Posted in Ministry, Rant

Why doesn’t our church do that?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Why doesn’t our church do that?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that question. Another church, near or far, does something newsworthy, and the first question is, “Why aren’t we doing that?” It’s a good question, and I’ve thought about a few responses, some better than others.

When I first hear a question like that, I’m tempted to think, “Great, something else I have to do.” That is not at all true. It is just an opportunity, and more specifically, an opportunity for the person who brought it up to get involved. We should assume that if someone notices a need for ministry, then God is moving them to get involved in that ministry. So a better response is, “That’s a great idea. What’s your plan? Who are you going to get involved?”

But as I think about it further, I believe we also need to stop thinking about competing with other churches. If a congregation is doing a ministry, then we are too, if we truly believe that the “church” is just more than our local congregation. In effect, if another church is doing it, then our church is doing it, too, and the question becomes, “How can we can join them in their efforts?” We do not need to reinvent or clone every ministry, but can enhance what God is already doing. Maybe that’s part of the message he’s sending when we wonder, “Why aren’t we doing that?”

Posted in Ministry

This thing called love

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I’m playing the part of God in an upcoming dinner theater at our church, “This thing called love.” A montage of music, video, live drama, and art, it takes us back to the days just before Hurricane Katrina, and exposes the heart of God to a world that is bent on self-destruction. I have to be the God who is upset at the condition of people, and knows what it will ultimately take to save them. It will cost the life of his son.

David is described in scripture as someone after God’s own heart. Someone who got it, who understood what God was up to, and knew he could be trusted. It’s not that David didn’t struggle from time to time. But at least he had a clue.

The heart of God is an interesting concept. His desires, his passions, his concerns, his will. All things to be sought and discovered. All part of who he is.

I wonder how people picture God. My face probably doesn’t come to mind. Although, when you’re in preschool, you are pretty sure that I’m God. I used to be Jesus when my hair wasn’t as gray. And why not? Who else would a guy you only see in God’s house be?

Posted in Ministry

Eye doc

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I got to the eye doctor a little bit early. They took me back right away for a visual field test, which is much like a video game. After that initial flurry of activity, I’ve been waiting in this little room for 30 minutes (“just a few minutes…” according to Linda). This is when you begin to wonder if everyone has gone to lunch. Or just forgotten about you. Or went on break. I hear voices, so I know they haven’t closed up. Someone’s passes by the room from time to time, but no one stops in my room. Then it gets real quiet for a long time. Creepy.

Suddenly things start to happen. The doctor arrives. Drops are administered. Charts are read. Blinding lights. Which is better: 1 or 2? And before I know it, I’m done.  And everything is fine.

Posted in Ministry

First thoughts on Life Sunday

Posted on by William Douthwaite

These are my first thoughts on my sermon for Sanctity of Life Sunday coming up this weekend. I preach on this every year in January, right around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And each year I realize we haven’t talked much about life issues since the last life  We haven’t heard much, either. There was some buzz that health care reform would include some public funding for abortions, but that issue has gotten buried somewhere in the massive bill being worked out in congress. There has been a little news about assisted suicide in some states. But not much.

Now to be fair, we have done a lot with other life issues, being very busy supporting food pantries, the local cold weather shelter, and helping out moms in the local pregnancy center.

Perhaps after 36 years, just about two generations, we’ve just gotten used to it. Which is a shame, because a lot of unborn children have died during that time. A lot of hungry people have died. A lot of older adults have been neglected. God’s word proclaims the truth that all human life is valuable, created by the hand of God and redeemed by the blood of our Savior. Yet, that good news often gets drowned out by political debates, economic considerations, and questions about quality of life. If the good news gets obscured, then life will be lost. So we need to speak the truth about life, speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves, and remind each other how important life is.

Posted in Ministry

Bacon

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The thing most people will remember about my sermon today is “bacon.” I can tell because that’s what everyone mentioned to me on the way out. I talked about bacon in the context of dying to sin and rising to new life in Romans 6. I said that forgiveness can sometimes make us take sin too lightly. I compared that to the attitude that you can eat as much bacon as you want, and if your arteries get clogged, you can just get bypass surgery and be just fine. We forget how drastic bypass surgery is, and how hard the recovery is. Just ask anyone who’s been through it. In a similar way, sin is destructive, too. If you can avoid it, you do. Just look at the cross to see the consequences. The comparison made perfect sense to me. But I fear that all people will remember is “bacon.” After all, who doesn’t like bacon?

I’ve had a couple of other one word sermon remembrances, too. Maggots. Slut. Hell. You have to be so careful what you say. What might seem like a passing reference in an illustration might be the one thing your hearers remember.

Posted in Life

Manatees

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Today we went to Blue Springs State Park in Orange City, FL to see the manatees. As we pulled in, the ranger station announced that 299 manatees were in the springs!

Manatees usually live in the St. John’s river, but when the water temperatures dip below 68, they head in towards the springs that feed the river, which are a comfortable (for a manatee) 72 degrees year round. I think we only got to see a hundred or so of these docile mammals, who were content to just float around, hoping to find some roots or something to eat. While they were comfortable, we were freezing. The air temperature was around 38 degrees, tough for those of us who have adapted well to Florida temperatures. But those are the perfect conditions to view the manatees in their natural habitat.

Blue Springs is both an historic site and a beautiful part of old Florida, filled with Spanish moss covered live oaks. Before the railroads were built, it was an important riverboat stop on the St. Johns. Now, over 15 endangered species make their home near the springs.

Posted in Life

It’s all over

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Today I put away all our Christmas decorations. I took down the lights from the outside of the house, put away all the Christmas items that we set out around the house, like nativities, took the ornaments off the tree and boxed them up, and then took the tree apart and stored it in the attic.

It’s a ritual that is somewhat less exciting that the decorating that took place a month ago, but is not less a part of the year and the passage of time. After all, you can’t celebrate Christmas all year, can you? Actually, more than a few people would like to do just that. Trees are decorated earlier each year, often being put up weeks before Thanksgiving. Christmas items are available in stores before Halloween now. A day that wasn’t even observed in the early church now occupies almost a quarter of our year. Just how much Christmas can we stand?

Posted in Rant

Why aren’t you going to church?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

From time to time, I call people who are members of our church who do not attend worship at our church. I guess I should say they rarely attend worship. It’s always an interesting conversation. I don’t have to tell them why I’ve called. They immediately know. As soon as I say, “Hi, this is Pastor Douthwaite,” they interrupt and say, “You know we were just talking about you, and we were just talking about how we need to get back to church, and even though we’ll be out of town this weekend, we’ll be there the following Sunday.” All in one breath. A scripted response. They know exactly what to say. At least they think that’s what I want to hear.

Even though all of our members promise that they will remain faithful to the church, even to the point of death, from my experience there are always a few families that haven’t attended in over a year, and that includes Christmas and Easter. Even if they begin to attend or their names are taken off the membership rolls, other families will take their place. I’ve concluded that this is just part of the nature of the church.

Of course, in some of these conversations, I learn why people don’t go to their church. They travel. They or their children are sick. They have guests from out of town staying in their homes. They worked a lot over the past week and are too tired. They were re-tiling their floors. There was a soccer (or baseball or football) game. They had a rough week. Imagine using all those excuses for not going in to work. I imagine you wouldn’t have that job very long.

Reasons for not attending I never hear are, “We don’t like you or your church. We disagree with what you believe. We aren’t getting anything out of your sermons. We don’t like the music.” Could it be that most people join a church without any intent of actually attending on a regular basis? Perhaps we do not clearly express this expectation.

Posted in Life, Ministry

Real Epiphany thoughts

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Epiphany brings back great memories of touring with the Ft. Wayne Seminary Kantorei each winter I was studying for my M.Div. 12-16 male voices plus an organist and director packed up a couple of vans and headed out for a two week tour of churches in different areas of the country.

My first year found us in Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri. That was a long, cold trip (We always traveled in early January). My second year I think we didn’t roam as far, going to Wisconsin and Minnesota. My fourth year is fuzzy; I’m thinking we were in Indiana and Illinois, perhaps some Ohio.

This was probably my most enjoyable choral experience. Very talented director, voices, and instrumentalists. A lot of camaraderie with men all studying for the pastoral ministry. I still remember the music, the people, and the worship experiences.

The current edition of the Kantorei is touring in parts of Florida this year, but in parts of Florida not close by, so I won’t get to see them. I hope that they have just as memorable experience as I did.