Is Nicolas your pastor?
December 13, 2011
From John Mark Reynolds’ blog (click here for the original)
This year I visited the house of Saint Nicholas.
It was in a hot town, nothing at all like the North Pole. There were no penguins, not even ice for my Diet Coke. My clearest memory was standing where the great pastor was buried and knowing his body had been stolen. Nicholas was no longer in the town he loved and no longer slept surrounded by his beloved people.
What was there was a powerful memory of a pastor so good to his congregation; he became the symbol of every good pastor. Nicholas cared so deeply for children, the weak, and the poor, that legends surrounded his actions. He stood so firmly for truth in confused times that he became a model of theological courage. Nicholas was not in Myra physically, but Myra was full of the memory of Nicholas.
Every good pastor is following in Nicholas’ steps. The medieval king had two bodies: his physical person and his sovereignty. The king could die as a person, but the Monarch never dies. The President might die, but then the President lives.
Santa has many bodies. Every pastor who loves the poor, defends orthodoxy, and serves the weak is Nicholas. Nicholas is dead, but Santa Claus lives!
In that sense, I grew up with Santa Claus, because my Dad was and is a very good parent and pastor. (Since my mother was the ideal pastor’s wife, she must be a very trim Mrs. Claus!)
My Dad and Mom did not mind if we played at Santa Claus, but every so often he would point out that the presents came from them and not Santa. “I am not giving the credit,” he chuckled, “to some fat man in a red suit.”
We knew Dad and Mom bought us thoughtful gifts, because they loved us. (The memories are good: a castle with knights, my Vic-20, my first watch, my own copy of the “Midnight Cry,” and my grandfather’s knife and tie rack.) They were Santa to us.
I watched Dad as he let folks move into our small parsonage and eat at our table for our time. Mom and Dad reached out to other people without any demand for a return. Dad may have been paid to preach, and he was an excellent preacher, but nobody paid him to answer the phone when it rang all the time.
I never saw my Dad lie. He sometimes did not want to help and would groan into action, but off to the hurting person’s home or hospital bed he would go. Dad never let me down, even when I shamed him. When I was at the bottom, Mom and Dad came and associated themselves with their prodigal son.
They were both Saint Nicholas to me.
They loved children not their own. They loved women in trouble. They loved their Church enough to pour out a lifetime of prayer and service to her. I honor them this holiday season every time I see that jolly man in a red suit or an image of the bishop of Myra in church.
Why not do the same for your pastor this Christmas?
Does he reach out and serve without being asked? Some pastors are well paid and work in large parishes, but most work for very little relative to their education. I know of times when Dad could hardly buy food for us, let alone treats. God always came through, but God often used people to help.
Can you help your pastor? Can you help his kids? Every time I saw Dad pray and some parishioner heard God and was used by God to meet the specific need that Dad was throwing up to God, my faith was strengthened. Many of our Christmas gifts were purchased by unexpected Christmas giftts from the faithful.
I remember the gifts that produced the gifts and feel very jolly.
I saw the Church work.
I know from friends that not everybody was blessed this way. There are bad pastors and foolish ones. My own life has fallen short of Dad’s integrity, especially when I was young, but most of us are blessed with giving couples who love us more than we deserve.
Saint Nicholas was not perfect and neither were my parents. Just as I hope for forgiveness for my (greater) sins, so I forgive those imperfections. There are, I know, millions of good men and women pouring out their lives for their own towns, their own Myra.
I saw people in the congregation used to answer my Dad and Mom’s prayers. Dad was like Nicholas, but his congregation was like the faithful in Myra that gave Nicholas the gold he used to bless the poor. I didn’t just know Mr. and Mrs. Claus, but all the elves in the workshop!
Can you give some little pastor’s kid the same blessing?
Saint Nicholas is in glory in the great cloud of witnesses. You honor him when you honor men like he was. Honor some Santa Claus.
8 snares set by the fear of man
June 16, 2010
Great post by Jamie Munson of Mars Hill Church, Seattle (original post here):
We often care about other people’s opinion more than we care about God’s opinion. We worry about our status among fellow humans because we fail to grasp our identity in Jesus. When we fear man, we’re vulnerable…“The fear of man lays a snare,” the Bible says, “but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Here are eight consequences—snares—that can result from fear of man:
- Idolatry. When we care about what man thinks more than what God thinks, we turn people into idols that we worship—seeking to please them in order to earn their approval or respect.
- Ineffectiveness. When we fear man we neglect God’s calling for us and we lose focus on executing the tasks in front of us because we’re too preoccupied with what others are thinking.
- Lack of love. When we’re overly concerned with “getting it right,” we turn people into projects to accomplish. We withhold our compassion and grow reserved and calculating in our pursuit of people.
- Fakeness. If you’re overly motivated by the opinions of others, you won’t act like yourself. You’ll be a chameleon, adapting yourself to any situation for the sole purpose of fitting in.
- Apathy. Fear man and you’ll quit taking risks because of the potential for embarrassment in failure. If an endeavor is unlikely to succeed, you’ll never take the chance. In other words, you’ll never do much of anything.
- Dishonesty. It’s tough to speak truth into someone’s life because the truth can be painful. If we fear somebody’s response, however, necessary words will remain unsaid because we care more about ourselves (being liked) than we do about the person (seeing Jesus work in their life). This negligence always creates more long-term damage than the hurt it avoids in the present.
- Isolation. Fear of man won’t let you delegate anything because others might not do a good job (or they might do a better job), which could reflect poorly on your performance and reputation. Fear of man compels you to control everything—even if that means going it alone.
- Decision Paralysis. When we live out of fear rather than out of the convictions God has given us, we spin in circles unable to move forward.
I invite you to join me in respecting and honoring others and submitting to authority, but also in repenting of our fear of man. Fear and worship are reserved for God. In the end, only his opinion counts.
Preview of new Third Mill series
October 28, 2009
Third Millennium Ministries has just released a preview of the newest course in their “Seminary in a Box.” You can click here to watch a preview of “The Apostles’ Creed.”
Got conflict?
October 22, 2009
From Peacemaker Ministries:
Sweet counsel 03.10.09
March 10, 2009
REMIND
Bible Conference: March 27-29: Wilson Benton will be here to speak at 6:00 pm on Friday and Saturday nights, and in the Sunday services. We will also get to visit with Wilson during the Sunday School hour in a combined youth and adult class. On Saturday there will be a men’s breakfast with Wilson and a ladies’ event with Pam Benton. The bulletin and church web site contain times and other details.
Dr. Wilson Benton currently serves as interim pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. In October 2006, Dr. Benton retired after serving 21 years as Senior Pastor of the Kirk of the Hills in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Benton received his B.A. and B.D. degrees from Belhaven College and Columbia Seminary respectively, and his Ph.D. in Systemic Theology from the University of Edinburgh. Wilson and his wife Pam (daughter of our own Claude Woodward) have three children and seven grandchildren.
RECAST
- Worship: Glorifying the Triune God according to his Word through forms that blend ancient traditions and current local styles. Magnifying the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in praise, prayer, preaching and the sacraments.
- Teaching: Engaging the minds and hearts of members and outsiders with Biblical truth as expressed in our Confession and Catechisms.Equipping our members to bring the gospel to people in their spheres of influence.
- Nurture: Loving one another so that the world will see the difference Jesus makes. Demonstrating “Kingdom-first” living together in all areas of life.
- Reaching: Making room for outsiders through long-term relationships and multiple exposures to the Gospel. Committing ourselves to spend and be spent in local outreach, church planting and world missions.
FPC is committed to excellence in WORSHIP/TEACHING/NURTURE/REACHING, believing that Acts 2:42-47 provides a “thumbnail sketch” of these values at work in the early church. Attending to these values requires outstanding, God-given, committed and qualified leaders. Thus, FPC aspires to be a church that equips people to serve and lead creatively, sacrificially, joyfully, and consistently, motivated by grace rather than guilt.
FPC wants to makes a difference for Christ in Attala County and the world. We believe this happens not just through what God leads us to do corporately (as a church), but also as individuals in our spheres of influence. We believe that every believer has callings from God to show his glory in these spheres of influence. Our vision also compels us to emphasize aggressive effort in church planting and deep involvement in world missions.
Members of FPC are more than members of an organization. They are family. They are fellow disciples of Jesus Christ. They are members of the body of Christ who desire to believe, learn, grow and give. We believe that developing church health will lead to church growth.
Next week, some thoughts on how our VISION and our VALUES get put into actions through VEHICLES of ministry.
REVIEW
The First Wednesdays that was: Last Wednesday night we had a good crowd of ladies for the Women’s Bible Study, led by Maureen Boswell, who had just a few hours earlier been treated for a dislocated finger. I promised her that we would not record the study, nor would we hold her responsible for outrageous comments she might make. While the women were studying together, I led a smaller group of men in a Men’s Forum, in which we watched a video of a sermon John Piper preached last month on 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 entitled, ‘What the Recession is For.”
Here is Piper’s summary of his message:
Now what are some of God’s purposes in this recession? I will mention five:
- He intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
- He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
- He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
- He intends to advance his saving mission in the world—the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church—precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
- He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.
We had some good discussion afterwards. You can watch, read or listen to the message at here.
REFRESH
I’ll be on a week’s vacation beginning Monday, March 16. Ruth Anne’s injury put an end to ambitious travel plans for the Palmertrees, but I hope to get some landscape work done around the house, enjoy the kids, see a Mississippi State baseball game or two, and take everyone down to Lucedale for a visit with Judy’s parents. Grant and Joe will run things on Sunday, April 22.
After a couple of sermons on our Savior’s death and resurrection on the first two Lord’s Days of April, I’ll preach some sermons that explain and apply the new statements of vision and values for FPC.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: My series Abraham’s God and Mine ends this Sunday. In Genesis 25:1-18 the life of Abraham comes to a close, and God’s blessing transfers to Isaac, Abraham’s “only” son. Abraham was promised many nations and death at a ripe old age. We’ll raise our voices in praise with Immortal, Invisible, God Only-Wise and the new hymn What Manner of Love and For All the Saints.
Evening Worship: Revelation 5 will be in front of us. “Why is worthy to open the scrolls?” is a huge question in Revelation. Chapter 4 showed us worship at the center of the universe. To worship God is acknowledge his awesomeness and out utter dependence on him. But more than that, to worship God means to love and follow the Lamb. This is what we will explore.
The cure of soles
February 25, 2009
Have you been looking for shoe inserts with Bible verses on them so you can “stand on the Word of God”? Have you ever wished that you could have biblical words on your ankles so you could “witness while you walk”? Thanks to the marvels of this popular world-wide-web contraption and the perennial demand for Christian Stuckey’s-style junk, you can have both! And you can have them customized with the name of your church, organization, or enemy. Just in case you thought this was just a the peddling of consumeristic junk, the merchandise is actually part of a discipleship program that you can order as well. You can find it all at www.in-souls.com.
And I say unto you in the words of Daffy Duck, “Shoot me now! Shoot me now! I demand that you shoot me now!” 
This American life
December 24, 2008
My work is about speaking the gospel clearly to people, loving people, being an agent of the grace of God in the mess of people’s lives. My business is people business; I need to understand people. One great and entertaining help in this endeavor is the weekly podcast of This American Life, produced by Chicago Public Radio, and available on more than 500 public radio stations. The podcast is free. Each episode consists of personal essays organized around a theme. Some of the contributors are funny, some profound and some infuriating. You never know what is coming next.
If you decide to give the podcast a try, let me recommend that you download the episode from 5 December entitled “Heretics.” The entire episode is devoted to the story of Reverend Carlton Pearson, a Pentecostal bishop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who planted a church in the early 1980′s that drew crowds of 5,000 each Sunday–and saw it all come crashing down when he stopped believing in and preaching the doctrine of hell.
Ave atque vale: Drew Blackwell, Sr.
December 4, 2008
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of proclaiming Christ at the funeral service of a friend in Macon, Mississippi. Drew Blackwell, Sr. and his family are precious to me and mine, and his unexpected death at the age of 53 brought us back together to weep and to remind each other that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Drew was a good friend and a worthy deacon in the church there.
This week I sat down to write his wife a note, and I thought about a letter of sympathy in The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell, which I had read in 1993. Some echo of that letter rattled around my brain, and I was able to find it rather quickly. For a painfully brief bio of Thornwell, click here.
March 9, 1859
My dear Mrs. Bishop: I have just this moment received the painful intelligence of your husband’s death. Little did I dream, when I left him on Thursday morning, and when he so confidently expected to visit us in May, that my eyes should never more behold his venerated form…I need not say to you how deeply I sympathize with you in your sad bereavement. You have reason to weep. You have lost one who has left few equals on earth. He was a man of God; a man whose heart was in heaven, while his body freely mingled among the sons of men. He was a man of prayer, full of the Holy Ghost, full of zeal in his Master’s cause, and full of charity ot his fellow men. None knew him without loving him; and the more they knew, the more they loved him. I always esteemed his intimacy and friendship as among the richest blessings of my life.
Your loss is great. But in the midst of your sorrow you have much to be thankful for. You should be thankful for the many years you were privileged to enjoy the society, guidance, confidence, and love of such a man. It was a rich boon, and a boon conferred upon very few of your sex. You should be thankful for the precious memories which you are permitted to cherish of his conversation, his charities, and his zeal. You should bless God for the noble legacy he has left you and your children, in a pure example, a treasury of prayers, and a hearty consecration of you all to God. Depend upon it, you have been highly favoured; and you must not forget that, if your affliction is unusually severe, it is only because your blessings have pre-eminently great.
You know, too, that you shall see him again. Those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. He is not dead, but sleepeth; and the Saviour, at the proper time will assuredly wake him; and you shall then see that his death, at this precise juncture, was the for the glory of God. In the meanwhile you are not a widow; for the Lord Jehovah promises to be your husband. Trust in Him, make His promises you portion, and, above all things murmur not against His will. His ways may be in the dark; but infinite wisdom, and goodness, and love, regulate all the dispensations of His providence to His children. What He does, you may not know now, but you shall know hereafter; and when you come to understand it, you will cordially approve it. Trust, therefore, in Him, and commit yourself and your children into His hands. Could your husband speak to you from the skies, this is what he would say to you…
The Lord bless you and keep you, and be the Guardian, Friend, and everlasting portion of you and yours.
Most truly your friend,
J. H. Thornwell
Beauty in a moth
August 11, 2008
Last night I read Jesus’ investment advice from Matthew 6:19-20: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
At that moment I thought about the photo of this moth that Melissa Henson sent me. It was taken outside her office in downtown Kosciusko a couple of weeks ago. For the entymology-minded, that’s haploa clymene, the Clymene moth. God has imparted beauty to moths too–cool cruciform marking when the wings are together. If someone sends me a lovely photo of rust, I guess I’ll post that too.
More jibbah-jabbuh about brittle crazie glasse
July 31, 2008
George Herbert used stained glass as a metaphor for preachers. How would Herbert have written his poem if the stained glass in the cathedral looked like this?
Perhaps it is a fitting metaphor for my preaching ministry, anyway. I pity the fool who doesn’t comment.
