30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 22: Our Home

Today I am writing for the first time this month about a "thing" rather than a person. Even so, I am full of thankfulness and wonder for the home that God has provided for us and the remarkable way in which it came to be our home.

We "began purchasing" our home in the year 2000, when our circumstances and means were quite different than today. Even so, we were pre-approved for a mortgage, thanks Veterans Administration, and began house hunting. We knew the school district we wanted to live in, and that narrowed our search dramatically. We looked at many houses in our price range, and couldn't find anything that we liked well enough to invest in. A few that we did like were sold before we could put in an offer, and we began growing anxious.

Then our realtor showed us this property, that had just been listed earlier the same day. We could scarcely believe that this was in our price range. "There must be some mistake in the price, or there must be something wrong with the place that isn't immediately obvious," Kelly and I were thinking. We quickly prayed together and decided to ask our realtor to put an offer in on the house while we were still standing there in the back yard.

Several days later we got the news that our offer had been accepted. We were, and are still, overjoyed. God had provided us a home with character, with enough room (just!) to accommodate our family, and with a beautiful yard providing room for our children, their friends, our friends and family to play.

In the years since, Kelly has made this place our own. Her decorating sense is extraordinary, and I enjoy hearing the many compliments she receives from those who come to visit. As every homeowner knows, you are never "done" with repairs, improvements, enhancements and so on. It's part of the joy of seeing a home evolve with its inhabitants. We have enjoyed offering hospitality to family and friends here, and we look forward to doing so for as many years as God allows for us.

Thank you, heavenly Father, for giving us this comfortable, warm and dry home in which to live while we're here on earth.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 21: My "Job"

Today, I am thankful for my "job." I put the word in quotes because I don't think of my work as a job in the normal or traditional sense. As a pastor, I think of my work as a "calling" or an "assignment" from God, who is my "Boss." I don't mean to reduce God to the mundane by saying this. Everyone would not agree with how I view my work as pastor, but in my mind, I signed up for God's team back when I was a teenager and I made a decision to "dedicate my life to God." Back then I told Him that I would do whatever He assigned to me (though inwardly I was putting certain conditions on that), little imagining that He would accept my offer.

Anyway, God has given me a number of assignments along the way, and I've enjoyed them all in varying degrees. My current assignment, though, is my favorite so far. I am really enjoying the work God has given me to do among the First Family at First Baptist Church in Newburgh, and I am very thankful to God that He has given me this particular assignment.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 20: God's Word

Today I am departing from the pattern I've established in writing about the people God has brought into my life. I may not yet be finished writing about people, but today I want to meditate on, and write about, my Bible.

I've tried not to get "preachy" in these daily postings, and I'll continue to try to avoid that. I am simply thankful that I have Something to rely on as a Guide in living my life under the loving and watchful eye of God. The Bible, God's Word, is "a lamp for my feet, and a light for my path." (quoting from Psalm 119:105). Another verse from Psalm 119, verse 9, raises the question: "how shall a young man keep his way pure?" Not that I am a young man, but once upon a time, I was! Anyway, the question is then answered: "...By living according to Your word."

As a young boy, I was coached to memorize verses from the Bible. I was motivated, then, by points, prizes, and rewards. Like most children (and not a few adults), "Becasue it's good for you!" wasn't a sufficient motivator. Now, though, I realize that it was, and is, good for me, to "hide God's word in my heart, that I might not sin against God." (Psalm 119:11) God's Word, once imprinted in my mind and soul, continues to come to my mind in these days when I find myself wondering what's going on, and what I should do.

Now in my fifty-first year, I still find that I have much more to learn about and from the Bible than I have already learned. Moreover, I find that one of my greatest pleasures is to discover a new application of God's Word in my life experience, and to help others to discover the same. I thank God for His Word, living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. (Hebrews 4:12).

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 19: My Pastors

Today in my thoughts of thankfulness marches a squad of remarkable men. These men have little in common in their outward appearance. Some are tall, some slim, some erect, some bent over. Some are smiling and cheerful in their countenance, while others wear a grim visage.

These men are my Pastors. Each one has had the role of shepherd in my life, and I render honor and respect to every one of them. Some taught me by their words, some showed my by their example, and a few did both consistently. Some little part of each one of these men has molded and shaped the person I am today, and the person I am becoming. I liken them to the tools a master craftsman carries in his toolbox. Each tool has a particular purpose and is used to accomplish a particular task. The hammer is used to drive nails home and to tap the chisel. The file and the rasp are used to shape and smooth. The screwdriver is used to...well, anyway,  the sandpaper and polishing cloth are used to smooth and finish the job. God has used each of the men on my list to do in my life what God knew needed to be done at that time in my life. I thank God for these men, and for those who are still living and serving God, I honor them and pray for their continued fruitfulness. This list is generally organized in chronological order.

Pastor Jack Beukema, First Baptist Church, Afton, NY
Pastor Howard Carlson, First Baptist Church, Afton, NY
Pastor Louis Caruana, First Baptist Church, Afton, NY
Pastor Ken Rogers, Berean Bible Church, Greene, NY
Pastor Joseph Mugglesworth, Lehigh Baptist Church, Philadelphia, PA
Pastor Tom Rauch, Lehigh Baptist Church, Philadelphia, PA
Pastor Ken Wilcox, First Baptist Church, Bristol, PA
Pastor James Bates, Mansfield Baptist Church, Port Murray, NJ
Pastor Don Stone, Victory Baptist Church, Berlin, Germany
Pastor Mike Peper, First Baptist Church, Aston, PA
Pastor Bruce Baker, Immanuel Bible Church, Campbell Hall, NY
Pastor Cam Thompson, First Baptist Church, Newburgh, NY

And, in a unique ministry to me,

Pastor Don Ashley, Scipio Community Church, Scipio Center, NY and Highland Bethel Evangelical Mennonite Church, Fort Wayne, IN.

Thank you, Pastors. God has blessed me through your ministry.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 18: Goshen Christian School

Today I am thanking God for the students, teachers, staff and parents that shared their experiences with me at the Goshen Christian School from 1997-1999 and 2009-2010, during the 3 years that I taught Bible at the school. In my first at-bat, I taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Bible classes (and threw in a Health class and even P.E.) In my second at-bat, I taught 7-8th grades, and 9-11th grades.

During these years at the school, I made some great friendships with a group of very professional educators. These teachers did not limit their lessons to their students or their classrooms--they all taught me as well. They welcomed me into their circle and never made me feel like an outsider, and treated me as a valued colleague.

I enjoyed the classroom experience and the challenge of bringing timeless truth to eager young minds, and even a few not-so-eager young minds. From time to time, I think of those mornings on bus duty, greeting students as they arrived for the day, and those afternoons, sending them on their way.

The clock does not turn backward, and days gone by are gone. So, I thank God for the Goshen Christian School, and I thank God for memories, so that gone does not have to mean forgotten.

Father, please bless my friends from Goshen Christian School today--teachers, staff, parents and students--wherever they find themselves. They are under your watchful Eye and protective Hand, I know. Thank You.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 17: Friends from Palmer Seminary

It seems like every 10-15 years I've gone back to school for additional education and training. In the early '80s, it was PCB. In the mid-'90s, it was CBSE. And in the late 2000s, it was Palmer Seminary. At this pace, sometime around 2018 I'll be back in school again. Hopefully, though, at that point it will be as a professor!

In late 2007 I entered the Doctor of Ministry in Marriage and Family at Palmer Seminary, the seminary of Eastern University outside of Philadelphia (somewhat odd that ALL of my post-high school education has happened within 25 or so miles of Philadelphia, when I have no other attachment to that city!) I entered with a cohort of 24 students, about half of whom were/are pastors, and the other half counselors. We stayed together for the entire program, losing one student and gaining two along the way.

I entered the course with the secondary goal of becoming "class clown." Instead, I became "class geek." But that's beside the point. This group of 2 dozen students was the most diverse group of people I have ever been among. We came from a variety of countries, cultures, church traditions. We were different in just about every way that any group of people can be different. More than 35 years separated the youngest students from the most seasoned veterans of life. One of my first thoughts was "will I fit in here?" Turns out that I was just as "different" as everyone else, so all of us "different" people soon enough got ourselves sorted out. For the next three years, until our graduation in May 2010, we gathered on three occasions, for three week sessions aptly named "Intensives", at the National Christian Conference Center (NC3) in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania--an idyllic setting for just about any activity!

During those intensives, the experience was exactly that. The friendship dynamics, multiplied by the intimacy of the learning process and the material and techniques being assimilated, made for faster bonding than Epoxy.

So, all of that said, I am thankful to God for the people who shared this experience with me--perhaps the last such academic exercise for me...but who knows what surprises God may still have in store for me?

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day #16: My friends from Seminary of the East

Today my thoughts of thankfulness take me back to the mid-90s and my years as a student at the Conservative Baptist Seminary of the East in Dresher, Pennsylvania, where I studied and earned the Master of Divinity degree.

It was much, much different than my experiences at PCB in the early 80's. The classes were smaller, the work harder, and the friendships, in some cases, deeper. I vividly remember the first Tuesday morning class: Old Testament and Hebrew, taught by Dr. John Worgul. I was "blown away" intellectually in the first hour, and began to wonder if I had made a terrible mistake.

Later that afternoon, while sitting in another class, I glanced out a window and saw something I will never, ever forget. Dr. Worgul, the brilliant professor of Hebrew and Old Testament, who read from his Hebrew Bible as easily as I might read Dr. Seuss to my children, was carrying two large garbage bags across the parking lot to deposit them in the dumpster. How strange and out of place! He, the brilliant scholar, doing the work of a custodian? "My brothers, this ought not to be!" I cannot remember learning anything at seminary that was more important than that. No matter who you are, or the degrees you hold, or the intellect you possess, you are never too important to serve others, even if the task itself appears to be "beneath you."

At SoE, I made some great friendships--especially in our "D-Group" (small group discipleship group). Though our paths since leaving SoE have led us in many different directions, including all the way to Alaska (Kurt Habecker!) those 3 years of Seminary were some of the most important times in my life, and the friends I made there, both students, faculty and staff alike, have had an enormous impact on my life. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me that experience, and for bringing those people into my life.