I had a meeting with members of the Baptist Mid Missions field council last Tuesday night. The field council consists of the president, vice president, and secretary treasurer of all the missionaries in Australia. It sounds like a very serious meeting but was actually a time of great encouragement and fellowship for me.
About six months ago I met with the field council so that we could evaluate how I was doing. I shared with them some issues I was struggling with and we talked about how to deal with them. They gave me lots of advice at that meeting which proved extremely useful during the months that followed. Now six months later they wanted to have another meeting to check up on my progress.
As I sat down into an easy chair with a cup of coffee Tuesday night I wasn't worried about the meeting. There was no fear in my heart about failures or weaknesses being pounded into my head repeatedly. The biggest reason for that was because I knew the people who sat in that room with me. And I knew that they were only interested in helping me grow to become a stronger missionary. Their goal was to build me up, not tear me down.
To my left was the secretary treasurer of Baptist Mid Missions Australia. Because of this position it is her unfortunate responsibility to care for my business account. There are two accounts for me in Australia. The first is a personal account that I use for items that are not ministry related. The second is a business account that will pay for ministry expenses. It is necessary to have both accounts because it is required by the immigration department of Australia.
About a year ago she took control of my accounts and soon found it was a very complicated job. The fact that I send her receipts for ministry items that I spend personal money on for reimbursement probably doesn't make it easier. But she never once complained about how much work she had to do for me or how hard it is. Instead she does an absolutely amazing job keeping my finances organised. Other times she and her husband have had me over for wonderful dinners. One sticks in my mind because she made me real southern food. It consisted of biscuits, bacon, eggs (scrambled in the bacon grease of course) and sausage gravy. That fattening but delicious meal alone showed that she was willing to help me in any way possible.
To my right was the pastor of the church I attend in Australia. He is officially the vice president of Baptist Mid Missions Australia, but he means much more to me than that. He is a mentor who has given me countless pieces of advice that have helped me in my ministry. He is a friend who will call me just to see how I am doing that day. He is the selfless individual who drove for forty five minutes just so he could have coffee with me at a local McDonald's. He is the counsellor who listens to me vent when I have a bad day.
He was the first person I called when someone broke into my car last month. And even during the meeting he gave me a quick wink of encouragement so I didn't take things too seriously. Sitting across from the secretary treasurer was the vice presidents wife. I have eaten wonderful meals at her house countless times and spent long afternoon with them both. Just last Sunday I came to their house at 1:00 for lunch and ended up leaving at 7:30 (I think they wanted me to stay later)! She is always willing to give me advice and help when I am in need.
Across from me was the president of BMMA. This man is also a great encouragement and friend. He is currently working with a solicitor (lawyer) to help me gain a permanent residency visa to Australia. Before I even came to Australia he was instrumental in trying to get my permanent residency visa application accepted. I have spoken at his church on two different occasions, and he is the first pastor to schedule a meeting so that I can present the CTT ministry. During the evaluation he asked me about any struggles that I was experiencing so that other missionaries could help. He asked me what I wanted to do in the future, and didn't just dismiss my plans as dreams. He expressed concern about my living so far away from the other missionaries and asked about my getting homesick. His last question was, “how can we help you”?
I left the meeting late Tuesday night exhausted but happy. It made me thankful that I have such a strong support team in Australia. It also reminded me of how important it is to have people who will lovingly help and support you. Because things will always go wrong in life. And for those who follow Christ there will be extra “drama” from Satan trying to discourage them. At those times a strong group of mentors who will help you is vital. I could go on about the friends and role models I have in Australia but it would take too long. I do thank God for every one of them though. A solid support team can even turn work evaluations into encouraging and fun experiences!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Pain Equals Growth
As I used a terrible tool of torture called a Lat pull at my local gym this morning a thought occurred to me. Almost every type of growth involves pain in one way or another. When there is no pain then there is very rarely any growth. This is not just true for physical growth but spiritual, mental, emotional, and all other types as well. Which leads me to wonder why pain has to be involved in growth.
It should be easy for us to grow into mature Believers of Jesus Christ. But instead the road to maturity is filled with painful hills and depressing valleys. It is tempting to become frustrated by this until we remember that Adam was the one who got us into trouble in the first place. If he had not disobeyed God's command along with Eve it would be easy to become like Jesus!
Living a Godly life in today's age is a very painful thing. But God has given us sources of strength and motivation to make us faithful. First and foremost we have been given an incredible standing in Christ as children of God. And because of this we also have a close intimate relationship with God himself. But another source of help for the painful journey is role models.
Role models are those people who give you motivation and support when you are struggling. They have give guidance when you are confused. But more than anything else they become a model that you strive to achieve. You see those role models go through painful trials and yet remain faithful. And their maturity challenges you to become more mature when facing pain. It is true that we should find our greatest source of strength in Christ instead of men.
But we can find motivation and strength through watching Godly role models as well.
Which brings me back to the horrible torture device called a Lat pull. It consists of pulling down a bar attached to weights that puts a massive amount of pressure on my chest and abdomen. I have to do four sets of fifteen reps. The first set wasn't terribly bad. But when I was struggling after number five on the second set I knew I was in trouble. On each of the last three sets I could not finish them without taking a rest after ten repetitions. This is not a terrible thing considering this was only the second time I worked out at the gym. The bad part was that I really wanted to stop at ten.
There was a reason I chose to finish each set even though my arms begged for mercy. Standing a few feet away from me where men who were lifting with the heavy weight machines. These were not professional body builders but still quite impressive. And as I watched those men lifting their heavy weights there was a small part of me that wanted to do the same thing. Now I am never going to be the muscle bound weight lifter. But I can begin doing the heavy weight exercises someday.
Growth of any kind is usually painful. Because of this it is very hard to have continually sustained growth on our own strength. Which is why having a Godly role models is so important. As we watch them live for God in the midst of all situations there will be a small part of us that wants to be just like them. And their testimony will be a source of help as we attempt to grow. We must surround ourselves with true role models. Ones who may not be able to lift heavy weights, but have integrity and holiness, which is much more important.
It should be easy for us to grow into mature Believers of Jesus Christ. But instead the road to maturity is filled with painful hills and depressing valleys. It is tempting to become frustrated by this until we remember that Adam was the one who got us into trouble in the first place. If he had not disobeyed God's command along with Eve it would be easy to become like Jesus!
Living a Godly life in today's age is a very painful thing. But God has given us sources of strength and motivation to make us faithful. First and foremost we have been given an incredible standing in Christ as children of God. And because of this we also have a close intimate relationship with God himself. But another source of help for the painful journey is role models.
Role models are those people who give you motivation and support when you are struggling. They have give guidance when you are confused. But more than anything else they become a model that you strive to achieve. You see those role models go through painful trials and yet remain faithful. And their maturity challenges you to become more mature when facing pain. It is true that we should find our greatest source of strength in Christ instead of men.
But we can find motivation and strength through watching Godly role models as well.
Which brings me back to the horrible torture device called a Lat pull. It consists of pulling down a bar attached to weights that puts a massive amount of pressure on my chest and abdomen. I have to do four sets of fifteen reps. The first set wasn't terribly bad. But when I was struggling after number five on the second set I knew I was in trouble. On each of the last three sets I could not finish them without taking a rest after ten repetitions. This is not a terrible thing considering this was only the second time I worked out at the gym. The bad part was that I really wanted to stop at ten.
There was a reason I chose to finish each set even though my arms begged for mercy. Standing a few feet away from me where men who were lifting with the heavy weight machines. These were not professional body builders but still quite impressive. And as I watched those men lifting their heavy weights there was a small part of me that wanted to do the same thing. Now I am never going to be the muscle bound weight lifter. But I can begin doing the heavy weight exercises someday.
Growth of any kind is usually painful. Because of this it is very hard to have continually sustained growth on our own strength. Which is why having a Godly role models is so important. As we watch them live for God in the midst of all situations there will be a small part of us that wants to be just like them. And their testimony will be a source of help as we attempt to grow. We must surround ourselves with true role models. Ones who may not be able to lift heavy weights, but have integrity and holiness, which is much more important.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Many Small Steps
For years I have wanted to run in a marathon. I realise that this is not a dream that many people have. It is just that something about the idea of running twenty three miles is exciting to me. Actually it is being able to cross the finish line and know that I have done my best is what I look forward to.
Unfortunately running a marathon is not a very easily obtained goal. It is a long and painful race that demands the runner be in good shape. Otherwise they will collapse after running a few miles! That is what makes accomplishing this dream so hard. A person does not go to bed one night and wake up the next morning ready to run a marathon. Instead finishing the race is the result of months spent exercising, dieting, and training. A person would probably need to start preparing for a marathon almost five or six months in advance!
Doing something like this means you have to evaluate many of your decisions with that one goal. When I make a decision I will have to ask myself, “will this help me get stronger physically?”, or “Is this going to make it harder when I run today”? If nothing else keeping that goal of running a marathon in my mind will make me evaluate my decisions. In short it will take discipline and lots of small steps (making the right decisions) to accomplish my goal instead of a few large ones.
That is the way most of our goals or dreams are obtained. And sadly that is why so many of us don't live out those dreams. We aren't willing to spend the necessary time preparing ourselves for the opportunity to accomplish them. Sometimes this is because we are too busy with other things to spend time preparing for something so far in the future. But normally we don't do it because preparation almost always involves hardship and pain.
I will never be able to run a marathon the way I am right now. So this afternoon I am going to start the process of preparing myself. Step one has actually already been accomplished by my beginning to run four to five days a week. But in about two hours I will take another step that for me is much more painful (literally). This afternoon I am going to join a gym.
I have wanted to join a gym and work out with weights for years, but I never did. Partly because of embarrassment over only being able to bench press the bar. But more importantly because weightlifting is a painful experience, especially at first. So I had a long standing argument between my body that did not want to go through pain, and my heart that knew I needed to get stronger in order to run a marathon. I finally decided to join the gym in order to accomplish my goal.
The background on my desktop is a picture of me running a 5k race (3.2 miles) on July 4, 2005. At the time I had lost a lot of weight and ran three 5k races that summer. Right now I am 10 pounds heavier than the person in the picture, and nowhere near as fit. But I am going to become that physically fit again. It won't happen overnight, but take months of hard work. But by God's grace I will be able to get myself back into “running shape”. This is not done by one leap of faith, but by taking one step at a time.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Loving Confrontation?
This afternoon I finished a book that discusses of the most important attributes of a mature Believer.1 Sadly very few Christians have developed this characteristic. And most of those who do use it don't know how to do it correctly. It is the ability of confrontation. There is a good reason why most of us don't take the time to view confrontation as a characteristic that needs to be developed. For most of us the word itself brings up the mental image of a person blindfolded before a firing squad.
We seem to believe that confrontations consist of a group of people pointing another persons faults. The “confrontation” ends with the person at fault being beaten in submission and repenting of what he has done wrong. This is not really a confrontation at all, but what is referred to as an intervention. These are reserved for individuals who are involved in situations that are damaging not only to them but those around them such as addiction. Confrontation consists of lovingly pointing out to another person how they are hurting you in the relationship.
As I read this book it made me realize that our view of confrontation is totally different from Gods. In Colossians 3:5-17 Paul challenges Believers to walk as children of God instead of the unsaved (3:5). This involved allowing love to be the foundation of all their relationships (3:12, 14). It also included walking in unity with other Believers and reconciling when there differences (3:13). God's peace was promised if they walked in humble love and unity (3:15). But interestingly they are commanded to confront one another as well.
In Colossians 3:16 Paul commands the Believers to “admonish” one another. Admonish here comes from the Greek word noutheteo. The word is translated to “caution or approve gently”. So according to Scripture to confront someone means to show them something that they are doing wrong in a spirit of love. The best way to do this is simply point out to the individual where they are rebelling against God and let Scripture speak for itself.
It is true that stronger confrontation is needed when a person refuses to repent. And a stronger confrontation will be necessary for more serious sins. But confrontation does not have to begin with our kicking down the door and demanding that the person change. I believe that one of the reasons few of us (including myself) don't confront those who hurt us is because the very act of confrontation frightens us. When in reality a confrontation could be as simple as, “you know I would really appreciate it if you would not just point out what I do wrong. Let me know what I do good sometimes!”
This gentle form of confrontation will not offend the other person if it is given in an attitude of love. Actually it will create an opportunity to have more open and honest communication in the relationship. It is when we don't share with others how they hurt or offend us that the real problems start. The pressure builds inside of us like a volcano until we simply explode in anger someday about something that has nothing to do with the real reason why we are upset. These blowups have destroyed many more relationships than humble confrontation.
So join me in trying to learn this new habit of loving confrontation. It may be very hard for you to do at first like me. But in time honest and open and honest communication will become a part of our daily life. This is not to say that we just go around looking for someone to confront, or go to war just for the sake of going to war. But it means we will not bury the feelings of pain when we are hurt by others. Loving confrontation will allow us to keep balance in our relationships. We will not be a human doormat that everyone walks all over. But we will not be a human volcano that everyone will be afraid of either.
1How to Have the Difficult Conversation You've Been Avoiding, Dr. Henry Cloud/Dr. John Townsend
We seem to believe that confrontations consist of a group of people pointing another persons faults. The “confrontation” ends with the person at fault being beaten in submission and repenting of what he has done wrong. This is not really a confrontation at all, but what is referred to as an intervention. These are reserved for individuals who are involved in situations that are damaging not only to them but those around them such as addiction. Confrontation consists of lovingly pointing out to another person how they are hurting you in the relationship.
As I read this book it made me realize that our view of confrontation is totally different from Gods. In Colossians 3:5-17 Paul challenges Believers to walk as children of God instead of the unsaved (3:5). This involved allowing love to be the foundation of all their relationships (3:12, 14). It also included walking in unity with other Believers and reconciling when there differences (3:13). God's peace was promised if they walked in humble love and unity (3:15). But interestingly they are commanded to confront one another as well.
In Colossians 3:16 Paul commands the Believers to “admonish” one another. Admonish here comes from the Greek word noutheteo. The word is translated to “caution or approve gently”. So according to Scripture to confront someone means to show them something that they are doing wrong in a spirit of love. The best way to do this is simply point out to the individual where they are rebelling against God and let Scripture speak for itself.
It is true that stronger confrontation is needed when a person refuses to repent. And a stronger confrontation will be necessary for more serious sins. But confrontation does not have to begin with our kicking down the door and demanding that the person change. I believe that one of the reasons few of us (including myself) don't confront those who hurt us is because the very act of confrontation frightens us. When in reality a confrontation could be as simple as, “you know I would really appreciate it if you would not just point out what I do wrong. Let me know what I do good sometimes!”
This gentle form of confrontation will not offend the other person if it is given in an attitude of love. Actually it will create an opportunity to have more open and honest communication in the relationship. It is when we don't share with others how they hurt or offend us that the real problems start. The pressure builds inside of us like a volcano until we simply explode in anger someday about something that has nothing to do with the real reason why we are upset. These blowups have destroyed many more relationships than humble confrontation.
So join me in trying to learn this new habit of loving confrontation. It may be very hard for you to do at first like me. But in time honest and open and honest communication will become a part of our daily life. This is not to say that we just go around looking for someone to confront, or go to war just for the sake of going to war. But it means we will not bury the feelings of pain when we are hurt by others. Loving confrontation will allow us to keep balance in our relationships. We will not be a human doormat that everyone walks all over. But we will not be a human volcano that everyone will be afraid of either.
1How to Have the Difficult Conversation You've Been Avoiding, Dr. Henry Cloud/Dr. John Townsend
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