This week Anita and I are attending a pastor’s conference in Hamilton, Ohio, down near Cincinnati. I’m writing this before we leave, but I know what will happen there. We’ll bump into old friends we’ve built relationships with over many years. We’ll ask each other how things are going in our churches, and we’ll all say how great it is going.

No one wants to say, “Things are going really badly”, or “We’re”, losing people weekly”, or “I’m so discouraged I’m thinking of resigning.” So, we preachers just lie to each other about how wonderful things are, when they’re really not. Ministers dress up like we’re successful and smile like we’re confident. Call it faith if you want, but I still think its a lie. Why do we do this?

In the church world, we don’t want to admit our weaknesses. So, we don’t bring our real lives, just what we want others to believe. Many lay-people do the same thing in church on Sundays. They come, but they won’t open up and share their pain. I still think that’s a lie.

We do have a few friends who are honest, and know they can trust us with the truth. That’s genuine Christianity, and we go to reconnect with these people. Pray that God will use us to encourage other pastors and their wives.

Tags: care

Steinway pianos are built today the same way they were 150 years ago when Henry Steinway started his business. Two hundred craftsmen and 12,000 parts are required to produce one of these magnificent instruments. Most crucial is the rim-bending process, where 18 layers of maple are bent around an iron press to create the shape of a Steinway grand. Five coats of lacquer are applied and hand-rubbed to give the piano its outer glow. The instrument then goes to the Pounder Room, where each key is tested 10,000 times to ensure quality and durability.

Have you ever thought about what it takes the Master Craftsmen to transform an ordinary sinner into a faithful servant of Jesus Christ? It takes pressure and patience, and the work of many influences before He comes up with a finished product. And He is at work like this with each of us. This is our destiny (Romans 8:29).

Tags: craftsman, maturity, trials, trouble

Inventive genius Thomas Edison lost his great New Jersey laboratories in an inferno-like fire on a December night in 1914. Yet the very next morning, walking among the still smoldering ashes of those buildings that had housed so many of his projects, Edison, then 67, said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew.”

James 4:14 reminds us: “You do not know what will happen tomorrow.” Turn your disasters into a fresh start.

Tags: Edison, failure, overcomer, trials, trouble

When a cowboy applied for an insurance policy, the agent asked, “Have you ever had any accidents?” After a moment’s reflection, the applicant responded, “Nope, but a bronc did kick in two of my ribs last summer, and a couple of years ago a rattlesnake bit me on the ankle.”

“Wouldn’t you call those accidents?” replied the puzzled agent. “Naw,” the cowboy said, “they did it on purpose!”

The Bible does teach that there are no accidents in the life of a believer. “All things work together for good…to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Had any accidents lately that turned out to be a blessing?

Tags: accident, humor, trials, trouble

Tuesday night Anita and I attended a cook-out for the new SEND students who have just arrived for their nine months of specialized training. These five students, three men and two women, are from around the country and are eager learners. SEND is a new training program for young adults who desire an immersion experience in how to disciple this post-Christian world. They will be sitting under the teaching of Dr. Kent Hunter and his hand-chosen instructors who specialize in various areas of ministry.

So what does this have to do with us at New Hope? To place them where they can practice what they are learning, they are residing in mobile homes in the Westedge trailer park in Auburn. Their leaders have chosen New Hope Christian Center as their place of worship on Saturday nights. We’ll be their “home away from home” for the next nine months.

We’ll be praying for them this coming Saturday night as they begin their training. They come from various denominational backgrounds, but they’ll be learning about real-life Christianity from a non-denominational foundation. After all, its all about Jesus!

A state Governor was asked to give the nomination speech for Michael S. Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic Convention. The speech went on and on. By the time it was over, the Governor knew he’d bombed. After all, the audience was chanting, “Get off, get off.”

“Had I been him,” said advisor Samuel Berger, “I would have dug the deepenst hole and buried myself in it.” Instead, the Governor marched straight into the press room to face a barrage of embarrassing questions. When Johny Carson invited him on the ‘Tonight’ Show, the Governor went, letting Carson poke fun at him. “Instead of running away from the problem,” noted Berger, “he faced it”.

How we deal with failure reveals what we’re really made of. Governor Bill Clinton faced his failure, and pressed through to his own success as President of the United States. Diffuse your own Bombs before they kill you.

Tags: Clinton, failure, overcomer, recovery, trials, trouble