Glory!

I’m sick today. Shocker.

I don’t keep an exact tally of my sick days. But a realistic count for the last year was 60-65 times. I consistently average one Fibromyalgia flareup per week. With me the flareup symptoms look like the common cold, minus the fever. Many flareups last more than one day. And that’s not counting all the “real” times I get sick… I’m IgA (immunoglobulin A) Deficient. Open a new tab and google it. 🙂

On many days, I can push through; on others (like today), I can barely move around. Everything hurts. Thoughts are foggy. My skin is sensitive to the touch.

My Mean Summer Book List

I started an on-site summer ministry intern program in 2017. Interns arrive for a training week, then work with us in our 9-week summer day camp and feeding program. They’re with campers, many of whom are from difficult low-income backgrounds, from 7:30am to 6:00pm five days a week. We house them, feed them, and all adopt them as part of our family.

And I train them the best I know how. We spend the early mornings and evenings discussing the day camp, ministry “land mines,” and the 21 assigned books interns are supposed to read while here. When I mentioned the 21 assigned books to someone yesterday, they said “you’re mean.” Yep.

I chose the books that most powerfully influenced my life and ministry practices.

One of those books is 50 People every Christian Should Know by Warren Wiersbe. I’ve read that book often; each time it reminds me God uses all types, that there’s no one way to serve God, and that many other Christians have faithfully served Him in spite of their frail bodies.
Wiersbe devotes one chapter to the 19th Century Scottish pastor Andrew Bonar.

[Trivia Bit: Andrew’s older brother was Horatius Bonar, who wrote many hymns including his most famous “I heard the Voice of Jesus Say.“]

Life at 80

At 80 years old Andrew Bonar made a journal entry:“I see distinctly that my Lord is teaching me to glory in my infirmities and to be willing to be set aside…all this is saying ‘He must increase; I must decrease.’”
Those words resounded through my mind today. Bonar was quoting the Apostle Paul 2 Corinthians 12 (from the King James Version). In verse 8 Paul recounts praying 3 times God would remove a “thorn in his flesh.” [Brilliant Biblical Scholars disagree about that mysterious “thorn.” So I certainly will not wade into that quagmire. I’m not concerned today with the thorn, but Paul’s response.]

But instead of granting Paul’s request, God responded to Paul in verse 9 with “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul then explains to his readers what he will now do, given the Lord’s response…

“Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10).

Glory!

My wife and I lived in Kansas City for six years. We moved there when I began seminary. I completed my M.Div. in 4 years. My wife then began her Masters in Education and I began working for a Christian non-profit. Shortly after moving to Kansas City, we began attending church with a man who also worked and taught at my seminary. This man sang in the church choir. After singing any choral number that especially touched his heart, he’d LOUDLY shout, “Glory!”

These extemporaneous shouts of praise were especially heart-warming if you knew the man– always clean cut, never at church or the seminary without jacket and tie. He taught church finance classes in addition to his work as a seminary administrator.

Yet when singing about his Savior, this straight-laced man often couldn’t contain his joy. The exultation would eventually come bursting from his lungs with his familiar, “Glory!”

Beware of projecting some awkward and monotonous ‘Sunday morning Bible reading’ on the Apostle Paul’s response. It’s clear Paul was not afraid to express emotion.

The same God who set the stars in the heavens has finally finally spoken, after Paul’s three heartfelt requests to remove that “thorn.” However God answered, I believe Paul would have been thrilled that God finally gave him an answer.

“Most gladly therefore will I rather GLORY! in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (emphasis mine, obviously)

Rest

I firmly believe God will, one day, heal me of my current auto-immune conditions. For reasons I don’t understand, He’s yet to grant my requests.
No matter. I don’t follow God for what He will do for me. I follow Him for what He has already done. He’s forgiven me, called me his “beloved child,” and lavished His grace upon me.

Yes, even with 60-65 days of sickness per year, even with my own current aches and pains, I will agree that “His grace is sufficient.” And, like the Apostle Paul and that dear man shouting from the choir loft, “I will Glory! in my infirmities.”

Furthermore, on this day when the simplest tasks left me feeling winded, I will stand in agreement with the Apostle Paul… when I am weak, then am I strong. 

It’s 10:30pm. That’s late for me. My sleep schedule is now off from too much sleep earlier today. My body needs more rest. But Andrew’s older brother, Horatius, reminds me… It’s Christ, not a comfy mattress, who gives me the rest I truly need. Good night, friends.

May you Glory! in your infirmities, whatever they are and however long they linger.


I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto Me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon My breast!”
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
and He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down, and drink, and live!”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright!”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in Him my Star, my Sun;
and in that Light of life I’ll walk,
till all my journey’s done.

I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,Horatius Bonar, 1846

A letter in the bushes

Shopping carts

It’s a little after 8:00am Saturday, December 1. I exit our backyard gate, walk through our church courtyard, and proceed towards a church back door. I see the shopping carts. Frustration immediately rises inside me.

I woke up several hours earlier feeling sick. I have to start moving to lessen my severe whole-body pain and fatigue. But this isn’t a post about my frail body. I’ve already written about that here, here, and here.

I enter the church building and begin preparing for our 9am church work and cleanup day. When you pastor a church with a massive aging facility, much of your mental energy gravitates toward days like this. But cleanup is relative when you also pastor the homeless. I agreed to two shopping carts in our church courtyard. Now there are six.

5 weeks earlier

A homeless man rings the Parsonage doorbell at 7:00am. [FYI, a “Parsonage” is a church-owned house where the “Parson” lives. Parson is basically an archaic word for “Pastor.” In the U.S. we rarely see this word, unless it’s being used with the suffix to describe this unique class of houses….or when we sing “Walking in a Winter Wonderland.” Bonus points if you don’t need to google the lyrics to remember the reference.]

I open the door to see a familiar face. I’ve known this homeless man for 5.5 years. Many in the Wedgwood area of Fort Worth would recognize his face. Some of my local readers have probably already guessed who I’m writing about and can picture him now. In this post, I’ll call him Dave*.

My famous front door…

It’s not unusual for homeless people to ring our doorbell. I’ve learned word travels quickly in the homeless community…I’m talked about. My home’s location gets shared and described. ‘There’s a pastor who lives on that corner by Goodwill, in a house with a dark blue door, who won’t just run you off the property if you ask for help.’

But it’s not just the homeless community who refers others to me for help. The local Goodwill store across the street, bless their hearts, has been happy to direct broke homeless customers to me when they can’t pay. And, interestingly enough, other churches who rent our facility have directed homeless people to my front door.
I’ll never forget the time 3 years ago an usher of the 300-member all-Black church that rents our space brought a black homeless man to me who needed help…me, a white pastor with a predominantly white church, a church so tiny and on the brink of closure we needed other renters to help us stay open. [To be fair to that usher and the other church, they had just moved to our property from another location 15 minutes away. The usher probably assumed I had a prior relationship with this homeless man]

Dave has been homeless for almost 20 years. He can’t remember an exact date. Even if you were taught proper social etiquette, years of street-living causes memory loss about such rules.

‘Bells will be ringing’

Dave has pressed the Parsonage doorbell many, MANY times. Dave has a gift for ringing at the most inopportune times: our boys’ nap times, early mornings, dinner times, 10:00pm, and once, at 2:30am. The doorbell’s chime is always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS accompanied by our 100-pound Chocolate Lab’s loud bark. Parents of little kids feel our pain.

For some unknown reason, Dave never rings the doorbell just once. It’s always a quick double ring. If we don’t answer the door fast enough. He rings it again, and again. Then the fist pounding begins. His front door techniques aren’t unique. Most homeless people at our front door follow the same pattern. I’m not sure why.

Given the types of people I regularly interact with, we have a strict family rule: my wife does not open the front door if I’m not home. One afternoon she had to break that rule when a homeless woman came to the door. After 5 minutes of relentless ringing, door pounding, front window-peeking (seriously), garage-window peeking (yeah), and dog barking, my wife had to break our family rule and ask the woman to come back later. Did I mention this was during our baby’s nap time??

Garage greetings

A few weeks ago, Dave (thought he) saw me pulling into our small and tight garage. So he followed behind the van and entered the garage to greet me as I opened the van door. You guessed it. It wasn’t me, but my wife. She exited the car, and stood in a 3.5ft gap between her van door and the side garage wall, with another garage wall behind her and Dave standing in front of her, blocking her path.

Yep.

He recognized his mistake and quickly backed out of the garage, sincerely apologizing to my wife (and later to me) for scaring her.

In my desperation from working with such people, I quickly sought out principles from experts such as Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, who wrote the book Boundaries; When to say YES and when to say NO to take control of your life.

When serving people who appear to have no boundaries my professional and family boundaries had to become pretty firm. (Although, after that garage incident and a few others like it, my wife may feel my boundaries are still a little squishy!)

Refreshingly Honest

Many homeless who come to me say what they think I want to hear (and attempt to quote me every possible Bible verse they know)…they’re just trying to get back on their feet; they need bus fare or gas money to reach their dying mother hundreds of miles away; their new job starts Monday and just need a few bucks until then; they just need money for tonight’s stay in a motel but (miraculously!) they’ll be financially self-sufficient to pay for all subsequent nights; they’ve been clean and sober for months, or years.

Dave is different; he’s always been refreshingly honest with me: He makes decent money panhandling and considers that his job. He’s ‘a drunk’ and doesn’t plan to, or can’t, change.
He doesn’t do drugs anymore, but only because he doesn’t like how psychotic they make him feel.

Chronically homeless

Professionals in the field describe people like Dave as “chronically homeless:” homeless for over a year with at least one disabling condition (e.g. mental illness, addiction, physical disability). He’ll quickly tell you he prefers the streets to any type of free housing he might be offered. Sadly, I’ve learned this is true with many “chronically homeless.”

There’s no doubt Dave suffers from multiple disabling conditions…alcohol addiction, a sickly body from years of hard living, and mental illness. While working in the back yard, I occasionally hear Dave as he walks down the road. It sounds like he’s having an argument, but no one else is with him. One time I had to give Dave some tough love; that angered him for months. We run a resident summer internship in conjunction with our summer day camp and feeding program. When an intern was setting out the trash one morning. Dave walked by and let loose a tirade about what a terrible person I am.

After almost two decades living outside, Dave is now claustrophobic inside the same buildings that give others warmth and security. He now views ‘four walls’ as obstacles to a quick escape if he’s attacked (he always sleeps with a knife). In the 5.5. years I’ve known him, he’s only attended our church worship service once. His visit lasted 5 minutes; he was in and out before the service even started. Church Growth experts would weigh my hours spent with Dave against Dave’s church attendance patterns and probably assess it as the worst-possible Church Growth strategy.

A sad past

During late-night conversations on my front porch or afternoon chats in our church’s front lobby (with 4 all-glass doors and glass side panels that give the feel of still being outdoors), Dave has slowly shared details from his traumatic past. Given his honesty with me about other issues, I believe most of the details are true.

After years of abuse in foster care, Dave finally aged out of the system. He spent a short time in the military, but received a dishonorable discharge due to uncontrollable anger. After that, he worked whatever blue-collar jobs he could find. Frequent alcohol use led to a couple DUIs. Eventually, he married. He and his wife spent their weekends doing cocaine…until he found her dead in the bathroom from an overdose. After her death, he quickly spiraled out of control.

Morning request

On this 7am morning, we’re busily preparing our oldest for school before his 7:50 tardy bell. I smell the beer on Dave’s breath as he begins his request. He speaks in his usual long-winded and ‘beat-around-the-bush’ style: he wants to temporarily store some of his sister’s belongings here at the church.

I interrupt him. I’m happy to talk more later but need to take my son to school. If he will meet me at the front of the church building at 8:00am, we can talk more. At 10:50am he finally arrives. I’ve learned time is fluid in the chronically homeless community, at least with the ones I know.

Dave asks to store a couple shopping carts filled with items in our church courtyard. His sister [not his real sister, but they ‘adopted’ each other many years ago] also lives on the streets, or with abusive men who take advantage of her vulnerability. She’s also chronically homeless; I regularly see her, body racked with tremors, pushing around a shopping cart as she dumpster-dives behind businesses, and always talking to herself.

A troubled mind’s treasures

Occasionally, Dave’s sister finds something valuable from her daily dumpster-dives. She sells what she can to the local pawn shop or jewelry store. But (in my unprofessional opinion), she mainly collects items because she’s a compulsive hoarder. Like my boys who fill their pockets with worthless ‘treasures,’ she fills shopping carts to the point of overflowing with worthless junk.

How do I know most of the items are worthless? First, she found them in dumpsters, so that’s not a good start. Although, I admit, our society throws away a plenty of good items. Second, I know they’re worthless because I’ve had time to inspect six full shopping carts of her ‘treasures,’ all hiding in our church courtyard. What few items held some value were now worth even less after sitting 5+weeks outdoors (including through two heavy rain storms).

I listen to Dave’s request that Friday morning in our church lobby. His sister found a storage locker employee who would rent her a unit without ID. She just needed to provide one month’s pre-paid rent. A friend with a car would help them haul items after work Friday evening and all-day Saturday. They just needed a place to store them until then.

I heard a similar story three years earlier. It ended with a church volunteer group filling half a dumpster after Dave and his sister disappeared for months. But, I give them another chance, and a stern warning that our church would not be responsible for any items after the Saturday night deadline. That conversation was Friday, November 2

Work Day

The deadline came and went. Four more shopping carts appeared at some unknown later date, pushed in through a broken gate entrance. Now, I see all six carts as I prepare for our church work day.

So frustrating.

I’ve organized this day to clean up our old facility. Yet my leniency with Dave has created more trash we now have to clean up. But not today. I should at least track him down and warn him before I throw away everything and return all the stolen shopping carts. And, when I do see him, I’ll give him another stern lecture about lying to me and abusing our church’s generosity. I pull my church keys out of my pocket and enter the building. But my frustration festers.

Today’s church work day list includes patching leaks in our roof (cursed flat gravel rooftop!), vacuuming 30+ year-old carpet, cleaning and organizing a kitchen in constant use from multiple churches and a funeral home, and trimming holly bushes out front.

A piece of paper in the pile

I check on two of our men trimming our bushes and bagging up the clippings. One of them gives me a note. He found it underneath a bush near the church front doors. It’s a blank piece of card stock the size of a bookmark. Barely-legible handwriting fills one side. The note has obviously been outside for a while, water-damaged and a little dirty.

I quickly scan the handwriting and inspect the signature. The handwriting is so poor and cramped on the narrow paper, but I can still make it out. It’s a note from Dave. He must have stuffed it between the front doors. I guess the wind blew it out before anyone saw it. It then lay hidden in the bushes for weeks.

I’ve transcribed his note below, including his spelling and the five exclamation points at the end. The words in brackets are mine:

The letter

Dear Pastor Chris and Mrs. Pastor,

Thank you so much for helping me and my sis. I will try to be there to celebrate Thanksgiving with y’all [our church offered a Thanksgiving dinner to the community]. Thanx for the invite. I don’t think very highly of myself so its easier for me to be alone by myself. I do know this. I believe now [I’ve asked him many times if he believes in Jesus and that Jesus can save him]. I don’t believe like most do, but I do know this, I would give my life for a friend and consider both of you my friends!!!!!

His words touched me, and I felt convicted about my morning frustration. But our work day wasn’t done. I pocketed the note and continued my day.

“Being Jesus to him”

I’ve grown up in church. And I’ve spent years serving in a paid ministry role. I can predict the typical Christian comments and well-meaning encouragement after Christians (the Christians in my circles, at least) read Dave’s words. Most follow the general theme that I’m “being Jesus to Dave.” Sure, there’s some truth in that idea. I’m a follower of Christ and representative of Christ’s Church and I do strive to treat and love Dave the way Christ would.

So, yes. In a sense, one could say I’m “being Christ” to Dave (or maybe “I’m being the hands and feet of Christ,” as another Christian phrase puts it).

Thankfully, Christ did not allow me Saturday night to rest in such thoughts, which can linger dangerously close to the cliff of Self-righteousness.

Daddy Duty

I come home absolutely exhausted. My body always pays for days like this, spending the next day in recovery. Unfortunately for me, the next day is Sunday. Recovery will have to wait. My wife woke up the morning of our church work day feeling bad. But she pressed on and went to the church building to help. But she didn’t last long before calling a doctor friend of ours.

It’s a sinus infection.

She walks home to rest while our boys play with help in our church nursery. By dinner time, my wife is lying in bed feeling worse. Daddy’s on duty. I finally put the boys to bed. Everyone in the house is now asleep. Time to clean the dishes. The water runs as I stand over the sink.

Tears

Suddenly, like a crashing wave, words from the Bible flood my thoughts. They’re Jesus’ words. I begin sobbing, trying not to wake my sick wife or our little boys…

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:14

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40


Why is it we Christians gravitate to the few Bible verses describing our position as “being Jesus” to the world but ignore the verses where the world is “being Jesus” us? It’s right there in Matthew 25:40. Whatever I do for Dave, I’m doing for Jesus.
As my tears fall into the sink, I’m overwhelmed with this truth: without even knowing it, Dave wrote Jesus’ words to me.

Like Jesus, Dave says I am his “friend.” I’ve said Dave is a nuisance.

Like Jesus, Dave says he would give his life to his friend. I struggle to give Dave 10 minutes

So…who’s really “being Jesus” in our relationship?

“You search the Scriptures…”

I woke up from a Night Terror several weeks ago. Probably pastor stress. It was 2:30am, but my adrenaline was pumping. I got out of bed and began reading my Bible for the next 3 hours. Long stretches of Bible reading aren’t uncommon for me. For a while now, I’ve privately read through the entire Bible once each month. I don’t do it to be a better preacher, or become super spiritual (although, can you imagine the bragging rights this can get you in the Christian community?!) And it’s definitely NOT a recommended Church Growth strategy…too many lost hours. I simply do it it because I think I heard God command it. Until I understand otherwise or receive further clarification from Him, I’ll continue the practice. [I do not recommend this practice to anyone else, by the way.]

“Thank you that I’m not like other people”

But consider Jesus’ words to religious leaders like me who fill their time with religious practices, especially practices we talk about and allow others to see:

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

What’s the point of reading through the Bible each month if I fail to see and practice the Bible’s commands? How often have I read those verses that hit me Saturday night, yet failed to obey them? Such wasted time.

Shopping carts, again

It’s now a little after 8:00pm Saturday night. I put the baby monitor in my pocket and walk out our back door. The church work day ended only a few hours ago, but I’m on my way back for more work. I’ve been informed a toilet is leaking water and the old shutoff valve won’t shut off.

I exit our backyard gate, walk through our church courtyard, and proceed towards a church back door. I see the shopping carts. This time Love, not Frustration, immediately rises inside me. And gratitude…gratitude that I have one new friend tonight; and gratitude that, when I failed to see such glaring Biblical truths, God sent me a letter in the bushes.

Weakness, My Old Friend


Night

I wake up shivering. My body aches. It feels like the Flu. Is it? Probably not. I know better by now. How long have I been asleep? It’s still dark outside. I tightly wrap the covers around me and fall back asleep.

My alarm wakes me. This time it’s 4:30am, my normal wake-up time to read and pray before the daily circus begins. Nothing is quiet, no fragile item is safe unless our young boys are sleeping. But I silence my alarm and fall back asleep.

Morning

7:05am I’ve heard people describe deep full-body pain the day after a bad car wreck. Those descriptions immediately come to mind as I slowly get out of bed. Everything hurts. Everything. My fingernails and fingertips hurt. As I wrap my fingers around my toothbrush, my hands feel arthritic. Clothing irritates my skin as it gently moves against my body. But I force myself to keep moving. Ironically, laying in bed on a day like this can me feel worse. My bare feet feel bruised.

Looking Back

My feet. That’s where all my pain began many years ago. Severe feet pain and fatigue. Working on my feet as a barista during seminary didn’t help. I eventually spent 6 weeks on medical disability, finally returned to work, only to quit when I couldn’t finish one shift. For the next two years, I used public wheelchairs any place where long periods of standing might occur.

Creep

But the pain slowly started to creep – my legs to my thighs, my low back, my fingers. I became restless with pain when sitting still for too long. My muscles twitched in bed and often woke my wife. And with increased pain came increased fatigue. No amount of sleep could make me feel rested.

Then came the frequent illnesses, colds, viral sore throats, cold/flu symptoms but no fever [now I know these were Fibromyalgia flare-ups], asthma, severe stomach viruses that sent me to the ER, weight loss, and a gnawing mental fog that I couldn’t shake.
Eventually, doctors diagnosed me with three autoimmune disorders: Celiac’s disease, Immunoglobulin A Deficiency, and Fibromyalgia. Sometimes, I now see that one disorder can influence the other. For example, I think a very mild virus last week (with the midnight fever and multiple sores in my mouth) triggered a very intense Fibromyalgia flare-up.

My Celiac symptoms quickly disappeared after switching to a gluten-free diet. My other two disorders, however, continue to slowly deteriorate my health. I radically altered my diet this summer, which seems to have helped. But my energy is still on-par with someone 40 years my senior.

Outside of this blog, I rarely mention my symptoms, even with my family. In fact, I sometimes forget my ailments until someone asks about my health.  The brain’s coping mechanisms for such chronic pain and fatigue are awe-inspiring; I learned to compartmentalize and suppress the milder symptoms. In other words, I’m good at faking it.

Interruptions

As you might imagine, it’s often difficult to maintain a normal work schedule or normal work pace. Interruptions are now a part of life. I have plenty of ‘not bad’ days, but I no longer have ‘good days.’ I now mentally plan ‘recovery time’ after simple tasks like mowing the lawn, or walking for long periods of time.

[Since typing the previous sentence last week, I confessed in a church leadership meeting that I could no longer complete several manual-labor tasks around our aging church facilities and faithfully pastor people; I simply don’t have the physical strength for both. I even asked help mowing the Parsonage (our house on church property) lawn. I’m a thin healthy-looking 33-year-old male, and I can’t mow my lawn. That’s embarrassing.]

I attended our first Cub Scouts meeting with our 5-year-old last week. The Scout leader mentioned camping and hiking. I immediately became a little nervous. One bad night’s sleep can put me into a Fibromyalgia flare-up. It’s not uncommon to wake up sick the day after I mow the lawn. How will I do after hiking and sleeping in a tent?

Lawn Work

My wife takes our son to school. I put on work clothes. It’s Lawn Day. Heavy rains earlier in the week and my procrastination mean I’ll now spend hours working outside before company arrives in the evening.

I enjoy lawn work. When in junior high, I planned to become a Landscape Architect. I read books on landscape design and, one year, requested a Better Homes & Gardens magazine subscription. Man, I was a weird kid.

God’s plan to keep me humble now includes a lawn I don’t have energy to maintain. And by, “maintain,” I mean “create an award-winning front yard that gives me citywide recognition, get’s featured in my favorite schoolboy magazine, and makes for great Instagram photos where I show my boys but really want you to notice my flowerbeds.” Don’t judge me.

Faith Comes By Hearing

Listening to something in my headphones helps distract from the overwhelming pain and exhaustion. I try to “redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:16) by listening to either an audio Bible or a Christian book while doing other work. God especially has grown my faith as I listen to the biographies of great Christian saints. For me, quite literally, “faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17).
Today, I’m listening (for the fifth or sixth time) to 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth Osbeck. Each story includes a short audio portion of the hymn, then a biographical sketch about the author/composer.

I spend the day, and the next few days, hearing how long-dead saints praised their Heavenly Father. My flare-up doesn’t lessen until Saturday morning (I’m still dealing with it two weeks later).

But on this time through the book, one pattern emerges in technicolor… the number of hymn writers who struggled with debilitating illnesses and/or chronic physical disabilities: Isaac Watts, Fanny Crosby, Thomas Chisolm, Frances Havergal, George Matheson, Elizabeth Clephane, Charlotte Elliott.
Google them. You won’t regret it.

Night

The lawn work ends. My condition hasn’t improved by the evening. I grimace when picking up a dinner plate; it feels like a large dumbbell.  All my muscles are tender.  My forearm is too weak to open a small bottle I’ve grabbed from the fridge. If my wife wasn’t meeting with several other young moms in our front room, I would have asked her to open it for me. Pride prevents me.

Our boys are now asleep in bed. My bed calls out to me. But I leave home to see a couple who recently visited our church. The wife feels scared about upcoming medical tests and wants prayer. Ignoring my pain and exhaustion during my conversation is as easy as ignoring someone screaming in my ear.
I arrive back home around 9:15. I climb in bed, quickly fall asleep

Morning

I wake up Friday morning, but feel just as bad. This is my life. In spite of many faith-filled prayers, God has not yet chosen to heal me from these debilitating and incredibly inconvenient illnesses. Surprisingly, my faith to pray for healings has grown, not shrunk.

Charlotte Elliott

I spend the day working on tasks that won’t easily tire my body. Powerful words from one hymn writer sound through my headphones on Friday afternoon. Charlotte Elliott was a devout Christian woman who spent much of her life as an invalid. She even edited and compiled a hymnbook entitled The Invalid’s Hymn Book. Seriously.

I back up the audio and hear the quote again. I paused until I could find the words online view the text as the words again float into my ears. They deeply sink into my soul…

“He knows, and He alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost overpowering weakness, languor and exhaustion, to resolve not to yield to slothfulness, depression and instability, such as the body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined to take for my motto: ‘If a man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Black Velvet

The audio book continued.

My symptoms remained the same. My circumstances didn’t change. But I finally recognized my Great Inconvenience for what it truly is… an old friend.

19th Century British pastor Charles Spurgeon said:
“When pangs shoot through our body, and ghastly death appears in view, people see the patience of the dying Christian. Our infirmities become the black velvet on which the diamond of God’s love glitters all the more brightly.”

Yes. Weakness is my friend. Anyone who daily, for almost 15 years, causes God’s love to shine more brightly in my life is a great friend, indeed.


Ode to Weakness

Weakness, my old friend, you bring out the best.

In me? No. Of course not. You bring out the best in my Lord, making His love glitter all the more brightly against the black velvet you spread over my body.

When I need help to open a bottle… I see Jesus. He suffered for us to the point of total exhaustion and needed help to carry his cross.

When fatigue tempts me to act selfishly, thinking of relieving only my own body’s pain… I see the Messiah. He regularly sought retreat to rest his body and soul yet, when the masses found him, he did not turn them away and felt compassion for them.

When vanity consumes me, questioning how others interpret my frailty… I see my Savior, who thought only to please His Father.

When pain tempts me to sinful irritability… I see God’s Son on the cross. With the nails through his flesh, he prays for his murderers.

When I carry my pain with bent-body in the early mornings… I see the Lamb of God, who carries the pain with me – “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases” (Isaiah 53:4).

When depression sets in, considering all the work I no longer have strength to complete… I see my Heavenly Father, whose strength “is made perfect in Weakness.”

When I read the Bible with heavy eyelids in the early mornings… I see the Light of the World, praying at night in the garden while his closest friends fell asleep.

When my hands ache and my tender fingertips type these keys… I see the Savior’s nail-pierced hands.

 

Weakness, my old friend, I commit to a new Attitude of Gratitude when you are near. I trust my Father will heal me one day, putting an end to your daily visits. Until then I will live with gratitude for your black velvet, against which “the diamond of God’s love glitters all the more brightly.”


Just As I Am

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Charlotte Elliott, 1836

Freedom, Not Furniture

Trusting God to provide all we need, even when it looks like that trust will cost us.

June 2018

“Buy some furniture and call us back.”– That’s what the SNAP (aka ‘Food Stamps’) representative told my wife over the phone. We just learned we lost $280 in monthly food stamp assistance. The reason? We had too much money in our saving account.

What’s the suggested solution? Blow through our ‘Dave Ramsey’ 6-Month Emergency Fund with purchases we don’t need. Then call back when we have less money in our bank account.


Rewind – March 21, 2013

It’s Thursday morning. My pregnant wife and I sit in my parents’ kitchen, pouring over income eligibility requirements for various government assistance programs: SNAP, Medicaid, ACA (‘Obamacare’) insurance, etc. Wednesday night we interviewed with a church board about a job as lead pastor.

The church leadership had already decided to close and offer the facilities to another church. But that plan suddenly fell through and, eight days later, I became the Pastor. [Eventually, our church did close. We’re now preparing to restart as Renovation Community.]

We clearly felt God calling us to leave Kansas City and begin serving this dying church. But we didn’t see how our family could survive without receiving government assistance. Since then, our children have been on Medicaid and we received food stamps.


December 31, 2017

I received my last-ever paycheck from my second job.  I had worked a second job the entire time I’d been a pastor. But that second job finally ended and, with it, a $500/month wage. But my wonderful wife helped us tighten our family budget so we barely missed that second income. (Ok…our family’s Chief Budget Officer might disagree with that last sentence).


Tuesday – July 24, 2018

A $500 check arrived in the mail on Monday. Checks arrive in the mail quite often around here. Two weeks ago our church received an unrequested $20,000 (yes, $20,000!) check. We’ll use it to cover long-overdue facilities repairs and salary for our longtime volunteer pastor. But all the previous checks we have received are either clearly for the church OR clearly for my family’s personal needs.

This check on Monday is confusing; it’s made out to me, but the memo line says it’s for our church’s summer day camp and feeding program.

I call Tuesday to thank the donors and carefully investigate where they intended us to use their donation. It turns out the donors addressed the check to me because they couldn’t remember our new church’s name.

So the check is for the church, not my family. Difficult news for my wife when we’re already over-budget on groceries. I hang up the phone.

In the silence, my mind lingers over this information. The check is addressed to me. So I could cash it at the bank. If this generous person’s check supports the pastor, the gift is still, ultimately, supporting the church. 

God gives me the strength to quickly text our treasurer the truth…a $500 check addressed to me was actually meant for the church and will go in the offering plate on Sunday.


Saturday Morning – July 28, 2018

Our two boys had a slumber party at grandparents. My wife and I take advantage of the child-free morning with a walk along the Trinity River. Eventually, our slim family budget takes over the conversation. It takes over the walk, the car ride home, and our next hour on the couch.

Should I find a second job?

Can we tighten our budget anymore?

Should I ask the church for a raise?

How can we get that Food Stamps money back?

Is it a wise financial decision to work for a church and host large ministries for the poor if we don’t have enough grocery money?

Is ‘waiting to see what God wants me to do’ a cop-out, given our tight our budget is? Should I act immediately?

My health isn’t good; how would a second job affect my energy levels for my family and church responsibilities?

I already take on more than I can handle (as I write this, I’m sick from juggling a painting project at a nearby elementary school, renovating a formerly homeless church member’s new home, and hosting our summer day camp). How can I possibly add one more task to my plate?

We finish the conversation at 11:50am. I have a special prayer journal I keep for ‘big’ prayer requests. I quickly jot down a prayer for God to give us a large financial gift.


Saturday, 1:00pm – July 28, 2018

Random questions begin arriving via text from a friend out-of-state.

‘Would you rather have a one-time gift for a certain amount of money or receive a recurring monthly donation continuing for an undetermined amount of time in the future?’

‘I want to give you money.’

‘Do you have a need right now?’

I tell my friend I only share needs with God and strive to never interfere with how God’s Spirit may direct someone to give.

My frustrated friend has to make decisions about his donation with absolutely no help from me.

He finally decides and sends me this text: “If it doesn’t come through, let me know. Should be a one-time $500 gift and $100 monthly recurring gift.”

That last text message arrived at 1:20pm, exactly 1.5 hours after my wife and I finished our stressful budget conversation.


Sunday evening, July 29, 2018

I gave that $500 check to our church treasurer.

After our worship service, I begin counseling a church member on personal finance. My counsel-turned-sermon addresses the freedom we feel when we relinquish all financial control to God.

I shared a story from a few weeks ago about turning down a job opportunity over lunch…

An old acquaintance toured our church’s summer day camp and then took me to lunch. As we left the parking lot, he asked where I’d like to eat.

This entire meeting, tour, and lunch was his idea, not mine. So, I explain to the church member, I felt no pressure to pay for our meal. I was, quite literally, just along for the ride.
I explained it feels the same way when we allow God to control all aspects of life. Of course God will provide for my needs if He wants me to serve at this church. I need only to follow his will and make sure I spend HIS money in ways that honor him. If it’s God’s will, he’ll pay the bill.


Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting

By Sunday night I felt exhausted. Exhausted from preaching. Exhausted counseling. Exhausted from speaking at an orientation for this week’s visiting youth group here at our day camp. My mind, soul, and body needed rest.

Our church’s summer day camp and feeding program, Camp FUSE, is 9 weeks, 5 days a week, 10.5 hours a day. The current small group of people who call Renovation Community their church home couldn’t pull it off without visiting summer youth groups and summer interns.

In addition to working long hours, our interns have to read…a lot. One of their assigned books is a biography on Hudson Taylor, British missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission. Before ever stepping foot on foreign soil, Taylor prepared himself for future hardships by practicing various forms of fasting.

He fasted from all but the simplest and cheapest food, fasted from warm clothing, fasted from using comfortable sleeping mattresses, fasted from using enough coal to actually keep his small apartment warm in the winter, and fasted from asking anyone other than God for financial assistance.

Taylor worked for a doctor who regularly forgot to pay his one employee in a timely manner. But Taylor always entrusted the man’s memory to God, alone.

I’ve just finished another Sunday night without asking church leadership for a raise. In five years of service, I’ve never asked for a raise.

Hudson Taylor’s favorite hymn, “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting” played on repeat in my head all day, and most of the week [included at the end]. I enter our quiet parsonage. Our boys are asleep. Most of the lights are out. My wife is already in bed.

I walk into the kitchen. The light over the sink shines on my weekly paycheck resting on the counter. Next to it is another check for $1,100.00. In the memo line, our treasurer’s handwriting reads “$1,000 Bonus, $100/month salary increase.”


Freedom, Not Furniture

After five years of serving the poor in our church’s neighborhood, I’ve met hundreds of people who receive some sort of government assistance. It is a wonderful blessing to many, including my family.

But I’ve also seen a few recipients embrace a mentality and lifestyle of Enslavement to that assistance. The longer they receive government assistance, the more difficult it is for these few to believe in Divine Assistance.

Their High Priests become the employees in the Benefits offices, like the woman who told my wife to make ourselves poorer by spending money on furniture we don’t need. Truly, you cannot serve both God and money.

The God of the Bible teaches us to spend money wisely. The Book of Proverbs especially teaches us to save and work hard. But Scripture is also abundantly clear that my hard work, a Savings account, and Food Stamps don’t ultimately pay my bills. God pays my bills.

The Bible also teaches I have Freedom because of Jesus Christ’s atoning work. The Apostle Paul, an early church leader, wrote to a group of Christians in the ancient territory of Galatia (modern Turkey). Paul explained, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Paul’s words remind me about the freedom I have in Christ, including financial freedom. I am free to follow Christ wherever he leads. If following Christ leads me away from receiving government assistance, he will provide means some other way along the journey

Christ may choose to provide for my family in any way he chooses, including from friends out-of-state and generous church leaders.

Christ is my High Priest, not some faceless government employee.

Christ offers freedom.

I choose Freedom, not Furniture.


Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting

Verse 1

Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.

Verse 2

Oh, how great Thy loving kindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
Oh, how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.

Verse 3

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed!

Verse 4

Ever lift Thy face upon me
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth’s dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father’s glory,
Sunshine of my Father’s face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with Thy grace.

Refrain

Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.

–Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting

Jean Sophia Pigott, 1876

Photo Credit: Federica Campanaro

Toilet Paper Treasury

toilet paper treasuryA good audio book distracts me from my frequent body pain. I put in my headphones and began to work around the house. As I work, I feel a deep ache throughout my entire body. For weeks, every morning is the same routine. I awake with the type of pain, muscle fatigue, and mental fog common with the Flu. My wife brings a cup of strong black coffee. I barely move until I’ve finished the cup. The symptoms slowly decrease as I begin moving around.

Of my three auto-immune disorders, Fibromyalgia is my greatest enemy. Often, physical movement is an act willpower. Hence, an audio book to distract me from the pain and fatigue. Last summer I started a summer ministry intern program. This summer’s interns will read 22 books in addition to their hard work in our summer day camp. I’m currently re-reading (or, in my case, listening to) all the books I’ve assigned.
I’m listening to The Pastor’s Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand, wife of Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand. The couple founded Voice of the Martyrs, an organization that spotlights Christian persecution throughout the world. In his famous book Tortured For Christ, Richard recounted cruel punishments in communist prisons for 14 years. He became famous in the U.S. when he spoke before Congress in 1966 and removed his shirt to show scars from those tortuous years.

But Richard’s wife, Sabina, also suffered in cruel communist prisons. Her words act as a salve to my stressed soul. Her writing style reminds me of Corrie Ten Boom, or some wise rabbi from the Jewish Talmud.

Cleaning

In February 2017 we closed our church in Southwest Fort Worth where I served since summer 2013. A small group stuck with me to help start a new church, Renovation Community, which launches October 14, 2018. Our leadership team now regularly meets with a coach who helps us plan our new church. My wife and I are busy cleaning. Another round of weekend coaching meetings begin at our place in a few hours.

I’ve listened for about 15 minutes Friday afternoon when focus on the Amazon boxes by the door. I move the diaper box to our youngest son’s room. My hands ache as I begin opening the toilet paper box; they always ache lately. I often first notice the pain in my hands when I awake each morning.

I take the toilet paper to the guest bathroom. We should win an award for the amount of toilet paper we use. With weekly prayer meetings, leadership team meetings, and pastoral counseling meetings, our guest bathroom sees plenty…guests.

My wife has expertly adjusted our toilet paper subscription on Amazon to fit with our high usage. Every once in a while, however, we run low before the next shipment arrives. But the nearby Wal-Mart makes up for our shortage.

Husbands,

Do not question decisions about your toilet paper’s brand, the toilet paper’s softness, the amount of toilet paper, etc.

This is dangerous.

Just do what you’re told and put away the toilet paper.

I practice what I preach and begin removing the toilet paper from its plastic wrap. I open the cabinet door.

Oh my goodness.

Have you ever played Tetris?

I’ve been given one task. I must not fail.

The store-bought toilet paper is a different size than the Amazon-ordered toilet paper. How do I even figure out how many rolls fit? I begin stacking, then rearrange, then stack again.

Victory.

I close the door on our toilet paper treasury. Should a siege come, we are ready.

No Bucket

Sometimes, God’s providential timing feels mysterious. Other times…not so much. At the moment I painfully stand up from the low cabinet, I hear Sabina Wurmbrand recount another prison memory:

“Days later I was moved into solitary confinement. My cell contained only an iron cot.

No bucket [to relieve yourself]…the first thing a prisoner looks for.

How I mourned the missing bucket. It meant more than food, or warmth, or light.

Stomach upsets caused by food or by interrogation fright on hearing your name called meant nothing to the guards. You were let out at 5:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 10:00 pm.”


I read biographies of great Christian men and women to hear reminders like that.

Do I pray to God about my Fibromyalgia?

Sometimes.

Do I thank God that my country’s government does not imprison pastors for their faith?

Rarely.

Do I thank God for plenty of toilet paper, clean toilets, and indoor plumbing?

Never.

I remember how the New Living Translation words Psalm 103:2, “may I never forget the good things He does for me.”

But I especially love Eugene Peterson’s earthy paraphrase of the same verse: “don’t forget a single blessing!”


Thankfulness

New praises fill my heart as I leave the bathroom.

Sure, I can focus on my pain and stresses in life, or I can remember every single blessing God provides, no matter how small.

I thank him for religious freedom, for indoor plumbing, and clean toilets.

I thank him for His many blessings, including our tightly packed toilet paper treasury.


 

Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
to keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.

All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son and Spirit blest,
who reign in highest heaven
the one eternal God,
whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore. 

–Martin Rinkhart, “Now Thank We All Our God” 1636