipation for our resurrection worship celebration to begin, Zion looks up to me; "Dad, will you please baptize me today?" Once again we had a conversation. And, once again, he gave good reasoning for wanting to be baptized; "I think it will help me grow closer to God".

During the service I had a short conversation with God.
After the service I had a short conversation with my wife.
Then I had a short conversation with Zion.
And I got to celebrate an amazing moment with my son.

God Does Not Need Help

As a Pastor of a church - expected to speak to, hold the attention of, and introduce life transformational ideas to people week after week - I often search for interesting stories and illustrations for sermons and teachings. Often the stories and illustrations come up well short - rarely do I find a gem. More often, I will use a story from my own life, a lesson that I have taken from a life experience, or an illustration from my family or home life.

Yet - truth be told - I am sometimes in need of the perfect gen for a sermon or a teaching that I  create a story of my own. There is nothing wrong with that! Other times, I am down to the wire and I will adapt someone else's account to make it work in my situation. I don't see anything wrong with this! However, there are a few times that I have taken a life experience of my own or of someone else's life and I have embellished it - added to the details - to make it "better" or to make it more fitting to what I want to convey.

This morning I thought of a recent story that I had told and I realized the error of my ways. I was trying to help God by adding to the details of something that He had done in my life. And, whether we are willing to accept it or not, God does not need any help from any of us.

God does not need any help from any of us.

Trials at Walmart

Every week I preach about peace, patience, love, and a attitude that mirrors that of Jesus Christ. However, every week I also find myself at the local Walmart department store where these very qualities are being tested!

First off, I hate to shop, not because I don't have time to shop, but because shopping is not enjoyable. So, unless I am in need of something specific I will not be out shopping. Further, if I am in need of something specific I will head for the closest parking spot and take the quickest and most direct route to the product I am in need of and then take the quickest and most direct route out.

Combine this general hatred of shopping with a department store where the isles are barely wide enough to fit two carts side-by-side, a department store that has built a niche of "end caps" - meaning that the narrow isles are all that much narrower, and a department store where, on average, one checkout lane is open for every six people desiring to "checkout", and my peace, patience, and love begin to fade way.

Then, you top this off with the numerous people you will encounter on a typical trip to Walmart - not to pick on any particular group of people - and I have quite a bit of trouble mirroring an attitude like that of Jesus Christ.

• Just the other day I watched someone push their cart directly into a parked car, shrug their shoulders and then walk off.
• Last year I saw a woman spit in a man's face before getting in her car and driving away.
• Yesterday I woman was walking in the crosswalk as I sat waiting, she stopped and stared at me, threw her hands in the air and yelled "what are you looking at?".
• A month or so ago I came upon a guy working on his car in the middle of the parking lot, in the middle of an isle - I had to cut turn around and go out the wrong way because he blocked the entire isle.
• Some time back a group of kids on Razor scooters came out of nowhere and I almost picked one of them off.
• Once I saw three teens laying in  the middle of the parking lot after dark - two of them wearing black shirts.
• I can go on, and on, and on...

I believe - half-joking here - that Walmart is what Satan uses to tempt me and to try me in the way I respond to others. Several times my wife has had to remind me that I am a Pastor in this town and - on any given Sunday - the people that I encounter at Walmart could walk into our church.

So what do I do? Rather than getting frustrated in the isles or the checkout lane of Walmart, rather than yelling at or injuring some of the people in the Walmart parking lot, I simply send my wife!

I Am Honored

It is an honor to share in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

It is an honor to preach God's Word, to know that He has called and equipped me for His service.

It is an honor to stand before God's people and to speak on His behalf.

To Church Leaders: Ezekiel 34

God has a high call on these individuals and He has high expectations for them. for pastors and leaders of The Church. In Ezekiel 34 God is speaking through the prophet Ezekiel to the leaders of His people in Israel. Yet this passage is a particularly insightful for the shepherds of His Church today.

Ezekiel 34:1-16;
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Elders: Worthy of Reproof

This past week I had a great discussion with a man about a former pastor of his, particularly the way he questioned him on a matter of the local church. As we talked we began to discuss the roles of the pastor, elders, deacons, and other key leaders. It occurred to us that many Christians have been misguided into thinking that the pastor and other ministry leaders should not be questioned, and that every decision of the church should be endorsed.

So, I thought I might look to The Source and find out what The Bible has to say about such matters.

1Timothy 5; 17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." 19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.

Pastoring as a Coach

I watched an IU basketball game tonight and the commentators began to talk about the passion of Coach Tom Crean stating how much of a difference it had made on the players.

They said that he set very high expectations for the players, that he held them accountable, and that they faced discipline if they did not meet, or exceed, these expectations. But, they said the thing that made Coach Crean successful was his approach and his understanding that these individuals he is coaching are young men that still have growing and maturing to do and that, in some ways, they are emotionally weak with a chance of caving if the pressure becomes too much.

As these commentators spoke of Coach Crean it occurred to me that this is the kind of Pastor that I want to be; passionate about the message of Christ, setting high expectations of those within our church family, and holding my brothers and sisters in Christ accountable to God's commands and calls. While, at the same time, approaching them with the understanding that they are still growing and maturing (we all are) and can, at times, be emotionally weak and may be on the brink of caving in to the pressures of this life.