Just after accepting the call to become the Senior Pastor at Hantsport, and tendering my resignation at First Baptist, my family undertook a wonderfully stress-filled and financially disappointing venture . . . selling our home in a buyer's market. What could be more simple? All we needed to do is finish the renovation projects I had started and not yet completed, get the house staged for optimum photogenic display, have it spotlessly clean whenever potential buyers come through, and voila, it is sold! We already had our real estate agent, Stuart Lyons, with whom we had done two previous real estate transactions, and who has been steadily improving his sales records year over year. He is the type of agent that you can communicate well with, point out changes you would like to your listing, discuss options with, and know you are being heard and heeded. No, Stuart is not paying me for this, he doesn't even know I have a rant! But he has done well for us! After all, how hard could it be to sell a house? I was quite confident this place would sell quickly, kind of.
By nature I am a pessimistic optimist (or an optimistic pessimist, not sure where the emphasis should be placed). I know, I know, the term is an oxymoron (I always loved this term in intermediate school, mostly because it had the word moron in it). How can a person be both an optimist AND a pessimist? I agree it makes for a strange individual, but I have been called worse than "strange." What I mean is that my mind is two-fold on many things. I can get excited easily and harbor a fantasy that everything will work out in my timing and with all of my desires, as long as I get everything in place that I believe is necessary for this optimistic delusion to take place. And the flip side is that pessimistic voice that calls out to me in the back of my mind, "It'll never work." or "It's going to take forever." or my true favorite, "You don't have the skills to pull this off." This two-mindedness often becomes apparent at the most inconvenient times, such as five minutes after I touch a sander to that hardwood floor I want to refinish, or as soon as I open my mouth to answer that complex question from that hurting person at work, or two days after listing a house on the market! Being of two minds like this increases my tendency to verbalize my doubts, and opens me up for some of my favorite statements from people that mean well, and are trying to be an encouragement. I find we Christians have some of the worst statements of encouragement possible. I heard several jaw droppers over the last year, but my favorite is:
"If it is God's will, it will all work out." There are many ways this is expressed, but the supposed emphasis being, "Everything will work out, hang in there." The problem is, we Christians think we need to make it sound spiritual. The result? Bad theology and poor words of encouragement. How is this phrase an encouragement to someone who has accepted a call to a new employer and resigned with his previous employer, listed his house on the market, and is now living in a camper trailer three hours drive away, unable to buy a new house until the old one sells. Let's take apart this statement for what it is really saying.
a. First message, you could be going against God's will and that's why things are not working out. This is encouragement in the theme of Job's friends. Job is always an encouraging read. Due to the jealousy of Satan, Job loses his children, his possessions, his positive attitude, and his health. He is doing so well that his wife tells him to curse God and die. Maybe she had the spiritual gift of encouragement? His friends sat with him for awhile, and then started to try to fix everything by telling him that he wasn't spiritual enough, or he had angered God somehow. Job was a guy who made atonement sacrifices for his children JUST IN CASE one of them sinned at a party! The friends were wrong. Job was being attacked by the evil one, who wanted nothing more than to hear Job curse God. With Job, with my family and the move, and in many of the circumstances life tosses your way, this kind of statement can make one feel like maybe they made a bad choice. With no opportunity to go back to do it over, you can feel your life is destroyed.
b. Second message, everything works out for those who are doing God's will. Really? The apostle Peter is a great example of how things always go well for a Christian. He was blessed, had no hardship, lived a life of ease and died an old man. Wait... that was some other guy named Peter! The Apostle died by being crucified upside down! He was beaten and jailed for speaking about Jesus. He lost many of his friends to the same hatred he experienced. No, his life was not easy, but it was an example that God uses to show us/teach us things like endurance, tenacity, and determination to do what is right. Yes, in the end he experiences Heaven's reward, but that has everything to do with his faith in Jesus, not his suffering. Jesus paid the price for our forgiveness, we do not earn it ourselves through suffering.
c. The inverse test: I find that a good test on a statement of truth is to see if it's inverse message is false. In this case, the inverse message would be things do not work out for people who go against God's will. When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment from God was, He answered with the top two, love God with all your being, and show that by loving the people He created. Read a newspaper, or watch the news online. Does it show only God's will being done? Terrorism, pollution, inequality, murder, greed, gossip and lust dominate the reporting. Clearly things happen that are not according to God's will.
What do we do with this? First, we need to remember that we really should refrain from giving pat answers to people's situations. Just listen, pray for them (and tell them that you are) and provide assistance where you are able. Most of the time what people really what when they are talking to you is to be heard, not fixed. Second, remember that God gave all of humanity the freedom to make choices for good or evil, and that our choices affect others. Bad things happen to good people, and good things to bad people. God CAN deliver us from evil, and CAN work miracles to bring things about for us. I believe He does, more often than we know. But we need to be careful not to think that just because something is not going as we desire, that it is not God's will. Satan is also at work to mess things up. You can even read in the Bible about an angel messenger held up by a demon, and unable to bring God's message to a prophet in a timely manner. Yes, in the end everything does work together for the good of those who love Jesus, but sometimes that means leaving this earth and going to Heaven, the ultimate in good things.
So what about our house? My Dad spent weeks helping my family get things ready. A storage unit was rented and filled to capacity. Almost very surface that could be painted was, holes filled, the basement finished, and everything made virtually pristine. We started in early January and worked through even after the listing being active. We set our price at a level we felt was very competitive. Then we waited. Showings and feedback, "Too big," "Too expensive," "Not my style," and "I don't like the colors." A couple of price reductions to the place that we had the least expensive house with four bedrooms all on one floor, still no bites. I was getting nervous and frustrated. Maybe I had made a mistake? Maybe everyone in Hantsport who voted for my family to come was wrong. I even started wondering about changing real estate agents. Finally an offer comes our way. There was an absolute minimum we could take, and that was exactly what the offer was for! We didn't even counter the offer, just accepted it. We were pleased to be able to move on to the next stage. Everything worked out, God did provide, but not in my time or to my desired financial gain. Was it God's will that we come to Hantsport? I believe so. Did God want us to lose money on the sale? I doubt it. But life happens to the just and the unjust, and all of our decisions affect others, in small ways and big ways.
Thanks to God for our house in Riverview selling.
Sunday, 25 January 2015
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Resurrecting the Rant
Here we are, 2015, FINALLY settling in to a "new" house (130 years old) after transitioning from one church to another, and all of the life circumstances that have gone along with it. During my last Pastorate as the Associate Pastor of Discipleship and Fellowship Ministries at First Moncton Baptist Church ( http://www.firstmoncton.com ), I published a weekly (for the most part) newsletter called Pastor Mark's Rant. It was partly a communication tool for announcements, but mostly an opportunity to talk about ideas and Christian teaching. There was a solid following, I am sure at least a dozen people read it! OK, maybe more than a dozen!
My family began the process of seeking God's direction for a new call to ministry in the Summer of 2013. It was becoming clear to me that it was time to make a shift, but was uncertain where we would be serving. After considering calls from churches throughout the Maritime Provinces, and as far away as Alberta, we received and accepted an unanimous call to the small town of Hantsport, Nova Scotia. This meant a resignation at First Baptist in early 2015 for me, and the completion of my wife's teaching position at Moncton Christian Academy ( http://monctonca.ipower.com ), listing a house in a buyer's market and waiting for it to sell. I began ministry with Hantsport on July 20th, 2014. The life adventures and learning really began just a few days later! In many ways I feel like a micro-version of the story of Job in the Bible! What more can happen? Honestly, there is room for many more negatives. But this Rant is not about the negatives in life. I have no interest in allowing negative experiences and hurts the power to stand unchallenged. Rather, my desire is to use illustrations from my life, stories I hear, and challenges I face, and place them all into the context of the teachings I believe God has for me and you through these experiences.
One thing to make abundantly clear is that these challenges and learning experiences are by no means due to a lack of love and support from the church communities in Hantsport and Moncton. The generosity of these people has been immense! Just as one example:
On July 18th, my family and I drove in to town to meet one of the church Trustees, a gentleman in his mid 70s. He and his wife were providing us the use of their cottage in North Grand Pre, Nova Scotia. We had no idea what this place would look like, where it was really located, or how to get there. And so, we start down the road from the church, the Trustee in the lead, me alone, with my 6'3" frame squished into my tiny Toyota Yaris Hatchback, followed by my wife, 11 year old daughter and 10 year old son in our Chevy minivan. We wind down streets, through a couple of awkward intersections, back onto the highway, off a couple of exits later, past Grand Pre National Historic Site of Canada (a landmark I actually knew), two 90 degree turns and into cottage country. My children get a glimpse of the water of the Minas Basin, start getting excited, and bouncing in their seats. My wife does the motherly thing, "Now kids, you need to remember, this cottage is probably not on the water. You need to be prepared for this." But no preparation was needed. The gentleman turned into the driveway of a beautiful cottage directly on the beach! His wife is there waiting, everything is spotless, beds all made, some food in the fridge, and fresh spring water at the ready! They showed us how to use the satellite TV (I think it was on twice) and gave us keys to every door, shed and lock out there! Even the new stainless steel BBQ was at our disposal! And a pellet fired stove with electric baseboard heaters for backup when the weather got cold. Based on the going rate, this place would rent for between $500 and $700 per week! And the kicker? Aside from a few weeks in the early fall, we stayed at this place FOR FREE until November! I figured this value was in the ballpark of $6,000+! This was a humbling show of generosity for my family an I. And all this was given with care, assurance of privacy, and no expectation of return. WOW! God said He would provide, and He did!
This is going to be a fun ride. May God bless each of you, and feel free to spread the word that the Rant has gone blog, and is available for all!
My family began the process of seeking God's direction for a new call to ministry in the Summer of 2013. It was becoming clear to me that it was time to make a shift, but was uncertain where we would be serving. After considering calls from churches throughout the Maritime Provinces, and as far away as Alberta, we received and accepted an unanimous call to the small town of Hantsport, Nova Scotia. This meant a resignation at First Baptist in early 2015 for me, and the completion of my wife's teaching position at Moncton Christian Academy ( http://monctonca.ipower.com ), listing a house in a buyer's market and waiting for it to sell. I began ministry with Hantsport on July 20th, 2014. The life adventures and learning really began just a few days later! In many ways I feel like a micro-version of the story of Job in the Bible! What more can happen? Honestly, there is room for many more negatives. But this Rant is not about the negatives in life. I have no interest in allowing negative experiences and hurts the power to stand unchallenged. Rather, my desire is to use illustrations from my life, stories I hear, and challenges I face, and place them all into the context of the teachings I believe God has for me and you through these experiences.
One thing to make abundantly clear is that these challenges and learning experiences are by no means due to a lack of love and support from the church communities in Hantsport and Moncton. The generosity of these people has been immense! Just as one example:
On July 18th, my family and I drove in to town to meet one of the church Trustees, a gentleman in his mid 70s. He and his wife were providing us the use of their cottage in North Grand Pre, Nova Scotia. We had no idea what this place would look like, where it was really located, or how to get there. And so, we start down the road from the church, the Trustee in the lead, me alone, with my 6'3" frame squished into my tiny Toyota Yaris Hatchback, followed by my wife, 11 year old daughter and 10 year old son in our Chevy minivan. We wind down streets, through a couple of awkward intersections, back onto the highway, off a couple of exits later, past Grand Pre National Historic Site of Canada (a landmark I actually knew), two 90 degree turns and into cottage country. My children get a glimpse of the water of the Minas Basin, start getting excited, and bouncing in their seats. My wife does the motherly thing, "Now kids, you need to remember, this cottage is probably not on the water. You need to be prepared for this." But no preparation was needed. The gentleman turned into the driveway of a beautiful cottage directly on the beach! His wife is there waiting, everything is spotless, beds all made, some food in the fridge, and fresh spring water at the ready! They showed us how to use the satellite TV (I think it was on twice) and gave us keys to every door, shed and lock out there! Even the new stainless steel BBQ was at our disposal! And a pellet fired stove with electric baseboard heaters for backup when the weather got cold. Based on the going rate, this place would rent for between $500 and $700 per week! And the kicker? Aside from a few weeks in the early fall, we stayed at this place FOR FREE until November! I figured this value was in the ballpark of $6,000+! This was a humbling show of generosity for my family an I. And all this was given with care, assurance of privacy, and no expectation of return. WOW! God said He would provide, and He did!
This is going to be a fun ride. May God bless each of you, and feel free to spread the word that the Rant has gone blog, and is available for all!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)