Mishap or Ministry

Excitement is in the air this week at Carthage Full Gospel Church.  We are only a few days away from our most anticipated event of the year.  This Sunday evening will be our 6^th Fall Harvest Carnival and puppet show, complete with a full stage black light show.   Preparation for this event began in late August and since then there have been over thirty puppets made. By the time Sunday night is over, between 50 and 60 of our regular church attendees will have volunteered to help make this event happen (significant because our attendance averages about 120).   Visitors are often bewildered by how a church our size can pull off such an incredible event. 

If it sounds like I’m bragging, I guess you’re right.  I’m very proud of how involved our church is in this ministry.  However, I’m not writing this article for the purpose of bragging, I’m writing it to encourage you to search for your niche. This event kind of happened by accident.  Let me explain:

In summer 2005, one of our Sunday evening teachers suddenly quit, creating an empty spot and great need.  It seemed we often found ourselves in this position.  Our Sunday evening attendance was already struggling because of a large void in children’s ministry.  Finding another teacher for this age group (5^th to 8^th grade) would be no easy task since most of our ‘qualified’ leaders were stretched and responsible for one or more areas already. 

           

In desperation, we considered anyone to temporarily fill the spot, gifted or not.  Finally, after a few weeks of not finding anyone, my wife said she would start a puppet ministry as a Sunday evening class to fill the void.  At the time, she did not feel particularly called or gifted, and was certainly already busy with other church roles.  However, something needed to be done, and she was willing to do it. 

In early fall of 2005, she started Big Image Puppet Productions, and the rest, as they say, is history.   This class performed their first show in October 2005 and became a permanent part of our Fall Harvest Carnival.  The puppet ministry has surpassed anything we ever imagined in effectiveness.  Not only was the immediate need for a class met, but our youth went from simply being taught to teaching others; from simply consuming services into serving others. 

Many have simply refused to graduate out of the class.  We now have high school and college age students along with the original target group.  The results of this ministry with such humble beginnings have been immeasurable and astounding:  Sunday evening attendance has increased; New families have been impacted; Outreach opportunities have been developed;   A large percentage of the church participates and invites others to the show;  Last but not least: The largest crowds to attend any of our church events have been for puppet shows (a pastor’s dream).  I’m sometimes reminded that more people come to see what my wife leads than come to hear me preach. 

The thing I want you to realize is that this ministry did not start from a thus saith the Lord.  Through the years I’ve noticed that many effective ministries have seemingly started by accident, or by someone willing to fill a need. John Maxwell wisely once said, “Activity breeds opportunity”. Obviously everything we try will not turn into an overwhelming success.  Some will actually fail.  Yet, success rarely, if ever happens for someone unwilling to fail.   Anyone who knows my wife and observes her talent and passion for this ministry immediately recognize this is well within her God given giftings for life.  When she began, however, no one knew, including her.  

What needs done in your church today and what are you brave enough to attempt?   You could temporarily minister to someone and fill a short term spot.  Or who knows?  You could discover a gift of grace for a lifetime that impacts your church and community seemingly ‘by accident’.   

P.S. - If you live in our area, (or even if you don't)come enjoy our Fall Harvest Carnival and Blacklight show "Notes of Love" October 31st @ 6:00 p.m. or our our encore show November 7th @ 6:00 p.m.   Come early to ensure seating.  It will be full!   

Overcoming Hurry Sickness

I’ll start this article with a confession.  My name is Jackie Dawson and I suffer from an addiction best described as ‘hurry sickness.’  I’ve rarely been accused of lacking energy or passion.  Often, I pride myself in multi-tasking, picking the shortest route, or carrying enough in one trip to keep from making two.  I also habitually practice line-watching.  Line watching describes my actions in check out lines. I count how many people are in each line, factor in how many items are in each person’s possession, and for good measure watch how slow the people are moving, then pick what seems to be the shortest line.  If my calculations do not seem to be holding true, I change lines, sometimes more than once.

I’m not the only one who suffers from ‘hurry sickness.’  A vast number of Americans suffer from it.   I’ve noticed that hurry is most ministers’ drug of choice.  It’s as if we’ve landed in the world of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland:  “Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.  If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”  So off we hurry, to help someone, prepare another message, or write an article.   I must confess that while I was searching for a sermon series title that dealt with this subject, I caught myself thinking, ‘I must quickly find a title, so I can work on something else.’ 

We also hurry for more emotional reasons.  Hurrying can momentarily relieve our feelings of lagging behind.  I must admit, I have taken the longest and slowest route on purpose when faced with sitting a few minutes in traffic.  At least through moving, I feel as though I’m making progress.  

Hurrying can make us feel important, or be used to prove that, “we’re not lazy!” Sadly we’re so accustomed to hurrying; many times we don’t even know why we’re rushing around.  We simply hurry because we’re in a hurry. 

Hurry sickness has many negative side effects such as a cluttered life, impatience with all waiting (even if there is nothing pressing), superficiality, and inconsiderate actions toward others.  It robs us from investing the time it takes to develop healthy relationships.  It can be a major factor in deteriorating health because it produces constant stress, and keeps us too busy to eat a healthy diet, get proper rest, or exercise. 

Hurrying is deceitful. It produces increased activity and because we feel some result is better than no result, we justify it by saying, “Next time, I’ll do better.”  Hurrying may occasionally produce good results.  However, when it becomes a habit, it actually reduces productivity and creativity.  Even more seriously, hurry sickness can erode our spiritual life.  As John Ortberg wrote, “For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith.  It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it.  We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.” 

At the root of hurrying lies an underlying and often unidentified fear: “If I don’t do this, it won’t get done.”  Therefore, hurrying can prevent us from walking in God’s grace.  In our survival mentality, instead of slowing down long enough to discover God’s plan and timing, we do it our way.  In Exodus 14, we find the importance God places on slowing down.  The children of Israel were in a tight spot.  On one side the Egyptians were coming, and on the other was the Red Sea.  Then in direct opposition to their natural senses and desire to do something now, Moses was inspired to give the following instructions:  … "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."   Exodus 14:13-14 NKJV   

Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is ‘nothing’, but that is exactly what God wanted the children of Israel to do first.  We had rather God tell us anything but stand still and watch.  We want deliverance, but we want it on our terms.  Yet, God told them to stand still, I will fight for you.  I can hear myself protesting, “But God don’t you need me too….”  It was God’s plan all along to deliver them in a miraculous way.  All they had to do was resist their fear, stand still and let God lead the way.   

I wonder how different things would be, if we re-ordered our lives and made a practice of first standing still to enjoy God’s presence and discover His plan for our situation.  Not jut in a moment of crisis, but as normal part of our every day lives.  Have we developed our heart to the place to where we can simply spend time with Him, and trust Him to see us through?  I’ve far from mastered this activity, but by the grace of God, I’m getting better and overcoming the addiction of hurry sickness.  By the way, for those of you who think standing still represents laziness or a lot of down time, look at Ex 14:15  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!  NLT 

Slowing down positions us to move forward effectively.  For those of us who energetically enjoy life and productivity, that’s great news. 

Be still, and know that I am God:   Ps 46:10 KJV

Seizing Our Divine Moments

What do you expect out of life today?  What do you expect out of life tomorrow?  Are your expectations of tomorrow much greater than your expectations of today?  When we face difficulties today, we know God will make tomorrow better.  But, how often do we miss divine opportunities today because we believe God is going to do something great tomorrow?   How often do we miss today’s miracle because we have no expectation of it until tomorrow? 

In 1 Samuel 13:22-14:23 Saul and the children of Israel were facing extremely difficult circumstances.   The Philistines had gathered against them and the entire nation of Israel had only two swords to fight them with.  Saul, with his fears of today and his 600 men, sat under a pomegranate tree and waited.  However, Jonathan in the same moment and with the same obstacles seized his divine opportunity.

Both men had the authority of God.  Both could do something about the situation with the same promise of God. Only one did.  

In this story we find four characteristics common in those who seize their divine moments.   First, Jonathan knew he had to act today.   Waiting under a tree would not cause the Philistine garrison to go away.  People, who seize their divine moments are people of action, they go unless they get a no.  

Second, Jonathan did not seek advice from those unwilling to act.  He did not tell his father what he was going to do, and the people did not know Jonathan was gone.  People who are unwilling to act are usually quick to tell us why we should not act.   

Third, Jonathan acted in spite of uncertainty.    He did not know victory was certain before he took action.  Jonathan was not paralyzed by thoughts of failure. He told his armor bearer, “It may be that the Lord will work for us.”  Even men of great faith will sometimes fail because each great opportunity to succeed always has the potential for failure.  People, who seize their divine moments, are accustomed to acting even when surrounded with uncertainty. 

  

Fourth, Jonathan realized divine moments don’t often appear to be divine.  The key to winning this battle was not Jonathan’s strength, but God’s.  He reminded himself and his armor bearer, “For there is nothing to prevent the Lord from saving by many or by few.”     

Jonathan’s effort ensured the Philistines defeat.  

Examples of situations with plenty of opportunity for failure are found throughout the Bible.:  1)  Naaman was angry because he was asked to wash in the dirty Jordan River.  He also thought the man of God would put on a show for him.  However, thanks to good advice from a servant Naaman did what he was told and got his miracle.  2)  The disciples had fished all night, and caught nothing.   Then Jesus told them to launch out into the deep.  To the experienced fisherman this was the wrong place to be fishing, but, they got their large catch when they acted on the word of Jesus.  3)  In John 6:9 Jesus was going to feed the multitude, but their supply looked very inadequate.  Andrew said “There is a lad here, which has five barley loaves, and two small fish:  but what are they among so many?”  When given to God their need was supplied with twelve baskets left over.  These are but few of many situations where failure looked inevitable, but when action was taken in spite of that fear, the divine moment was seized. 

The following quote from Love Beyond Reason by John Ortberg explains our need to pursue our God given dreams even when the circumstances are not very divine:

We talk much in our day about safe places, because our world seems so unsafe.  Catastrophes and violence and disease blanket the earth.  And yet this is the discovery that gets made over and over in the Scriptures.  Lions’ dens and fiery furnaces, Pharaoh’s prison and the floor of the Red Sea, a battered little boat in the midst of a violent storm – all seemed to be the most dangerous, but turned out to be the safest places of all.

It really is true – our universe is a perfectly safe place for us to be.  Not because bad things won’t happen in it, but because as Paul put it, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?...

In any situation, good or bad, we should seize the opportunity and find God in that moment.  We must stop viewing circumstances of today as a curse, and start seeing every difficulty we face as an opportunity for God to show Himself strong on our behalf.  Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6:2b NKJV)