Friends, Not the TV Show

Friendship:

I was down to the point of sniffing socks this morning. It's the last day of this trip. I look forward to heading home and being with Kathy. As I reflect on my time in Chuuk, I am struck by the power friendship. I have been able to spend time with a couple of friends who are my allies in ministry. The currency of friendship is clear between us. Each of us has his own work. There are areas of our ministries that overlap, and so an outsider could look at some of the conversations that have taken place the last few days, and say, "I understand. The work missionary number 1 is doing has this common interest with missionary number 2, so it makes perfect that he says good things about what Number 2 is doing, because if Number 2 succeeds it will help Number 1." That observation is technically correct but entirely wrong. The fact of the matter is, the three of us are friends--friends in the way that comes through in some key passages in the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs 17:17 speaks about the consistency of true friendship The ESV translation of Proverbs 18:24, brings out the distinction between those we call "friends" in the casual sense and those we can count on even when times are hard. Proverbs 27:6 points out that this is the kind of friend who will "wound" his friend rather than let them go the wrong way. In addition to spending times with these friends, I was able to make some new friends. Friendship transcends national boundaries, skin color and, though it makes it harder, even differences in language. While I was here in this little corner of the world, I was reminded about a friendship that has even survived death. Three decades after Dave's death, his friendship still feeds my soul. I am convinced that in heaven we will still be who we are. If that is so, then might it be possible that friendship, unhindered by distance, time, language, or death, will continue? It's Something To Think About.

Warriors, Old & Young

Warriors, Old & Young:

I just left breakfast.  Several of my preacher buddies and I get together every week to just talk.   Part of our conversation this morning had to do with old "war stories."  I'm the oldest in the group.  I asked another pastor from my era to tell about a conflict he had lived through several decades ago.  I'm glad my friend made it through with his integrity intact.  I have been blessed by his survival.  Had he not made it through that crisis, I'm confident that he would have gone on to another ministry in another place, but my life would have been much poorer without his friendship for these years. The breakfast conversation continued as I rode home with the youngest member of our group.  What place does experience have in enabling us to lead people?  I'd like to think, it is worthwhile, but it's not the gold-standard.  After fifty years of doing something some folk don't have half a century of experience; they have one year of involvement repeated forty-nine times.  We live in changing times.  In times of transition the young and nimble, with their cutting-edge skills, may be better able to lead than the old and experienced who possess a knowledge of that which is now long past.   One of the big components of wisdom is knowing what to keep, how long to keep it, what to dump, and when to dump it.  Wise and Stodgy, Experienced, and Irrelevant all live in the same neighborhood. Lord, help me and my young friend, as well as those in between, to know the difference.   It’s STTA.     The link above will take you to an archive of things to think about.  This one will take you to one that I add to less often.  It tends to be a bit more serious. You can read about the life-changing Good News  here.

A Place to Study:

Something To Think About A Place to Study:

(Bio-warning:  All STTAs are autobiographical, me being the "auto."  This one is more so.  So if you aren't interested in reading some thoughts from an old preacher, mostly about being an old preacher, then you might want to look up something else to read.) I remember when, as a twenty three year old new pastor I first set up shop in the little, maybe eight by ten feet, room designated as the "Pastor's Study."  Over the next couple of years one of the guys in the church gave me an old desk, which we refinished.  Another helped me build some shelves.  A desk chair and maybe one more seat were obtained.  I can remember some of the significant discoveries, discussions, and  breakthroughs that took place in that little room.  I proudly--in the right sense, I hope--referred to that little space off the right end of the platform in our little building, as "my study."  About eight years into my time here at Covington Bible Church, we built a new building, still not big, but much less small than where we were.  I was very grateful that as folk worked on the drawings for out new facility they wanted to make sure that sufficient space was set aside for the Pastor's Study.  In the downstairs of our building all the floors were bare concrete when we moved in, all but my study, which was covered with carpet.  It had a lot of red in it.  It was my study.  The refinished desk was moved in.  A nice easy-chair was put in one corner.  Eventually some fish took up residence there.  Again, I was privileged to hang out in that room while significant events, matters of eternal import, took place.  A few years ago I undertook a major remodeling project.  Most of the cherry lumber that was used for shelves and cabinetry was from trees my Father-in-law, the man who was my pastor in my youth, had cut down.  The old, now way outdated, carpet was replaced with laminate flooring, and the fish had a custom-made place for their little tropical world.  A bit later my wife helped me put together a one-of-a-kind table.  When I built the shelves, and laid the floor, I did the arithmetic, not just calculating length and width, but time.  I knew that I was building a space for someone who would come after me.  A little over six months ago, I packed up my books and stuff, and moved out.  Most of my things are still boxed up.  Thankfully, over the last decade or so, more and more of my "books" are digital.  What used to take up feet of shelf space now is stored on a hard drive I can hold in my hand.   Part of the time, now, I work from home.  When I'm at Covington Bible I work out of a very adequate space that doubles as a classroom.  I'm doing some work on the room.  I'd like to leave it better than I found it. My where-I-sit-to-work migration isn't finished, though.  In preparation for thenext phase of ministry that Kathy and I are undertaking, I recently purchased a piece of luggage.  I confess it was the label Samsonite put on the piece that first caught my attention--"Mobile Office." As I look back over the places where I have been privileged to sit down and study God's word, prepare lessons, and messages, and meet with people in need, I am very thankful.  What has taken place is far more important than where it took place.  In a short time I'll pack up again.  Since most of my stuff is still in boxes from the last move, it won't take long.  I'll pray for the next person--likely someone a lot like that dark-haired kid who moved into that little eight by ten room more than four decades ago.  I'll put my computer in my mobile office and we'll roll on. A friend of mine would say, "It's all good."  And it is.  Beyond doubt,GOD IS GOOD. It's STTA. I was recently privileged to share a message at a sister church, where some friends of mine faithfully study and minister, one of them has been my colleague and friend for forty years.  I was there for a day this congregation had set aside to show their appreciation to their pastors.  I can almost guarantee that you have never heard a message preached from the passage I chose to use in honoring these men for their faithfulness.  If that piques your interest click here.

Leverage

Financial gurus often speak of "leverage."  About the only thing I know about finances is that I don't know very much, but, as I understand it, leverage has to do with an individual investing a relatively small amount of his money, combining it with a great deal of the investment of others, and reaping a result that is far greater than would otherwise be gained on the basis of the small personal investment.  I don't have any experience with that in the fiscal realm, but I have seen it work spiritually.

When I invest in the lives of others my efforts are leveraged to produce far, FAR greater results than my meager resources would ever be able to accomplish.

 
• I'm not the smartest guy around, but God has given me the opportunity to invest in some some really sharp folk.
• My business ventures consist mainly of others giving me the business, but there are businesses that are guided, in part, by the influence the Lord has enabled me to have.
• I already mentioned my financial limitations.  Yet there are others who speak amortization without being mortified, with whom the Lord has given me the privilege of working.

Leverage--having an impact bigger than, longer lasting than, and far more impressive than anything I, with my limited resources, could accomplish.  Long before the "How-to-Get-Rich-with-the-Change-in-Your-Pocket" books were written, THE BOOK talked about this maximization of impact, not by investing the resources of others, but by investing in others.  Go out there and encourage, teach, counsel, or come along side one to invest in them.

Leverage your efforts for the glory of God.

It's STTA