From Tampa to Grand Rapids to Charleston to Florence SC!
We put some miles on the calendar this last week, that’s for sure. Monday was my day off so, other than doing some paperwork at home, I didn’t work — but the rest of the week was busy!
On Tuesday I flew to Tampa and rented a car to drive to Dunnellon where I was blessed to be with John and his dear wife Vivian. (By the way, please pray for them. Vivian had shoulder surgery last Friday and the recovery is very painful. Please pray for healing and also for John. Vivian’s an amazing cook and John’s already missing the great food she prepares!!)
John arranged for me to speak at his church so Wednesday night I spoke on “Fossils: Friend or Foe?”. (available on DVD at the rforh store) http://rforh.com/store/index.php/answers-to-difficult-issues-fossils-friend-or-foe.html After the talk we had dinner and a Q & A in the fellowship hall. There were some great questions and John is now planning a followup 6 week study on why this issue is important. Praise God for his initiative to provide supplemental teaching on this subject.
That really is encouraging to us at rforh. Part of our mission is to encourage and equip the body of Christ to do ministry, so we’re thrilled when people like John step up and supplement our teachings on important and difficult topics. We’re all ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as such we need to get busy sharing the Lord, wherever God has placed us. We need to watch for the doors that He will open and seize the opportunity. Sometime this week we’re going to share with you a special letter from a young man who is very active in sharing his faith in another way. Thursday Morning came very quickly. I had to get up at 4 AM to catch my 6 AM flight to Grand Rapids. I took my buddy Brian to Mongolian BBQ for lunch and we had the opportunity to pray for Morgan there. Lift her up please! She’s struggling right now, so please lift her in prayer.
That afternoon I had the privilege of leading a devotion for the bands and then attended the Casting Crowns concert and participated in their “intermission” ministry (takes place during the band’s break between sets). Several of the band members meet with youth pastors and leaders and encourage and equip them in their ministries. Following the concert, I spent the night at the home of Randy Baker, rforh Board Chairman.
On Friday I flew home and just vegged-out because I was beat like a drum! That afternoon we did paperwork, filled some orders and packed the book order for South Carolina.
Early Saturday morning my wife took me to the airport to catch my flight to Charleston, SC,where I was picked up by my long time friends Bill and Nora. I first met them when Bill was stationed in Hawaii. He’s now stationed in Charleston and arranged for me to speak at his church Saturday night at a men’s dinner and then Sunday morning at the service.
Bill and Nora took me to lunch at the Fried Okra Diner. Real good ole southern cooking! I had Shrimp Grits, and we shared some fried green tomatoes and fried okra. I could live there! I mean, literally live at the Fried Okra Diner!
It was so nice to catch up with Bill and Nora, an amazing couple with an amazing story. The Lord is really using them to minister where they are at the moment. That evening Bill took me to a “low country boil” for the men of his church. They boiled and seasoned corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage and shrimp. Man, I could live there! I mean, literally . . . oh, I’m already living at the Fried Okra Diner, sorry. Well, let’s just say that if I ever move . . . !
After dinner I spoke to the men and I challenged them, and myself, to be the godly example that the Word of God calls us to be. The response was overwhelming. Great conversation, especially with some of the younger men!!! That was a blessing to speak with them.
On Sunday morning I spoke to the entire congregation and again, what a blessing. We had great conversations and great feedback. These folks went above and beyond to make everything work and to make me feel at home. Thanks Doorway Baptist Church! http://www.doorwaybc.com/
One special friend that came to the Sunday service was Mike Mooneyham. http://www.postandcourier.com/staff/mike_mooneyham/ I’d never met Mike before, and was happy that he introduced himself and his wife to me prior to the service. Mike did a very nice article on the new “Reasons for Hope in the Mosaic of Your Life” book. http://rforh.com/store/index.php/reasons-for-hope-in-the-mosaic-of-your-life.html In addition, his article was in a secular newspaper!!! What a blessing!
That afternoon Bill, Nora and their daughter Randi, drove me up to Florence, SC to speak at Florence Baptist Temple that night. It’s a big church with a sophisticated audio/visual system. They set me up to control my computer, which was in another room, by using their computer on stage. Well, it worked when we tested it, but then when the 1,000 people showed up for the talk . . . it bombed! Not just crashed, I’m talking BOMBED! Ouch. It would work for 5 minutes, then quit. There was a young man doing everything he could to make it work, but it would work for only 5 minutes, then quit.
Long story short, I probably gave about 1/3 of the talk and ended feeling discouraged, because people took time from their busy schedules to attend and were not able to get the full teaching of the message. There was one thought that kept going through my head that helped me to put everything into perspective and lifted my spirits. It’s something I learned early on in ministry and wrote about in the Mosaics book. http://rforh.com/store/index.php/reasons-for-hope-in-the-mosaic-of-your-life.html I’d like to share it with you and hopefully it will be an encouragement to you when you have similar situations.
“When I first started my speaking ministry, I was a full-time air-traffic controller, and I would travel on the weekends doing ministry. Pastor Phil was my pastor, and he really taught me an important lesson. Every week after I returned from ministry, he would ask me the same question: “How’d it go, Carl?” I didn’t know how to answer that question. Frankly, I struggled with it, so I’d joke it off. I don’t know how many times I told him something like, “Oh, nobody threw anything, so I guess it went pretty well.”
He kept asking me this question, so after about three months, I finally broke down and got real with him. I said, “Pastor, I don’t know how to answer that question. To be honest, I’ve been in meetings where the person who is speaking isn’t making any sense to me at all. I just keep looking at my watch, wondering if it’s still working, because time’s not progressing at all. But sure enough, at the end of the meeting, one of the audience members will walk up to the speaker, pat him on the back, and tell him how much his talk meant to that person. I just don’t put a lot of stock into people patting me on the back or telling me, ‘That was really good.’”
I continued, “Sometimes, I feel like something powerful was accomplished through my speaking, like the time I had a pastor stand up in front of his congregation and tell them that he had been double-minded and he was committing to his congregation to be single-minded and stand firm on the Word of God from then on. I’ve also seen fathers who have walked up to me after I finished speaking and told me that they have committed to being a better father and a better husband after the meetings. That’s when I really feel like something was accomplished.”
I love Pastor Phil. I realized that he had been waiting for three months for me to be straight with him. He had set me up to make his point. He looked me in the eyes and said, “Carl, you’re wrong!”
Ouch! I was pretty surprised by his response. “Why’s that?” I asked him.
“How long did Noah preach?” he replied.
I thought about it and said, “Hmm. It depends on who you ask, but at least fifty years?”
“And how many people responded to his preaching?”
“Only his family members —seven others besides himself.” “Carl, if you base your success in ministry on the response of others, you will always be lonely in ministry,” he said. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Was I obedient?’ And if you were obedient, you were successful regardless of whether or not anybody responded.”
He was right. His wise words have made ministry so freeing for me. That took all the burden off me. It’s not my job to convict or convert people; it’s my job to converse with people. The Holy Spirit will do the work of convicting and converting.
My job is simply to be obedient, open my mouth and give an answer for the reason for my hope. And I do my job with God’s help, you’d better believe the Holy Spirit will do His job!”
Reasons for Hope In the Mosaic of Your Life, pp. 126, 127
I can honestly tell you that I did my best to be obedient even in the midst of the challenge. So, regardless of how bad it was, ministry was successful! I speak in the Christian School Monday through Wednesday so I’ll give you that update, next week! God is good, Stay bold!
Carl and the rforh Team
P.S. – Please pray for Nora’s mom. She’s in her 80’s, in the hospital trying to recover. Nora has to fly out Wednesday to be with her. Thanks so much.
