A SPECIAL WEDNESDAY MORNING

"And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet." (Acts 4:36-37 New King James Version)

I started The Blog of Bob Baril in early 2006. It was originally on the old AOL Journals, which AOL ended three or four years ago. Since then it has been on Google/Blogger (previously known as Blogspot). When I started writing The Blog of Bob Baril, I took it very seriously as though I were a newspaper columnist and I determined to have three postings a week. In more recent months, it has been very hard to do three postings a week, and sometimes there is not even ONE posting a week. I realize this one MAY not mean much to a lot of people, but Wednesday was a special morning for me.

This past Wednesday, the John 17:23 Fellowship, a ministry of Barnabas Ministries Inc. had a special "Regional Prayer Meeting" for pastors. It took place at the facility of Chinese Gospel Church on Route 9 Westbound in Southborough. I know. Right now, I'm not a pastor. And, that's true. I did, however, belong to the John 17:23 Fellowship when I WAS pastoring. The most important ministry of the John 17:23 Fellowship is small, confidential support groups for pastors. These groups usually consist of anywhere from four to ten pastors, and usually meet every other week. I was a "regular" at one of those groups. The John 17:23 Fellowship also offers a Retreat each March and several special events per year for pastors, including the Regional Prayer Meetings.

I was invited to this meeting by Dan Condon who is pastoring the "restart" of First Assembly of God of Framingham which I pastored. The "new" church is called Meeting Place Church and is meeting at Mass. Bay Community College. Dan is a very nice guy, and it meant a lot to me that he invited me. I hate to admit this, but there is SO much I took for granted about pastoring. I took for granted that every Sunday I'd either be preaching a sermon or at least acting as "Master of Ceremonies" for the Sunday morning service. I took for granted that I'd be teaching the Adult Sunday School class. I took for granted that I'd be attending activities such as the Regional Prayer Meeting that I attended this week. I took for granted that I was a "player" in the evangelical community of MetroWest; albeit a "small" player. Sometimes that all seems so far way to me now. Frankly, I LOVED making my own schedule. I LOVED being able to just get up and take a walk when I wanted to. I loved having a lot of freedom and flexibility. I used to thank God that I wasn't "stuck at one spot sitting at a computer all day".

My how life can change!

It had been well over a year since I had attended my John 17:23 small group, and probably close to two years since I'd attended any of the other activities. I was well received on Wednesday. Honestly, I felt like I was home. If I'd have let myself go, I probably would have cried like a baby. The tears would not mainly have been tears of sorrow. Well, maybe a LITTLE sorrow. But, they mostly would have been tears of joy. It meant SO much to me that I was accepted as "one of the pastors" although I am not now a pastor. The worship and prayer and time in Scripture was SO special. I also want to add that Pastor Dan Condon was SO warm and welcoming to me. I don't think there are too many guys I would have felt could effectively come into Framingham and "restart" that church as something new and better, but through the wisdom of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, I believe he is the right guy for the task.

There are a couple of titles I ALMOST gave this piece. One would have been, "A Piece of the Action". THAT was the title of a classic Star Trek episode. It was about a planet which had rival street gangs modeled totally after Chicago of the 1920s. Of course, in THAT sense, "A Piece of the Action" refers to MONEY and POWER. My title, "A Piece of the Action" would have meant that in some sense I was still "one of the guys/one of the pastors" and that I still have a role to play as a preacher, teacher, and discipler in God's Kingdom. I feared this title being misunderstood, so I did not pick it.

The other I almost picked was, "There's No Place Like Home" based on the famous line from the film "The Wizare of Oz". I felt THAT could also be misunderstood; that people would think I still considered myself the pastor of the church in Framingham or that I was thinking of starting a church in MetroWest. No, neither of those is an option for me. But in the sense of being in fellowship with pastors of "like precious faith" I felt very much at home.

Thank you, Rev. Dick Germaine, for your vision and leadership with Barnabas Ministries and the John 17:23 Fellowship. Thank you guys (and a few female pastors, too!) who made me feel so welcome! And, THANK YOU GOD that I could be there on Wednesday morning!