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 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 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.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 13: Colleagues in Ministry

Today I am thankful to God (when I say "I am thankful", I mean "I am thanking God" and not just chance, luck, the Great Spirit, Fate, or any other non-specific thing or being) for those who labor with me, whether up close or from a distance, in pastoral ministry in churches here in the Mid-Hudson Valley, around New York State, in the Tri-State area (NY-NJ-PA), and elsewhere.

Over the years I have made a number of friends who are now, or have been, pastors. A few of them have already gone on ahead into Glory, and are among the "cloud of witnesses" mentioned in Hebrews 12:1. Most, though, are still accessible to me, whether by e-mail, Facebook, phone call, or even face-to-face visit. We collaborate in sharing ideas, we rely upon one another when trying out new ideas, we commiserate with one another over common disappointments and challenges in ministry, we pray for and with one another, we laugh, we cry, and encourage one another.

As I write, and as I was composing today's entry in my head during my shower this morning (no singing for me today!) names and faces cycled through my thoughts. Even now they continue like a carousel slide projector (the precursor to a PowerPoint Presentation, for those who may need me to draw you a diagram...) but I hesitate to start listing names lest I unintentionally snub a dear friend by omitting his or her name.

Later today, at our Annual Mid-Hudson/Union Association of American Baptist Churches of New York State (just our name is a run-on sentence!), I will see some of the very colleagues I am writing about this morning. I am always glad to see them, and I always feel lifted up when I have talked with one or with several of them, or have read an e-mail, blog entry or Facebook post from them. I thank God for my co-laborers in ministry, my fellow pastors.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you today for the men and women that You have called, prepared, appointed, anointed, empowered, and all the other things that You have done and always do to put Your servant in Your pulpit in Your church today. Bless each one especially today, and please let each one know that they are appreciated. Thank You, Father, for the gift of pastors, and especially those who are known to me. In Jesus' Name I pray this. Over...

Ministering: The Practice of Christianity, Part 15

Ministering: The Practice of Christianity, Part 15

This message was delivered to the congregation at First Baptist Church in Newburgh, New York on Sunday, September 19, 2010. It is Part 15 in the series "The Practice of Christianity."