Today is a big day for our church. We started an important series of lessons that encompass Sunday morning and evening teaching times. We are working through Bill Hybels’ “Just Walk Across the Room” series that encourages every Christian to be an evangelist.
Also, this week has been very stressful as we work toward a major spending proposal that deals with just a handful of the many, many issues our church faces. We have been in decline for 15 years, or so, before I came. This last year, we have grown, so we are facing both growth pains – they are many – and the need to catch up on some long neglected facility issues.
The problems there are the same as they are anywhere. There are different opinions and as the plan is coming before the church, people are beginning to speak their concerns prior to the meeting. I have no problem with differing opinions, I am concerned that we maintain Christlike behavior among the body over the things we are addressing.
The last week had been full of dealing with this stuff, but also there were several personal stressors that were weighing on me including finances and home repair. It just was happening all at once.
So the service goes fairly well this morning and the sermon – despite the fact that I had to take a Bill Hybels outline and make it my own – seemed to go very well. Personal missions and evangelism ruled the day. I can say that I really felt like God used me in spite of myself, and that is all I ever want from a sermon.
At the end of the service I began to pray as our worship leadership prepared for the time of response. I moved to the floor of the church during my prayer and noticed as I was praying someone was walking by me. I opened an eye and noticed a young woman walking by that I had never seen before.
I thought she might be early for a response and that I had just missed her in the service. Boy, was I wrong.
It turns out that she had come in at the point of the invitation and when I finished praying, she was standing 10 feet away from me and facing the congregation. I moved to her to see what I could do, and she shook my hand. I asked what I could do for her and she began to address the congregation in a loud voice. She had laid a small backpack on the front pew and I had inadvertently gotten between her and it as well. I tried to say to her that this was a time of focus on God and that she was taking the focus off of Him and putting it one herself. After a moment of rambling, she noticed her backpack was on the other side of me, stepped around me and picked it up.
She then began to walk as if to go out the same way she came in. Our Deacon Chairman had come up to assist and I let him engage her and turned back to the congregation. On her way out, I heard her say that she served a risen lord who would not be caught dead in our halls. Our Minister of Worship and Youth said later, “Of course not, He’s alive, not dead.” :) Several other men joined him in escorting her out of the Worship Center.
After the service I, spoke with several. The general consensus was that she was either mentally ill or literally possessed. I am opting for mentally ill, since a demon would probably not claim to serve the Risen Lord. To be sure, though, she was certainly used as a distraction.
On top of that, I had observed several side conversations about the business tonight and that issue arose again immediately after the service.
Lunch was a reprieve from the stresses of the moment. I enjoyed fellowship with some close friends and we encouraged one another.
When I arrived home, though, I was greeted by the sight of a swarm of honey bees making their new home in a gap between stonework and woodwork above my front door.
I have never felt more in the crush of Spiritual Warfare than I have this week and even this moment.
I ask that you pray for me and our meeting this evening. I ask that you also pray for all the other things that are surrounding me personally.
I ask that you pray for your pastor and other pastors you know, as well as the churches you know.
Pray for the SBC. My personal and church situation seem to me to be a microcosm of the SBC and our situation. Frankly I think that we are being pitted against one another so that we will be distracted and ineffective. Let us not participate in Satan’s plan for our destruction.
What do you think?
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
chuck bryce
on May 20th, 2007
@ 3:21 pm:
Lord Jesus, I lift up Art to you right now. I ask you to be his strong deliverer. I ask you turround him with your grace and mercy and equip him with a wisdom beyond this world. Give him your wisdom. Be his healer in his personal life and call faithful friends around him who will help to bear the burden. Father, show your glory as you reveal your will to the church. Let your Holy Spirit move in their midst and let the response of your people be unyielding obedience. Father, I ask you to do this things not for Art, nor for the church, but for your glory! I submit this prayer in the name of my King, Jesus. Amen.
volfan007
on May 20th, 2007
@ 3:30 pm:
art,
it’s so true that life can be stressful…especially for a pastor. i know sometimes we do what jeremiah johnson did in the movie, and just run away to the mountains and get away from people. but, alas, we must fulfill our calling. i do pray that the Lord will give you extra grace and wisdom in this difficult time. and, may the Lord give your wife and family even more than that.
david….volfan007
Nomad
on May 20th, 2007
@ 4:28 pm:
Art,
As I have seen personally, it seems like Satan attacks when we are moving towards the center of God’s will. Hang in there, bro. The greater the steps we take to fulfill the Great Commission, the greater the extent we will see God at work in our lives and work. Conversely, the greater the extent we will see Satan try to thwart our efforts.
Know I’m praying for you.
Kevin Bussey
on May 20th, 2007
@ 4:49 pm:
Art,
Great book. I quoted Hybels this morning. As you know I’m facing some struggles myself. In fact my SS lesson was from James 1:2-4. I hate it when I have to learn what I’m teaching. Blessings my friend and you are a good friend.
Joe Kennedy
on May 20th, 2007
@ 5:55 pm:
Could be either- mentally ill or demonic. She probably got what she wanted- to interrupt the service. And yes, there are many who will profess to serve “the lord,” but when you ask who that is, the answer isn’t Jesus. But maybe I’m just leaning toward demonic because I took the class and heard way too many weird stories.
Joseph M. Smith
on May 20th, 2007
@ 7:25 pm:
I always found, in my years of pastoral work, that when I faced this kind of pile-up, my prayers help me to focus on priorities and to sort out what is real from what is not. If I were in your shoes, I think I would seek prayerfully to discern which of the things you face is a distraction that can be handled, if at all, later, and which are high priority. Without fully understanding your situation, might I suggest that the murmur in the halls may not be the highest priority, and may not even be something you need to get involved with at all? In my experience — which, it is true, I cannot extrapolate to all times and places, but it is what I have — controversies about building, finances, etc., are handled best by the people themselves. They will, I would hope, be able to work with one another to achieve understanding.
But I am concerned about the suggestion — and maybe you just did not say everything you are doing — but the suggestion of “good riddance” as the young woman left. Might it not be that the church and its pastor have a responsibility to follow up, if you know who she is and where to find her, and to demonstrate the love that “does not keep books”?
I do hear you. To mix a metaphor, those bees must be the straw that breaks the camel’s back — unless the camel can and will simply delegate that matter to someone else?!
Bob Cleveland
on May 20th, 2007
@ 8:12 pm:
In my experience, the enemy is most prone to attack when he sees something that indicates we’re about to become more dangerous to him. If he doesn’t stop you now, it’ll be that much tougher later.
With the SBC around the corner, it makes sense to me. Seeing him in your trying to mess up your life is a negative, but his reason for being there may well be a positive in your life, brother.
cb scott
on May 20th, 2007
@ 9:55 pm:
Art,
I will pray now and later.
cb
volfan007
on May 20th, 2007
@ 10:44 pm:
correction.
my statement should have read….i know sometimes we want to do what jeremiah johnson did in the movie….
i dont run away to the mountains to get away from people…although, many times i feel like it. :)
david…volfan007
Tim Rogers
on May 21st, 2007
@ 5:18 am:
Brother Art,
Great Words of wise discernment. I prayed for you this morning. I encourage you to get a book and digest it. “Antagonist in the Church” produced by Abington Press, Author Kenneth Haugk (?). It has certainly helped me. I took our Deacons on a Retreat and taught them from this book and truly seems to have helped spot some of the destructive plans to God’s Work before it unfolds.
Stay the Course.
Blessings,
Tim
Paul Burleson
on May 21st, 2007
@ 5:58 am:
Art,
Know of my concern and prayer for you and your fellowship at this moment. The pressure and struggles you are so honestly speaking of are very familiar to me though only in memories now that my years of pastoring are over. Those memories are strong enough that I believe I know how to pray for you and your family and people and will do so.
One word from my experience. I’ve learned that often the folks are not as opinionated as they are fearful of not being heard. I believe the same may be true in the SBC. One way I discovered to lead a discussion of areas where there were differing ideas and concerns was to, at the beginning of the discussion time, share with the people that we ALL want ONLY what our Lord desires so I requested that each person speaking, including myself, begin whatever I/we say with this statement…”to the best of my ability to know what Jesus wants me to say and to honor him, I would like to say…….[statement]. ” The statement could then be a comment or a question or an answer to a question, but it seemed to have a different/good spirit about the words.
Regardless…I know you well enough to know the people will be heard, led, and loved through whatever is being faced because you have the unique ability to build high trust low fear in relationships. That’s a God thing and He’s gifted you in that.
Know of the Burleson’s concern for and love for you and your family.
Marty Duren
on May 21st, 2007
@ 6:16 am:
“Though he kills me, yet I will trust him.” Job 13:15
That was my ending verse yesterday morning after looking at Job’s live and God’s sovereignty. Trust Him no matter what. Honey bees are still in His control.
Father,
Bless your servant Art with strength, humility, patience, love and longsuffering. Reveal more of Yourself to him and give him all that he needs to make it through this day and this week. Bless the people of Skelly Drive Baptist Church; give them wisdom as they follow You and follow the leadership that you have established in their midst.
Art Rogers
on May 21st, 2007
@ 11:37 am:
Thank you all for the response. The meeting last night, despite some strongly held feelings opposite one another, was blessed by the Spirit of Peace and our unity was preserved. We agreed to address one issue in two weeks and one in 5 weeks, giving them individual meetings of their own and time for the church family to process them.
I am not sure, but the honey bees seem to be gone. I saw one today and as my dad used to be a Bee Keeper when I was growing up, I know that the morning is a busy time for honey bees as they come and go from their hive. I don’t want to be premature, but it seems that gratitude is in order as the Lord of all Creation seems to have sent His creatures to another place to live.
Finally, I want to address the statement from Joseph M. Smith above. I was grateful to get her out of the Worship Center so that the Holy Spirit could return our attention back to Him at this very important time of commitment. The men that helped her leave tried to talk with her once they were out of the Worship Center, but she was rambling, saying something about taking true communion and they were not able to engage her in conversation that made sense.
As she went away she spat into the group of men, and our Deacon Chair was the one who got caught. He is a gracious man and didn’t even tell me about it. I heard that from someone else.
We had never seen her before and weren’t able to find out who she was. She was, from all I could gather, not stable and not forthcoming, either.
We prayed for her at the end of our invitation time and if there is anything we can do to help her, we will.
We were also visited by another man, down on his luck, last night who sat through Bible Study and business meeting. We were privileged to help him as his handicapped adult son is in the hospital with pneumonia.
Thank you all for your prayers. I am truly grateful for the encouraging words posted here, emailed and the calls that I received.
Art
Marty Duren
on May 21st, 2007
@ 12:53 pm:
Re: The Honey Bees
Caulk the crack while they are gone…
Cyle
on May 21st, 2007
@ 1:27 pm:
I could write the same story, including the person who came in and distracted. I’m guessing that any pastor could write the same story, many times over. I would encourage you by letting you know that you’re not alone, but I’ve found that this encouragement only goes so far. I mean, it’s good to know there are others who have been in the middle of a storm. However, it is much better to know the master of the storm. So, I’m praying for you to the Master of the storm. One thing we did several years ago that really changed the complection of our business meetings. Whenever an item was brought up, we stopped to pray about it before we discussed it. We prayed in small groups about whatever it was. God honored us by giving us peace.
Charlie Cruce
on May 21st, 2007
@ 1:50 pm:
Art,
You are in God’s man in God’s place in God’s time. One of my favorite phrases in Scripture is:””This too shall pass!” It will and you will be okay. I am praying for you as I write this . . . “Greater is He who is in you, than the one who is in the world!”
And . . . it’s already getting better! Thank you for being transparent!
4Him,
CA
PS: One house keeping note: would you please correct the spelling of my last name? I will do “Christian choreography” at your funeral if you will!
cb scott
on May 21st, 2007
@ 3:57 pm:
Marty,
Caulk? Art, use C4. It will solve the bee problem and the hornets will hear how you handle pest and never even bother to try:-)
cb
Art Rogers
on May 21st, 2007
@ 4:44 pm:
CB – That’s flat out funny.
Can VR come out to play before San Antonio?
David Troublefield
on May 21st, 2007
@ 10:50 pm:
The bee swarm–we had the same several years ago down in Central Texas. Pour honey on some object away from the house next time they come by; the bees will swarm the honey, not the house!
Sounds like wise choices made for some townhall-type meetings in the future about whatever issues. Remember the response categories when it comes to discussing change: (1) innovators–built the bandwagon, got on-board it by themselves, possibly invited you to join them; (2) early adopters–know a good idea when they hear it, quickly get aboard; (3) middle/late adopters–need to hear the proposal in their own “language” (e.g., money, or tradition, or whatever) before understading it–float the proposal, hear the responses listening for the languages being spoken, re-word the proposal in those languages during the townhall meetings, call for a commitment; and, (4) the opposition–never will change its mind, and can’t identify them until the end. Waste no time on the opposition; no need to use energy to convince the innovators–the idea was theirs; early adopters are “there”; most energy focused on middle/late adopters–learning their “languages” and how to state the proposal in that language. All tempered by love and forward-movement for the gospel’s sake. Consider yourself now “translating” the proposal into various “languages” after floating that proposal in your most recent meeting.
Elmer Town describes the above in one of his books; the link:
http://www.elmertowns.com/books/online/Church_Growth_State_of_the_ArtETowns.pdf
2 Kings 6:16-17; Exodus 14:14
Art Rogers
on May 22nd, 2007
@ 10:05 am:
David,
Excellent advice. Sounds like a great main post.