Where He Leads Me I Will Follow


The last few months, I have been trading e-mails with a church in Missouri. After a phone interview, they want Teresa, Ripley, and I to come out for a visit. We are working out the logistics for us to go sometime in May. We are praying that if this is God’s plan for us, we want the door to open for us to move to Missouri. While sharing this news, some of our friends and church members have asked, “You willing to go all the way to Missouri to pastor a church?” I had others ask, “What’s out there that you would consider moving?” I understand these questions but they do make me wonder why ask them. The reason I wonder that is because I am God’s slave; He saved me and I belong to Him so whatever He says and wherever He leads I will do and go; period.

While fielding these sorts of questions, the old hymn song popped in my head. The song is “Where He Leads Me.” The words to the first verse and chorus are:

I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
“Take thy cross and follow, follow Me.”

Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow;
I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the way.

I entered Bible College back in 1989 with the desire to be a missionary to Australia. Australia is on the other side of the world so Missouri is only a 20 hour drive or a few hours on a plane. I can not pray for God to open doors for me to pastor if I am not willing to go where He is directing me. I walk slowly making sure the direction He is leading is His desire for me and not mind. As I pray and the Holy Spirit leads me, Teresa is praying and the Holy Spirit is leading her. Since we have the same Spirit, what He is showing me He is showing Teresa.

Where He leads, my family and I will follow; no matter where it maybe. Where He puts us, He has a plan for us in that place. We will trust Him the all knowing and all powerful God.

Abnormal is the New Normal

I try to stay read up on pop culture and I try to watch (at least once) anything that is popular on T.V. I do this so I can better engage our society. I’ve learned many things doing this. One thing is that what is right and wrong; normal and abnormal has always been measured by society using a sliding ruler. What was looked down on or thought weird (abnormal) 20 or 30 years ago is just fine or the norm now. I think some would blame this on our post-modern mindset but this has been the case since time has been recorded. The only norm is change so that is why it is very refreshing to this believer that the Bible is the same it was 2000 years ago and will be the same 2000 years in the future (if Jesus hasn’t returned by then).

The best way to measure anything (distance, height, depth, etc) is by using a fixed or permanent point. The best way to measure what is right and wrong or what is considered normal or abnormal should be measured by the Bible (or the Standard) since it has not or will not change. That is where the Christian mindset (or worldview) differs to that of the Worldly mindset (or worldview). The worldly mindset is what is right for me can be difference for you or what you see is wrong, can be right for me. That is not at all the mindset of Christ. What the Bible says is right is right and what it says is wrong is wrong.

There are many examples I can use to show the change of what used to be considered wrong is now okay. The one I like to use is homosexuality. Paul writes in Romans that God sees this as abnormal; men desiring to be with men not wanting to be with women. Our society now says its okay to be gay or even experiment with it. I use homosexuality because when Christian men think of it they think it’s the worse sin in the world but as I have written before, sin is sin is sin. There is no degree in sin. The Bible spokes of a sin that can destroy and that we should avoid but it’s “the okay sin” of each church; the sin of gossip. In God’s eyes, the sin of homosexuality and gossip are equally bad and equally destructive. But gossip is very rarely ever spoken against in today’s pulpits but homosexuality is hit hard.

Even if our society says something is normal, we as God’s people should go with what the Bible says. If the Bible says something is sin; it is sin. At the same time, if the Bible does not call it sin; it’s not sin. There are somethings that some churches call sin or abnormal that the Bible never addresses. For such topics, we should follow what the Holy Spirit is showing us and not go with what a person’s opinion is. The Bible is the ultimate authority and not man.

Sphere of Influence


Before leaving earth, Jesus Christ told His followers to go and make disciples. This is a command that everyone who confesses Christ to be their Lord and Savior should do. We are not told to create believers; only God can do that by drawing people to Himself through the work of the Holy Spirit. We are called to make disciples which means to walk beside new believers and help them in their growth as Christians. We show people Jesus Christ by living in a way He told us to; by loving others. We are to love those people God puts in our path. Every person has a group of people that we can influence for good or bad. I call this our “Sphere of Influence.”

Our “Sphere of Influence” could be family members, co-workers, friends, and/or neighbors. We are to use every opportunity to show people Jesus Christ. I go out of my way when I’m at the gym to talk with people about church; most of the time it’s in the locker-room. Sometimes it’s on the floor of the weight room, but I want people to know I am God’s child. People at work know I go to church and that I’m a pastor of a small church. I look for opportunities at work to share Christ. I’ve had one co-worker and her husband visit our church. I’ve gotten to know a young man in the Logistics Department the last month via us attending a 12 hour workshop (3 hours every Thursday for the month of March) on the Core of Communication. I built a connection so I felt I could invite him and his fiancé to church on Easter Sunday. He seems interested because I’ve showed interest in him. Lord willing they will come.

I learned from reading “Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybles (I read it 4 years ago), that the Holy Spirit will direct us to the people God wants us to talk to. We aren’t to do drive-by soul winning, but we are to build relationships with people. Once we have a relationship, they will care what we have to say because they know we care for them. Christians are to love people and since we love them, we should care what happens to them.

Who is in your “Sphere of Influence?” Have you talked with them about Jesus Christ? Some people don’t share because they are afraid or do not know what to say. We are to witness to others and all a witness does is tell what they know. If you are a Christian, you just tell people what Jesus Christ did for you. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to draw them to God. Easter Sunday is coming up. Easter Sunday is one of two Sundays a year people tend to go to church; the other is Christmas. Invite your sphere to church on Easter Sunday. All you have to do is ask them. Who knows; they might come.

Remembering



On Monday, a very good friend of mind sent me an encouraging e-mail. The last few months, I’ve been sending out my resume to churches. The last month, I’ve been jumping through some hoops for a church in Missouri but I received a letter on Saturday saying thank you but no. Teresa and I have been praying for God’s prefect will to be done with this church and His will was done. I know that God will open the door to the place He has for me to pastor. I know this door will open in God’s timing and I am really okay with that. God has mold me into the man I am and He knows what He has planned for me so I’m waiting on Him and while waiting on Him, I’m serving at a great little church.

In the e-mail from my friend, he asked if I ever had a ministry assessment. The fact is I have through the SBCV (Southern Baptist Conservatives of VA) back in 2006. I went through an assessment when Teresa and I were praying about starting a church and the SBCV had me fill out a questionnaire which had an assessment section. In the assessment section, there are four types; an Initiator, an Organizer, a Developer, and a Revitalizer. I answered 32 questions by circling which best describes me (scoring 1 through 5). You could get up to 40 as a score. The “Developer” is what I am; my score was 39 out of 40. The questions were:

1. I like to take something that has already been started and organized and grow it to it’s fullest potential.
2. I like to keep things under control.
3. I like for things to operate smoothly and efficiently.
4. I love to facilitate improvement in an organization.
5. I like to work within given structure.
6. I tend to get a little uneasy when things are disorganized and inefficient.
7. I like to build effective teams.
8. I like to commit to things long term.

The Developer’s type description is spot on for me;

“You like to take what has been started and organized and develop it. You are good at taking things to the next level and providing good leadership to grow the church. If you are considering church planting you may be better suited to be the pastor of a mission church or at least where the mission has a core group of people. You will still need to cast vision and organize. If you are a developer you may struggle in an area where you have to start something from scratch. You should consider gathering some people around you who are initiators.”

A few months after this assessment, the SBCV approved us to be Church Planters and we started a Bible Study in an apartment where a friend lived. We worked this area for 10 months forming a 4 person Bible Study. We did several events in this time but nothing came out of it. God did show me much in this brief time of Church Planting. Refreshing my memory of my type helps to make sense of this period of ministry. I feel that God had us going through this time to mold us into tools He will use in taking a small church and developing the group to reach their community. My passion is to equip the saints to grow in their walk with Christ and teach them to share the love of Christ with their families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and their community at large.

April 1st


It’s hard to believe it’s April already. When I think of April, green grass, flowers, and little children running around playing comes to my mind. Another thing that comes to me is that today’s Teresa’s spiritual birthday. Today 15 years ago, Teresa accepted Christ as her Savior.

For other people, they see today as “April Fool’s Day.” Some time ago, I looked into the history of today because I wanted to know why April 1st has this on it. Below is a brief history of April 1st.

The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day is uncertain, but the current thinking is that it began around 1582 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved from March 25 - April 1 (new year's week) to January 1.

Communication traveled slowly in those days and some people were only informed of the change several years later. Still others, who were more rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration, April 1.

These people were labeled "fools" by the general populace, were subject to ridicule and sent on "fool errands," sent invitations to nonexistent parties and had other practical jokes played upon them. The butts of these pranks became known as a "poisson d'avril" or "April fish" because a young naive fish is easily caught. In addition, one common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.

This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. Because of this spread to other countries, April Fool's Day has taken on an international flavor with each country celebrating the holiday in its own way.

In Scotland, for instance, April Fool's Day is devoted to spoofs involving the buttocks and as such is called Taily Day. The butts of these jokes are known as April 'Gowk', another name for cuckoo bird. The origins of the "Kick Me" sign can be traced back to the Scottish observance.

In England, jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called 'gobs' or 'gobby' and the victim of a joke is called a 'noodle.' It was considered bad luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon.