The Right Piece

Every Tuesday morning at 6:30 I teach a men’s Bible study.  This semester we are studying the book of Exodus and the life of Moses.  Today we talked about all the excuses that Moses gave to God about why he was not the right man for the job of going into Egypt as the deliverer of God’s people.  Five times Moses objected and offered some flimsy excuse until he finally begged “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”  (Ex. 4:13)  Each time, God patiently and directly dealt with Moses’ excuses.  God promised His abiding presence, His power, His wisdom and even assured Moses that “I will help you in speech and teach you what to say.”  (Ex. 4:12)  Still Moses begged to be relieved from this responsibility.

The issue was not settled in Moses’ heart until God put in place the piece of the puzzle that brought it all into focus and encouraged Moses to move forward in God’s plan.    That important piece was Aaron; a partner to walk with Moses through the rest of his journey.  “What about your brother Aaron?”  (Ex. 4:14-17)  From this point forward, Moses and Aaron were inseparable.  Throughout the exodus, Aaron was much more than just a brother to Moses.  He became his advisor, accountability partner, encourager, critic, prayer partner and mostly, his friend.  As long as Moses thought he was going at it alone, he made excuse after excuse and begged God to let him pass.  Once he learned that Aaron was going with him, he was encouraged and willing to move forward with great obedience.

It dawned on me this morning that most often God’s support comes in the form of flesh and blood.  Like with Moses, He promises to be with us, empower us, guide us and go with us through all of the challenges of life.  However, He also knows that sometimes we need to experience those promises through the support of real people.  As I look back over my life and ministry, I can testify to the many times God has helped to make sense of my confusing circumstances by placing the right piece in the right place at the right time so that the picture of God’s support comes clear.  Often times that piece is an Aaron; a real person, sent by God to trump all my excuses and encourage me to move forward for His glory. 

My challenge to you today is twofold.  First, find your Aaron.  God has placed people in your life to support you through the many challenges you face.  They don’t mind if you lean on them.  God put them there for that purpose.  Second, be an Aaron.  Someone you know is struggling to be or do what God has for them.  They need you and all the loving support and encouragement you can give.  Don’t hold back.  Together, and with God’s help, all things are possible.

Thanks for reading.

Are You Busy?

I know it has been a couple weeks since my last post but the truth is I have just been too busy to…  Well, you know the drill.  It seems like we are all busy these days.  Too busy.  Being busy is certainly not a sin.  As a matter of fact, the Bible teaches us to avoid things like laziness, slothfulness, and idle hands.  However, being too busy, is most certainly a sin.  Too busy means that there is obviously something else in our lives that we are neglecting because we are busy doing something else.  You have probably seen the acrostic Buried Under Satan’s Yoke.  Busy tends to fill our live with the urgent while causing us to neglect the important.  I am reminded of the story in Luke’s Gospel about two sisters, Mary and Martha.

            As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!”  “Martha, Martha”, the Lord answered. “You are worried and upset about many things but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.”   Luke 10:38-42

I was in a conference once when the leader read this passage then asked, “Are you a Martha or are you a Mary?”  I thought, “I’m an Eric.”  The truth is I only act like Martha sometimes even though I would much rather act like Mary.  When I start getting stressed out and exhausted, it is not because of the many things I have found to do, but rather because of the things I have chosen not to do; things that feed me and refresh my spirit.  Things like spending time alone with Jesus, enjoying my family and friends, or just relaxing in order to recharge my physical, spiritual and emotional batteries.  Like Martha, I sometimes get so busy trying to do the many things that constitute service for the Lord, I neglect doing the things that reflect the joys of knowing the Lord.  In those times, I am too busy.

Once a lady came into my office and said that she was so stressed out because her house was such a mess she could barely walk through it.  I suggested she go home and clean her house.  Later she thanked me for that great advice and said that it had worked!  My point is, sometimes the answer is obvious.  If you feel overwhelmed because of the busy-ness of your life…slow down.  Be intentional to do those things that feed your spirit.  The psalmist David wrote “My times are in your hands.”  (Ps. 31:15)   Surrender your time to the lordship of Jesus Christ and see what he will do with it.  Remember, he allowed Mary to just sit back and listen. 

Thanks for reading.

Thank You

“Jesus asked,  Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?”               Luke 17:17

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that in this age of communication and technology, we are losing our good manners.  Please and thank you have been replaced by #this and #that.    Our communication has gotten so impersonal that we tend to forget just how good it feels when someone takes the time to look us in the eye and tell us that they appreciate even the simplest acts of support or encouragement.  Also, I tend to forget how good a feeling I get when I take the time to tell others that I appreciate them.  Obviously, after Jesus healed ten lepers, he noticed that only one took the time and effort to seek him out and thank him for the blessing.  I can’t help but think that Jesus was hurt a bit by the other nine who went on with their lives without taking a few minutes to thank the one who had blessed them so much.

It’s really not that hard.  When you need someone to assist you in some way; say “please.”  By saying please, you show humility and appreciation even before any act is offered.  When someone does something for you that takes them out of their way or costs them even the smallest of effort, say “thank you.”  By doing so, you show an awareness and an appreciation of their effort and show them that their gift, support or act of kindness was a blessing to you. 

Let me make a suggestion.  Think of someone from your past who has been a blessing in your life (a coach, a teacher, a friend, a relative) and try to get in touch with them.  Start with this, “I just wanted to call to say thank you for the impact you have had on my life.”  I’m guessing the rest of the conversation will be a blessing to you both. 

Thanks for reading.

May I Take Your Picture?

It has been said that a picture paints a thousand words.   For my dear friend, Doris Callahan, pictures were the way she shared the stories of her life.  I was blessed to have been a small part of those stories. 

Her story hasn’t ended.  She is now in the greatest chapter; her eternal home.  Thanks for reading.



Doris Callahan 1924-2014

Out of Africa

Thank you all so much for your prayer support for me and the team of short-term missionaries to Tanzania, East Africa.  I am happy to report that your prayers were heard and answered.  God did some amazing things while we were there.  As a matter of fact, I cannot remember a short-term trip where we had more opportunities to share our faith in Jesus Christ than this one.  We met with many men as a result of the Maasai Olympic games we held to draw them in.  We were able to meet with the women, many of whom were already Christians, and our team did a great job teaching and discipling them.  And while we had not planned to be in the schools at all this trip, God opened the doors to three different schools where we were able to present the stories of our faith.   We stayed busy every day and saw many come to know the Lord through this effort.

Baptism in the River

I have several favorite memories of this trip to share with you.  First of all, on the first Sunday there, I had the opportunity to preach in the morning service at the little one-room school house where the believers had been meeting.  After the service, we headed straight down to the river behind the school where we baptized twelve new believers.  That evening, a group of us headed down into the little village of Engaresero where we started a service on the street by singing some Maasai songs.  Within minutes there was a large crowd of people gathered around and I had yet another opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I guess I will remember that Sunday for a long time to come.

Then there were the worship experiences that we enjoyed together as a team.  Every night in camp, we would circle our chairs underneath the star-filled African sky and open our hearts in worship to the one true God.  Through singing, testimonies, prayers and just sitting quietly, we experienced some of the most precious and authentic worship one could possibly imagine. It seemed to me that God was using these times to re-energize us and give us the lift we needed to continue serving through these hot and difficult conditions.

Finally, I will always remember the time I had to spend with some thirty Maasai pastors during my final three days.  God had opened the door for me to lead a Pastor’s Conference in the neighboring city of Longido, Tanzania.  For three days, I was able to teach and encourage pastors who had had very little support since their missionary had moved from the area some six years ago.  Dan and Pam Johnson are now the only SBC missionaries working with the Maasai people and the scope of the work is just too great for them to do all the work that is necessary.  These pastors have been serving faithfully over the past years but with little hands-on training or support.  I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to be used of God to remind them that God has not forsaken them and that He sees them in their great effort to advance the kingdom in this difficult climate.  The three days of effort and sacrifice that I put into this conference were all worth it when on the last day a young Maasai pastor stood to thank me for coming to them.  With tears he opened his Maasai Bible and read a passage of scripture.  My interpreter simply gave me the reference and I quickly looked it up in my Bible and as I read, my eyes filled with tears and my heart swelled with joy.

            “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.”  Prov. 25:25

Back To Africa

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known…”

                                                The Apostle Paul  (Rom. 15:20)

I must admit it is hard to focus this week.  Even as I try to write this post, I am having a difficult time keeping my mind from imagining the upcoming events of our trip to Tanzania; scheduled to leave this Sunday afternoon.  Daydreaming has always been a favorite pastime of mine, especially when I have something coming up that grabs and holds my imagination.  Over these next several days it will grow increasingly more difficult to stay in the moment because Africa awaits!  Please pray earnestly for our team of twelve as we make the final preparations and then embark together on this much anticipated mission.  While there, we will be engaged in sharing the gospel with those who have not heard and teaching new believers as they seek to grow in their faith.  Our target group will be the Maasai Tribe in the northern most part of Tanzania.

I am sometimes asked why we spend so much time, energy and resources going halfway around the world to share the gospel when there are so many unsaved people right here in our own nation and community. Admittedly, this is a fair question.  Truly, our own community is lost and indifferent to the Truth of the Gospel message that we proclaim.  As a matter of fact, the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has identified many of our own cities as being “unreached” by the gospel; meaning that less than 2% are evangelical Christians.  Clearly, the NEED is just as great here as anywhere.

However, while the need is great here in the USA, so too is the opportunity.  Since the inception of our great country, the Gospel message has been welcomed and presented here.  Not only do we have Christian churches on almost every corner (even though many of them are weak and negligent to share the truth), we also have Christian radio and television, Christian schools, Christian businesses, etc.  In short, the opportunity is here.  Again, I am not making light of the depth of lostness here in America.  Keep in mind that I serve here as the pastor of a local church, dedicating my life to winning the lost to Christ in this particular community. What we spend a few weeks a year doing in some remote area of the world, we spend every week doing essentially the same thing here in Summerville, SC. 

As we travel around the world to share the good news of Jesus Christ, we see almost immediately that where the need is just as great, the opportunity for the lost to hear and respond to the Gospel is at best limited and at worst unavailable.  Many people around the world have limited if any access to the truth of the Gospel.  When the early church was being formed back in the first century, the Apostle Paul dedicated his life to sharing the truth of Jesus Christ.  While he spent a great deal of time in Jerusalem, and Judea (places where the early church spread and grew quickly) his heart was bent on preaching the truth in those remote places “where Christ was not known.”  Intentionally he chose places where the need was great but the opportunity was small and there he preached the truth of Jesus Christ. 

I would guess that Paul was a daydreamer as well.  Always dreaming of his next opportunity to step out in faith and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit to the next place, the next people, the next mission.  God has called us as a church to serve him here in this particular community.  However, ever so often He lets us step out and go with Him to those places where He desires His word to be preached; places where “Christ was not known.”  I may not sleep at all this week!  Thanks for reading.  

Do Something Hard

I remember the day I sat on a mountain in Southern Peru looking over Chumpi, a small village at about eleven thousand feet altitude in the Andes Mountains.  As part of a vision team from Old Fort we were considering the opportunity to adopt this village and two others nearby in order to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ.  At that time there was little if any evangelical work going on in that area.  We had spent one full day on a plane and two full days in a truck driving through some pretty treacherous mountains just to get there.  The accommodations were rustic and primitive. The cold nights and high altitude were more difficult to handle than any of us had imagined.  In short, ministering in these villages was certainly going to be…in a word…hard. 

As I sat there looking over the village and seeking God’s leadership as to whether or not to commit our church to such a difficult assignment, I struggled with the enormity of the task.  I thought about the costs of each trip, the risks involved in all the travel, the language barrier, the frustration of only being able to be among the people a couple times per year and of course, the possibility of failure.  Without a doubt, the struggle was as big as the mountain upon which I sat. 

Then, in a moment, my focus changed and I was able to look past the mountain of difficulty and see the people walking the streets of Chumpi.  Literally I began to focus on the people.  From my perch, I could see the main square and started noticing the people walking to and fro throughout the town.  I thought of the attitude of Jesus in Mark 6:34 “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So he began teaching them.”    I realized then and there that the hardest thing I had been asked to do was not to go to the mountains of Peru but rather to have compassion (love) for those who lived there.  My prayer at that point was simple, “Father, teach me to love these people.” 

From that moment on, I never again worried about the logistics of the ministry that made it seem difficult.  For the next seven years, I tried to focus on the people who lived in those mountains and knew that we were given the privilege to visit with them in order to show them the love of God.  Many of them came to know Jesus Christ, friendships were established, churches were planted and most of all, our God was glorified.  Looking back, it wasn’t nearly as hard as I had first imagined it to be.  In the mountains of Southern Peru, I saw the miraculous work of God in so many ways.  I’m glad we decided to do something hard.

So, this is my challenge to each of you as you read this blog at the beginning of 2014.  Do something hard.  Do something this year that will only be possible by the power of God.  Say “yes” to the Holy Spirit and then let Him work a miracle in your life.  Step out in faith and do it.  You’ll see; the mountain is no problem for our God.  Thanks for reading.