Sabbatical

The Elders approached me about taking some time off. Some have misunderstood that to mean that the Elders wanted me to go look for a job some where else. If they were thinking that, they never said it to me! This has been a long time in coming, almost two years. We talked, we thought, we prayed, we re-thought, we post-poned, we talked. Getting things done by committee is not always the most efficient way of accomplishing something. We finally came up with the plan presented to you via the e-mail letter. And, there are no plans for searching for a new church or the church searching for a new pastor, at least no plans I know about. I do have every confidence that the staff at GCBC is much more than adequate to do the work of ministry here. We are so blessed and for them I am most grateful.

My intent is to keep you posted via this blog. And, except for the week of vacation, I don't plan to be far from Ford County. I do plan one small motorcycle trip with my dear brother Kent Klotz who lives in Indiana. I want to pray, read the bible in its entirety, read some books on Christian counseling, and think about how to be more effective in ministry. And, I have a couple of book ideas that I want to drag out of the back closet of my mind and toy with. Three weeks is not long.

Please pray for me and for the church. My biggest fear is to waste this glorious opportunity. That is not my intent.

Old and New

Old and New, or, as we like to say in church parlance - Traditional and Contemporary. I really don't like either label because both carry baggage. The above picture was taken at the Peoria Air Show on Saturday, July 11, 2009. Someone had some tickets and could not attend. My two sons and I could attend. It was exciting. And, it was cool to see an F-16 and a P-51 flying in formation. Both highly respected, both awesome to see in flight.

A lesson to be learned in church. Old is not bad and neither is new. Old does not mean musty and out of touch. The Bible is, in one sense, very old. But, to read it, you would think much of it was written yesterday. And, just because something is new does not mean it must be suspect. God does things in His own way and it is not always the same way. The greater prejudice today is probably against the old. There is a certain arrogance we have now believing that everything then was worse. Not so. But, those who cling to the old can also become entrenched and think anything new is subversive. We need both. And, since we do need both, that is why I have a philosophical problem with having a contemporary worship service and a traditional worship service. That smacks of being divisive and threatens the thought that both the new and the old can be of the Lord. Can we not lay aside our personal preferences for a bit?

I love the P-51. The sound is awesome and so is the sight. But, the F-16 is not shabby. Both can occupy an airshow. Old and New right beside one another.

Unexpected Blessings

Through a series of apparently mundane events, I ended up spending some up close and personal time with a World War 2 warbird - a F6F Hellcat - a rare bird indeed. Very, very few are flying these days. They were the scourge of the Japanese in the battle for the Pacific. And, one dropped into the neighborhood - Rantoul - and a dear friend and brother (Eric Johnson) knew someone who knew someone and knew me. Together we all got to spend some time drooling on and in the plane. For me, it was a rare opporutnity to have a very tactile experience with a piece of machinery that I find exhilerating - representing a time that I find amazing. For others, not so much. But, it came "out of the blue". And, blessings often do just that - arrive unexpected, unanticipated, unplanned. I just want to be sure that my radar is on and I am grateful when they do and seek to be grateful when they don't. Perhaps some would argue that the God of the universe could care not one bit whether or not I sat in the cockpit of a Navy plane responsible for helping win WW2. I completely understand the thought and don't want to attribute to God more than He has promised. But, be it a note from a long lost friend, a $5.00 bill at the bottom of a sock drawyer, a rain shower at just the right time - all are gifts of His grace. And, I want to thank Him for them.