Posted in Life

How much risk should we take?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
How much risk should we take as Christians? Do we throw caution to the wind and trust God to protect us? Ordo we play it safe, knowing that we are like sheep among wolves in this world?It depends on your definition of “risk.” Is it risky to talk to someone about your faith? It could be. You don’t know how they’ll react. You could offend and lose a friend. Or God could use you to reach someone. You never know.

Is it risky to go and do mission work in another country, like Haiti? It could be. Some of those who need Jesus the most live in some very unstable and dangerous places. Anything could happen.

Is it risky to play it safe and never let your faith leave the confines of your home or heart? Absolutely. You risk not experiencing how God can use you to make a difference. You risk not seeing someone experience his love in very tangible ways. Hopefully God will send someone else. He will, won’t he? How ironic. You can play it safe and still be taking a risk!

I’ll bet most Christians (at least in this country) don’t even think of faith as something risky. Depending on your beliefs or church, it could be boring or entertaining, tedious or fun, predictable or inspiring, irrelevant or demanding. But it doesn’t seem dangerous or risky.

What are you missing if you never take a chance?

Posted in Grace, Ministry

A better question to ask

Posted on by William Douthwaite

At a recent pastor’s conference, one comment really caught my attention. “How is our community benefiting from our church’s ministry?”This question was suggested to replace some of the usual barometers of ministry, such as

Is our attendance increasing?
How many new members do we have?
What kind of activities does our church offer?

Those kinds of questions tend to be inward focused and self-serving. The question, “How is our community benefiting?” is outward focused but harder to answer. I can count the number of people who show up for a worship service on Sunday morning. But how do I quantitfy our church’s impact on the community?

  • How many families are fed with the food donated for the resource center’s food pantry?
  • How many parents are now praying at the request of their children who learned to pray in our preschool?
  • How many of our youth are a positive influence among their classmates in the public schools?
  • How many children in the after school Bible club we sponsor have come to faith in Jesus?
  • How many children in Haiti have led their parents to Christ through our partnership in their school?
  • How many people have been blessed, strengthened and healed through our prayers for them?

Those kinds of questions not only make me thankful for the far-reaching influence of the church, but remind me that there is so much more to do.

Posted in Ministry

Eight ways to get your pastor to visit you

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Pastors (at least I do) spend a good deal of time visiting with people. A visit might take place in someone’s home, a coffee shop, a hospital, or at the church. If you’re hospitalized, homebound, or recent guest at worship service, you can usually count on a visit.

But what if you don’t fit into any of those categories? If you’re healthy and regularly attend worship, chances are the pastor won’t be stopping by. So how do you get the pastor to visit you? Here are a few tried and true (and intentionally humorous) strategies for receiving a call from me to set up a visit.

Have a baby. I love to come see the little ones! A litter of puppies works almost as well.

Buy a home. I’ll come out to bless it.

Get engaged. We’ll get together for premarital counseling.

Open a restaurant. I’ll stop by for lunch. A coffee shop works, too.

Mention your desire to make a significant donation.

Allude to your desire to teach Sunday School.

Decide it’s time to get serious about those evil spirits wreaking havoc in your house.

Got a tiki bar? I’ve got a blessing for that, too.

Yes, you too can be a good member and still get a visit from your pastor!

Posted in Rant

Repost: I’m not giving up anything for Lent

Posted on by William Douthwaite

(Originally posted February 20, 2010)

That’s right. I”m not giving up anything for Lent. Zip. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Over the last few years I’ve heard much more about giving something up for Lent than ever. For some reason it has seen a resurgence not only among Christians, but in the secular world as well. On one popular afternoon talk show in Orlando, an avowed atheist and an individual from a Jewish background were discussing what they would give up for Lent. It seems that the practice has gone viral.

I have a problem with the practice on several levels. First of all, if you are going fast, even if just from one particular food or activity, you aren’t supposed to advertise it on social media or talk about it among your friends. Jesus said that if you were going to fast, it was something between you and God. You were to go about your day as if everything were normal. If you’re going to give up something for Lent and then whine about it for the next 38 days on Facebook, I’m going to block you until after Easter.

Next, God’s not impressed when people fast but then turn around and treat each other like dirt. Read Isaiah 58. The kind of fasting God’s interested in is one that helps other people, especially those who are hurting and going without some of the basics of life. When people who have little interest in church or ministry decide to fast, it means nothing. Why bother?

What do you think of this Lenten prayer by Christian Sine?

We have chosen to fast

Not with ashes but with actions

Not with sackcloth but in sharing

Not in thoughts but in deeds

We will give up our abundance

To share our food with the hungry

We will give up our comfort

To provide homes for the destitute

We will give up our fashions

To see the naked clothed

We will share where others hoard

We will free where others oppress

We will heal where others harm

Then God’s light will break out on us

God’s healing will quickly appear

God will guide us always

God’s righteousness will go before us

We will find our joy in the Lord

We will be like a well watered garden

We will be called repairers of broken walls

Together we will feast at God’s banquet table

Rather than giving something up, maybe we could start doing something new for Lent, something that makes God’s love real. Who knows? After forty days, it might become a habit.

 

Posted in Ministry

A virtual member

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I’ve done pastoral ministry for nearly twenty-five years and I still come across situations I’ve never dealt with before. The most recent happened this week when I was updating some church records. I was going to delete an individual who hadn’t worshiped with us for several years and hadn’t responded to letters, phone calls, emails, etc. But when I hit the delete button, the database program alerted me to the fact that he had made a contribution in 2011. What? 2011? I know I haven’t seen him in years. it must be a mistake.

So I checked with the people who count our offerings and enter contributions in the database. Not only did he give an offering, but he made a pledge for this year in response to our stewardship program! Really?

Now what do I do? What do you do with a member who only exists in a database but not in worship or the life of the church? This is one of the reasons being a shepherd and watching over a flock is a lot harder than it sounds.

Posted in Grace, Ministry

My therapy?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A chore recently turned into therapy.

Yard work was until yesterday a necessary chore, just part of being a homeowner. But yesterday, as I raked up bags and bags of dead grass from our lawn, I realized I had stumbled across something therapeutic.

The last week or so has been rough. After a busy weekend hosting our friend Lophane from Haiti, all h*** broke loose. My friend Bud found his mom dead in her apartment. A couple of elderly members were admitted to the hospital in really bad shape. And another, David, was facing major surgery. I’ve dealt with all of these kinds of events before, but this time they just seemed to pile up in a way that left me feeling drained.

Monday morning found me in a pretty bad mood, as was pointed out to me by my neighbor. I came home early that day and to tackle the front yard raking and within half an hour, found myself feeling much better. The beautiful afternoon (we live in Florida, so some February days are indeed beautiful!), the rhythm of raking and the sense of accomplishment made me feel relaxed, refreshed and renewed.

Well, I thought, if this task eases the stresses of ministry, then I’m going to be out here everyday, doing something in the yard. If this helps me unwind, then I’ll be out in the yard every day if I can. Today I stopped and bought some flowers to replace everything that died in last winter’s freeze. I didn’t have a lot of time; just enough to get them all in pots and watered.

I don’t know if it’s being outdoors, or getting my hands dirty, or just focusing on something besides ministry, but I like it and I’ll be out there again tomorrow.

Posted in Life, Ministry

A 90-minute plan

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I’m always looking for better ways to manage my time and get things done. Tony Schwartz’s 90-Minute Plan for Personal Effectiveness is surprisingly simple and effective. I’ve actually only tried it once, but found it very productive. My office can be such a distraction-filled place that for this to work, though, I either need to shut the door and turn everything off (email, phone, windows), or get out of there altogether.

Posted in Grace, Ministry

An awkward interruption

Posted on by William Douthwaite

One of the great things about being a pastor is that you never lack for new experiences. I’ll close out the first month of January with one I had today that was partly humorous, partly embarrassing, and a little sad.

It began as a traditional visit to a member in a local nursing home who was recovering from some surgery and receiving an assortment of therapies. After some introductory conversation about this and that, it was time for the sacrament. Bread and wine were put in place, scripture read, and it was time for the words of institution.

As I am almost exactly halfway through the words, a medical assistant steps into the room and interrupts with a rather personal question for the patient. We didn’t quite hear it the first time, so she repeated it using very descriptive words, got her answer, and disappeared.

While all this is happening, I’m thinking, “Is this happening? Doesn’t she what we’re doing? Do I need start over? How embarrassing is this?” I simply picked up where I left off and Christ’s words transformed a not-so-holy situation into holy ground just like they always do. Afterwards I was reminded that Christ didn’t mind being in a world or among people who didn’t recognize him, respect him, or understand what he was all about. And he still doesn’t mind. His grace still works in humorous, embarrassing, sad, painful, and sinful situations. That’s probably why some call it “amazing.”

Posted in Grace

Connection

Posted on by William Douthwaite

For a while now (I think it’s been a really long while), our church has used the slogan “Connecting people with God’s grace.” We hope our ministry will help people connect with the grace of God and we also hope that God’s grace will help people connect with one another. I got a chance to see the latter happen twice today.

One of our newest worshipers, having just moved into her Palm Coast, found herself with a surplus of household items and the need to some help in getting her new home set up. At the same time, we’ve been trying to help a family who was starting from scratch and needed just about everything for their household. And we have some folks out of work looking for any kind of side jobs they can find. Hardly a coincidence, definitely a grace moment as God brought the right people together at the right time.