APRIL'S THIRD MONDAY- REMEMBER!

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

My father, Eugene A. "Gene" Baril, would be 90-years-old if still alive. He was born on December 1, 1922. His truly was the "greatest generation"! What Dad learned at Mechanic Arts High School in Boston as a teenager was a far more comprehensive course of studies than most young people in college tackle today. His generation learned to recite great poetry.Dad was a very "macho" guy, but he recited a lot of poetry and recited it well. I can't tell you how many times I heard him recite Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn". The opening stanza goes like this:

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world."

Yesterday, April 15, 2013, was a legal holiday in Massachusetts (and in Maine). I can't tell you how many people asked me, "What holiday is it?". I got tired of answering. People from outside New England asked me, and I guess that's somewhat understandable. People who live in Massachusetts asked me. That is something I cannot understand! April's Third Monday is a very, very important day in the history of Massachusetts and in the history of the United States of America. It's "Patriots' Day!" This marks the start of the American Revolutionary War, where fighting broke out on April 19, 1775 at Lexington Green in Lexington, Massachusetts and at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. This was also the day that Paul Revere and William Dawes made their famous rides shouting, "The British are coming!". (Congressman Mike Capuano made reference to this in a short speech in Congress yesterday, but mistakenly gave the year as 1776. It was 1775.) My father, like all good members of the "greatest generation" knew April's Third Monday is Patriots' Day! After so many people asked me what holiday it was and I gave a history lesson to a few, I decided I was going to write a fun piece on my blog about Patriots' Day and people's ignorance of it. That was before the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon. Today, I am writing not a fun-filled piece; rather a piece from the deep sorrow in my heart. It makes me sick and disgusted that seemingly "nobody" knows what Patriots' Day is about any more, and it makes me even more sick and more disgusted that the wonderful, family-oriented, joyful and festive Boston Marathon was turned into a day of terror and carnage!

The Boston Marathon is very special to me and my family. We were so thrilled that our first grandchild, Benjamin Robert Julian, was born on Patriots' Day of 2011. On Thursday, April 18, he will enjoy his 2nd birthday. Ben lives in Springfield, Missouri, but he will ever be connected by family heritage to Boston, and that special birthday is something we consider so cool! Prior to Ben's birthday, the Marathon was still a very special event to us. We lived in Framingham for twenty-four years. My daughter Rachel and my son Jon still live in Framingham. For at least half of those years, we attended the race in downtown Framingham. I was always so thrilled to be part of this world class event! My kids would laugh at me as I yelled and cheered on runners. Many will wear labels which indicate their name or home state or country. I would bellow out, "Susie, GO Susie"! or "Italy, ALL RIGHT, Italy!". I'd spend at least a couple of hours doing that. Most years we stayed even to watch a lot of the "stragglers". "You can DO it!" we'd yell, "Keep going!". I loved that Marathon. I considered it one of the highlights of my year. During the past few years I've had a secular job and had to work on Patriots' Day. I didn't like that, but even so, I'd slip over to the course on my morning break and spend at least twenty minutes cheering for the runners. I did that yesterday. Rachel met me at the Routes 126/135 intersection and for twenty minutes we cheered on the runners, ate Dunkin' Donuts pastries, and she shot some happy video of us with her cell phone.

Yesterday was the one-hundred-seventeenth Boston Marathon. Boston is considered the oldest, greatest, and most famous of all Marathon races. It's run by the Boston Athletic Associaton, the B.A.A. I've had friends who run in the Marathon. Yesterday, my friend Michelle McElroy was running to raise money for the Framingham History Center. Her birthday was Saturday. On Facebook, I wished her a Happy Birthday and best regards for her Marathon run. Many run to raise money for charities. The Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber cancer research hospital are two of the most popular. You usually see planes towing signs overhead. The mood is so festive. It's a day that you're just so happy to be alive and so happy to be a native of Greater Boston and there for that special event.

Yesterday, I worked at the answering service until 3 p.m. I then took a short drive to Rachel and Jon's apartment. It was there that we heard the television reports of explosions at the finish line. Ever sense, I've been torn between not being able to get enough of the coverage, and then feeling so sad, so disgusted, and so overwhelmed at what happened that I'd have to turn it off. My poor radio and television sets have been made to go on and off many times as I try to digest all that has happened. I've commented to a number of friends and family that, "this has the feel of 9/11 all over again". It does. I feel so sad for the people who have lost loved ones and who have suffered terrible injuries. The Richard family of Dorchester has lost one child, another child is badly injured, and the Mom is badly injured. Dad was one of the runners. Ironically, my late mother's maiden name was "Richard". When that last name has no final "s" it's French-Canadian (usually from New Brunswick). Many of the Richard families from New Brunswick are related way back. My sister and I can't help but wonder if we might be very distant relatives of that family, and this only makes things sadder. The "pastor" part of me thinks of the families and individuals who will need counseling and practical support and love from the community for many years to come. As with Newtown, we grieve for these families.

Next year, Patriots' Day falls on April 21, 2014. In 2014, Easter is late, and so Patriots' Day falls on the day after Easter. I don't want one person asking me, "What holiday is it?" about Patriots' Day ever again! Listen, this is not just a Massachusetts holiday! This is not just a Maine holiday! This is not just a New England event! I don't care if your hometown is Skagway, Alaska, or Branson, Missouri, or Hubbard, Ohio, or Coral Gables, Florida! Patriots' Day is your holiday, too! I'm not saying the whole country should get Patriots' Day as a day off! I'm saying, April's Third Monday should be in the heart of every American! April's Third Monday should carry as much meaning for every American as does Thanksgiving Day or the Fourth of July! I mean that! It should be a day when we thank God for our country and our freedom! It should be a day when we remember those who have given life and limb for our country and our freedom! And, now, it should be a day when we remember the families who suffered terrible loss at that Marathon finish line!

The Bible passage I quoted at the start of this piece comes from Lamentations chapter 3. This was my devotional Bible reading chapter for today. Each December, I plot out what chapters of the Bible I will read throughout the coming year, and assign each chapter to a day. Today's is Lamentations 3. I had no idea when I picked Lamentations 3 for April 16, 2013 how appropriate it would be. Lamentations 3 is a tough chapter to read. It's full of "gloom and doom". But in the midst of that "gloom and doom" is that wonderful promise of God's compassion and mercy and faithfulness. That's what gives us the courage to go on when life is unfair and horrible! These are very appropriate verses for today!

I will never forget the first Sunday sermon I preached after 9/11. It was on Psalm 27. I told my church that after 9/11 nothing would ever be the same. I was proved totally wrong. After three weeks, everything went back to normal, just as if 9/11 never happened! How sick was that?! I don't want that sort of response to happen again- I don't want us to just go back to business as usual, taking our country for granted, taking God for granted, little sense of purpose, and "What holiday is it?"! No! No! A thousand times, no! April's Third Monday is a very special day! Remember! I encourage you to send the link to this piece to your friends. And, as long as you don't add to the words or subtract from them, I encourage you to print this out, to cut and paste it, and to do whatever you want to do in order to get this message out. Next Patriots' Day should be a very different one than they have ever been before! No American should ever be ignorant of what Patriots' Day is all about! And, as a minister of the Gospel, I want to add that it would be great to have every church full next Easter Sunday, and next Sunday for that matter!

EPIC FAIL!

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)

A brand new overnight radio show entered the airwaves on the first week of January of this year as part of the also brand new CBS Sports Radio Network. In the Boston area, this program, "The D.A. Show" airs on CBS owned "98.5 The Sports Hub". I hear the last fifteen minutes of it usually two or three mornings a week when I have to leave the house before 6 a.m. to travel to work. The one feature I must admit I get a big kick out of is the "Epic Fail!". Each morning, just a few minutes before the show ends, the host plays the worst phone call he received during that particular show. It usually features a caller who does not make any sense or who is making an absurd argument. This would be a call where the person on the phone is arguing something such as Tom Brady should be a major league baseball umpire instead of a professional football quarterback; or that Larry Bird should have gone into politics instead of basketball; or that soccer should be declared America's national pastime. When D.A. announces, "It's time for the Epic Fail," you then hear the ominous sound of a loud announcer's voice with a slight reverberation in his speech saying, "EPIC FAIL!", and then the call is played. Don't ask me why, but yes, I find hearing the "Epic Fail" at 5:55 in the morning very entertaining!

A comical presentation of a strange call to a sports talk show is one thing, but trust me, no pastor wants his Sunday morning sermon to be an "Epic Fail"! In this piece, I want to share about a sermon I heard about recently that was indeed an, "Epic Fail". This is not meant to tear down any ministerial colleague, nor it is meant to exalt myself. I have no intention of naming who preached the "Epic Fail" sermon. I also want to acknowledge with shame that during my over twenty-five years of pulpit preaching, I have had more than one "Epic Fail" in the pulput! This is meant to challenge Christians to listen carefully to sermons and to carefully check out their content with God's Word to make sure what they're hearing is Scriptural. It's also meant to encourage ministers that we can't be too careful with preparation, accuracy, and presentation when it comes to sermons and preaching!

During Easter weekend I had to occasion to take a thirty-five minute car ride with my twenty-something son and daughter. They pretty regularly attend an Assemblies of God church in Boston's MetroWest suburbs so I was surprised to hear they'd visited a couple of other churches in the recent past. The church where the "Epic Fail" took place was a fairly good-sized charismatic church (do we still use the term charismatic church or it that too 1970s?! I don't know!). The church has been around for awhile, but the present pastor is trying to target the church to young people and "seekers". The style of dress has become very casual. Even the pastor's dress is quite casual. The congregants regularly sit and drink coffee during the sermon. My daughter was surprised that some of them sit at bar stools situated away from the sanctuary and have their backs turned but can still hear what is being preached! Both of my kids were surprised that so little was made of taking the offering that they had a hard time figuring out how and where to give. My kids, like most their age, usually do dress fairly casually for church. It wasn't for the reasons I've mentioned that they told me they'd never go back there. It was the sermon.

My son said, "The pastor blatantly said, 'there is nowhere in the Bible that it tells you to mind your own business' and I wanted to get up and yell, 'oh YES there is!!'."

My son said the pastor was trying to make the point that Christians need to be in community but that he went so overboard on this he forgot what the Bible says! As my son put it, "There are a number of references in the Bible telling Christians to mind their own business!" And there are.

First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 11 in the King James Bible says, "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;". It's a little bit easier to understand in the New King James Version and a better translation: "that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,". And, as my son indicated, there are a number of other passages that teach the importance of minding your own business; that one is probably the clearest.

The pastor emphatically stated, "there is nowhere in the Bible that it tells you to mind your own business". He showed how, frankly, narrow-minded and short-sighted he was, albeit trying to make a point. There is no easy way to say it:

EPIC FAIL!

I remember something Dr. Terry Lewis once told our class at Central Bible College over thirty years ago. He was speaking at a ministers' gathering during the July 1969 weekend when the famous first landing of man on the moon was taking place. "How many of you preached that God would never allow a man to land and walk on the moon?" Lewis asked that group of Assemblies of God ministers. At least half raised their hands! "What are you going to tell your people next Sunday?" Lewis asked. They did not know what to say.

We preachers can preach and proclaim things as true in a most confident and cavalier manner; and yet we can be way off and wrong! I have done so.

EPIC FAIL!

How easily we forget the words of James chapter 3, verse 1 which say: "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." What that means is, "Don't be quick to become a teacher or preacher, knowing you'll be held to a much higher standard than others, and that you're responsible for how your life and speaking affects others." Acts 17:11 speaks of the Bereans who carefully searched the Scriptures when they first heard to Gospel preached to see if what was being proclaimed was accurate. What a great example for all of us!

I have not pastored a church since March of 2010 and I miss it very much. I have only preached a handful of sermons during the past three years and have not preached at all in over nine months. Even so, I was moved to give the story my grown kids told me on Easter weekend a lot of thought. If and when I pastor and preach again, by the grace and help of God, I don't want to have an "Epic Fail" in the pulpit. I think this is something we all need to think about; especially preachers!

THOUGHTS ABOUT HISTORY CHANNEL'S "THE BIBLE"

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." (John 21:25)

Last night was the Finale of the five part mini-series "The Bible" on The History Channel. (I understand that program will be repeated tonight at 8:00 Eastern on Lifetime.) "The Bible" was produced by Mark Burnett (famous for "Survivor" and several other shows) and his wife Rona Downey (who played Monica the Angel on "Touched By an Angel"). Each week's ratings were very good, and a couple of the episodes racked up what could be truly be considered blockbuster ratings. I saw all but about ninety minutes of the entire series. (Incidentally, it's being released on DVD and BlueRay tomorrow.)

My understanding is that the entire television series was filmed in Morocco on a pretty small budget. I was a little disappointed in some of the ways the producers portrayed the Bible stories, but overall I think they did a good job. My sister commented that she was very disappointed that there was nothing of the story of Joseph from the Old Testament. I am also disappointed they left that out entirely, but it had to very difficult to fit the entire Bible into just ten hours. Stories about Joseph of the Old Testament, Deborah, Gideon and others just did not make the cut. I got a chuckle out of the guy who played Abraham because I thought he looked like Ernest Borgnine! Many people who watched the part about Abraham going up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac were disappointed that Sarah followed them up there in the television show, because in reality that did not happen. I was surprised that Samson was played by a black man. In reality it is very unlikely that Samson was black. In all fairness, the guy who played Jesus (who did a good job, overall) was a bit too light-skinned and Gentile looking for me. The raising of Lazarus from the dead was nothing like it's described in the Bible. On the other hand, they did a good job with the Feeding of the 5000; and the crucifixion (very graphic) and resurrection scenes as well as the conversion of Saint Paul were very well done.

The series is meant to be an introduction to the Bible and not the last work on it. I am thrilled that so many people watched! Overall, I'd give the series a "B". On a positive note, it's one of the best things that's appeared on television in a long time!

I'VE NEVER UNFRIENDED ANYONE

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)

I truly chuckle when people think I'm a technically savvy person! I don't think I am! I did not use any computer at all until early 1993. That computer was at my church office and I began using it with many reservations. Our family got a computer at home in late 1994. I went on-line at my office in 1996 and at home in 1998. My first cell phone dates back to late 1999. Most of you know I still don't have a smart phone. I was very late coming to Facebook- I started on Facebook in December of 2010.

It took me at least a month to "get the hang" of Facebook. I added Facebook friends gradually- some people requested that I become their Facebook friend and I requested that certain people become Facebook friends with me. Something that has surprised me over the two years and three months that I have been on Facebook is that some of my Facebook friends have "unfriended" me! I was on Facebook for probably about a year before I realized you could be unfriended on Facebook! I am not sure why anybody unfriended me. There was at least one of those people that I tried to "refriend" but he did not accept my request. I have a personal friend who is also one of my Facebook friends who has unfriended a number of people and has been unfriended by a number of people. If he has an argument with someone or gets annoyed by a person's religious or political views, it's likely he will unfriend that person. Recently, that person told me, "I am thinking about having a new policy with my Facebook friends. If they post anything which includes profanity, I will remove it," (and presumably unfriend the person, as well). I must say, I thought a little bit about that one. Honestly, some of my Facebook friends post things which include pretty strong language. Some post links to sites I find quite offensive. A few occasionally post sexually suggestive writings. Some post religious or political opinions that I find troubling. I wish people would not post things which include swears, especially the "F word", and I wish people would not post sexually suggestive writings. I also get tired of angry and sarcastic political posts from both the right and the left. I could "go wild" and start deleting all sorts of posts from my Facebook friends and I suppose even unfriend about a quarter of my Facebook friends. I got to thinking about this today because a friend of mine who has very liberal political views posted a very left wing link that I became annoyed by.

Then, I thought about the flip side of what I'm writing about here. I post a fair number of links and thoughts, myself. I want my Facebook friends, if they respect me as a person, to read and consider what I'm posting, even if they find what I post offensive to their political or religious views. I think society is healthier when we are all free to bring matters that are important to us "to the table" and honestly think about and dialogue about them. This is what happened in ancient Athens, and Acts chapter seventeen tells us that the Apostle Paul went to Mars Hill to share and discuss Christianity in this fashion with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Somehow I think Paul would have had a Facebook page, and I suspect he would not have been quick to unfriend people or reject people.

To the best of my knowledge, I have never unfriended anyone on Facebook and I have never removed any other person's post. I do ask my Facebook friends to think about some of what you post; especially the "F word"; and to think about whether what you're posting is edifying or destructive. I also hope you will at least "take a serious look at" what I post and that you won't unfriend me!

POSTED: "YOU CAN'T PUT GOD IN A BOX"

"Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." (Matthew 12:22-24)

I came to Facebook somewhat later than most people I know did, but I've now been on Facebook for over two years. I started my blog, "The Blog of Bob Baril" back in 2006. In those days, although there were some very famous political blogs, a lot of people still didn't know what a blog was, and most people didn't know anybody who actually wrote a blog. Of course, seven years later blogs are extremely common and I know scads of people who write blogs of their own. When I was pastoring, some people were very critical of my blog because it was not strictly a "religious blog" nor a "Christian blog". Probably about half of the pieces I've posted on this blog (which was originally in the old "AOL Journals" and then moved to Google/Blogger a few years ago) have been Christian focused and typical of what you might expect a minister to write, but about half have been "anything but"! A number of years ago, I wrote a post slamming an airline I felt had not treated me right. Average people write things like that all the time, but I was told by some disappointed people that writing that piece was "beneath a minister of the Gospel", and honestly, maybe it was. I have written humorous and silly pieces. I wrote one piece about my favorite songs. I have written pieces about talk radio and about politics. On Facebook, just as with my blog, I have posted some very inspirational Christian writings and some just plain silly garbage. How many ministers perform comedy videos on youtube, and then promote this on social media? I HAVE!!In retrospect, I sometimes wonder if I would have been better off "acting like a minister all the time". Maybe. I did experience the closing of the church I pastored for many years and I have been essentially out of full-time ministry for three years, so maybe my critics do have a valid point. For better or for worse, that stuff is all out there in cyberspace and will probably be there (should the Lord's Second Coming tarry) long after I have passed on from this life.

Some of what I've written and posted has truly been drivel. Every once in awhile, though, I write something that is (I think) Godly, profound, and important. I wrote something like that last Friday and posted it on Facebook. This is exactly what I posted on Facebook:

"I am uncomfortable with people who 'have God all figured out'. We will NEVER have God all figured out because He is God! We DO get all sorts of helpful insight and direction from the Bible, God's Holy Word; but may we never become like Pharisees, condemning others and forgetting our own sins and faults. Something I often say is 'You can't put God in a box' and the longer I've been a Christian the more I've experienced how TRUE that is."

Some of you know that I was taken very physically ill just a little over a week ago. It was a very scary experience. Among other things the medical people were looking for after I was admitted to the hospital was cancer. I have been very blessed with good health. I was diagnosed as having a chronic lower gastrointestinal disorder. I do not have cancer. An experience like that does cause you to do a lot of thinking and reflecting and to realize how very little control you really do have over things! I will say that as I sit and re-read what I wrote on Friday I feel even stronger about it than I did then, and I feel so strongly about it that I hope whoever preaches my funeral someday reads the words of that posting because it's something I'd like to say to everyone present at my funeral someday. It's something I feel that passionate about! I can't tell you what triggered that statement off, but I did have a conversation with someone recently that so grieved me I felt I had to post those words. I have been a "born-again Christian" for over forty years. As much as I hate to admit it, at one time, I was very much a modern-day Pharisee. I was very much "holier than thou". I had become very self-righteous, condescending and judgmental. When I was in my twenties, I wrote one letter to the small town newspaper in Canton, Massachusetts criticizing the local Unitarian minister, and I wrote another slamming the behavior of a young man who wore a tee-shirt containing a large, profane slogan. I even wrote a letter to The Patriot Ledger(Quincy, MA) castigating Halloween trick-or-treaters.

Today, I'm embarrassed that I wrote that stuff and that it was published. (I don't know if it's also in cyberspace or not, but I don't even have the heart to look for it!) I also became a crusading right-wing Republican activist. In 1988, I displayed a "PAT ROBERTSON FOR PRESIDENT" sign at the exterior of my residence. I'm not quite as embarrassed about that as I am about the letters I wrote to newspapers, but the fact is, like so many on the religious right, I was furious with those who didn't think and behave exactly as I thought they should behave. My honest feeling was, "God wants these people to toe the line, and I do, too!" They were going to "toe the line" even if they had to be forced to do so!

It's ironic I felt that way because the message I was believing and proclaiming was a far cry from the Gospel of grace and mercy which led to my salvation in 1970! It was during the first few years of the 1990s that I gradually shed this kind of thinking; and I began to understand that such self-righteous thinking has nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I suspect many of my liberal friends are having a good laugh over this piece, as they say "Amen" and rejoice that I "saw the light" regarding my thinking. To my good liberal friends I say, "Not so fast!" My experience is that there is only one thing worse than a right-wing idealogue and that's a left-wing idealogue. I get so tired of the condescending and smug political postings on Facebook from both my right-wing friends and my left-wing friends. There's so much wrong with most of them at so many levels, but it's the liberal ones that are the most condescending and judgmental.

Lest this piece "go all over the place" and I really don't want to do that, I'm now bringing back primarily to my Christian friends. It's so very grievous that so many people really think they have God all figured out! One of our professors at Central Bible College (who later taught for many years at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary), Dr. Benny Aker, refused to teach any Systematic Theology classes! Dr. Aker would teach Greek, Hermeneutics, and any Bible class, but he believed for man to have broken theology (that is, the "Study of God") into an academic discipline which was studied and taught systematically was very foolish indeed! Benny Aker is absolutely right!

Devout Christians harangue that "God would never choose a woman to be a leader", but what about Deborah? They harangue that God would not want utterances in other tongues to take place during church services, but what about First Corinthians chapters twelve and fourteen? They harangue that God can never use anyone who has been divorced, but what about the Rev. Charles Stanley? They harangue that God would never use a young person to correct an older person, but what about the advice Paul gave to young Timothy who, although Timothy was a very young man, was a leader and a pastor? It goes on and on. Think you have God all figured out? You don't. I don't either!

PASTORS AREN'T TOILET PAPER by Mary Agrusa

This post appeared as the March 12, 2013 entry on Mary Agrusa's blog entitled, "The Thought Just Occurred to Me". I was very impressed by what she wrote for her post entitled, "Pastors Aren't Toilet Paper". Here, Mary Agrusa shares some very important observations and truths that I believe every evangelical Christian needs to seriously think about. She writes what most pastors would love to write but could never get away with saying or writing!

Mary's blog is found at:

http://maryagrusa.blogspot.com/

The elders who direct the affairs of the church are well worthy of double honor, especially those whose works is preaching and teaching. 1 Timothy 5:17

Pastors and toilet paper serve an important function in our lives; both help clean up the messes we make. Unfortunately, like toilet paper, pastors are often discarded after use. Here is the problem; pastors aren’t toilet paper.

It’s normal for ministers to counsel people outside the confines of their congregations. When dealing with sensitive issues, this offers an additional level of privacy. Pastors recognize the temporary nature of these arrangements. They pour themselves into helping the individuals knowing full well the relationship will end sometime soon. That’s expected. What happens oftentimes is this. People in the church under the pastor’s care develop serious problems. The pastor spends enormous amounts of time and energy helping these congregants navigate the difficult storms of life. Hours are spent listening, counseling, praying with and for these folks and then…poof, they disappear. Emotionally drained, the pastor is left alone without as much as the courtesy of a phone call or personal visit to say, “I’m leaving.” Many times they learn about the person’s departure second and third hand.

I’m not suggesting that ministers use pastoral counseling as a means of recruiting and maintaining church members. The shepherd’s responsibility is to care for the flock. Sheep don’t go out looking for a new shepherd; they won’t follow an unfamiliar voice. People aren’t always that smart.

There are times when leaving a fellowship is the right decision. My pastor shared with me that at times God gives him a heads up that a change is coming. This doesn’t make a person’s departure any easier, but having the assurance that it’s God’s will for both parties lessens the pain. When people disappear without a trace, it hurts. Pastors have feelings too. Knowing people will use them and walk away comes with the territory, but it doesn’t make it something they can just shrug off.

Paul wrote Timothy that those who serve in responsible positions in the church, specifically those who preach and teach, deserve double honor. Pastors fit in that category. Part of showing honor is extending courtesy and respect. Pastors don’t want people to leave, but its part of life. If you feel it is time for you to go, don’t vanish into thin air. Tell your pastor, in person, that you’re going. They may not agree with your decision and even try to talk you out of it. That’s just part of being in a relationship. Ultimately the choice is yours alone to make. Letting he/she know will help make your leaving a little bit easier and will keep the lines of communication between you both open. Sometime in the future you may need them again. Unlike discard toilet paper that is gone forever, you’ll have a “clean sheet”, so to speak, to start fresh.

This is Bob Baril writing; I posted this comment about what she wrote above on Mary Agrusa's blog: Mary, that is SO well said. I experienced being discarded like toilet paper many times as a pastor. Some people do just "disappear". Others tell the pastor but in the wrong time and wrong way. This was twenty years ago, but a woman called me out of the blue on a Saturday night to tell me that she and her family were leaving the church. I told her that informing me on a Saturday night over the phone was "tacky". She later contacted me to say she'd looked up "tacky" in the dictionary and that it meant "low class behavior". She was insulted. I just let it be, but frankly leaving a church and not speaking to the pastor at all about it, OR leaving a "hit and run" note on his desk, OR a surprise phone call at 9 p.m. on a Saturday is, well, TACKY!

A SPECIAL HORSE STORY

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;" (Hebrews 5:8)

Today, I want to share a very powerful story that another minister published in one of his books a number of years ago. This one's a real gem. I used it as a sermon illustration several times in my preaching. The thing that makes the story a gem (and true Christians will undoubtedly discern this as you read it) is that is obviously is a story given by God and not a mere product of human imagination. The story appeared in one of the books by the late Rev. Bill Britton of Springfield, Missouri. The Rev. Bill died at least twenty years ago. He pastored an independent Pentecostal church in Springfield, Missouri. (I believe he was originally an Assemblies of God minister.) I've read a number of Bill Briton's books and heard some of his sermon tapes, although that was all over twenty-five years ago. Britton did hold to some controversial views, with which I do not agree. His eschatological beliefs (that is, his beliefs about the end times and the return of Christ) were very different from those of most born-again Christians, particularly his belief that an elite class of Christians will burst forth in the end times and will do great things for God. It's regrettable that Believers who hold to some unorthodox theological views can so often be marginalized and that so many of their really good and really helpful teachings are ignored and ultimately lost to the rest of the Body of Christ. One of my Professors at Central Bible College (Dr. Terry Lewis) used to encourage us to, "take the meat and leave the bones" when listening to sermons or reading books by Christian pastors. That's good advice! Yes, there were some "bones" in Bill Britton's teachings, but there was also a lot of meat. This story is definitely very "meaty"! I repeat the story as best as I remember it. If I have not represented the story with exact accuracy, I hope my readers and any of Bill Britton's friends, family, and followers will forgive me!

As Bill Britton expressed the story, God gave him a powerful vision one day while he was attending a ministers' convention. He was attending this event and suddenly God was giving him this vision like he was sitting and watching a movie! It must have really freaked him out! He just sat there and watched it. In the vision, Bill saw a team of horses hitched up to a coach. This was not some 1870s stage coach nor some 1840s wagon for a family heading west. This was a very expensive and very fancy coach- one that perhaps a very wealthy person of the 1700s or 1800s would own. There were several horses hitched up to it. The horses were beautiful, and impeccably groomed. They were about the best specimens of horses one could imagine. The coach and horses were stopped on a beautiful grass field. The driver of the coach was laying on the ground partially under the coach fixing something.

"Boy, that driver isn't too smart," Bill thought, "If a yellowjacket startled or stung one of the horses, they could suddenly bolt and he could be badly injured or even killed!"

The horses, however, stood perfectly still like statues. Then, Bill Britton noticed that off in the distance were two little colts. The colts ran up to and around the horses, trying to get their attention. Amazingly, the team of horses payed no attention to the colts. Then, a horse trainer with a whip showed up! He was no "horse whisperer"! He used that whip and drove the colts into a barn. Bill then saw a new scene. The trainer was whipping the colts and yelling commands. They were so unhappy. Their fun was over. At one point, the trainer turned his head. One colt decided to make a break for it and he did! Amazingly, the trainer did not go after the runaway colt. The other colt stayed.

Now, Bill had another scene change in his vision and he knew in his spirit that several years had gone by for the horses. He saw the colt that ran away. To Bill's surprise, the colt was still a colt! There also had been a famine in the land. The grass was no longer lush. It was brown and dry. The colt looked emaciated. He was obviously having a hard time finding food. The other colt, however, fared much better. The colt who stayed was no longer a colt but rather a grown horse. That horse was now one of the horses pulling that expensive coach. The coach was the King's coach, and even in the worst times of famine, the King's horses had plenty of good food and first-class treatment. They didn't mind being perfectly disciplined.

That was the end of Bill Britton's vision.

In his book, the Rev. Bill Britton then shared what he believed is the interpretation of the vision. The two little colts represented two brand new born-again Believers,and the team of horses represented a group of mature Christians. So many times, brand new Christians are "hoppin' and boppin' around", quoting a few Bible verses, acting super-spiritual, driving everyone crazy, and seemingly having all the answers and believing that life with Jesus is just one big bowl of cherries in which you have lots of fun and never have any problems. The seriousness and solemnity of many mature Christians seems completely foreign to them. The trainer with the whip is the Holy Spirit. I know you may not have pictured the Holy Spirit that way, but for any of you who've gone through God's School of Hard Knocks (or are going through it right now) this may not be so difficult to understand! There are times when God seems very mean and unreasonable; when life seems unfair and too hard. Honestly, I've been there- even recently. There are times when you say to yourself, "This Christianity is not worth it! I had a better life when I was unsaved! How about if I just decide I'M OUTTA HERE?!".

Some Christians do decide just that. I hate to admit how many times I've been close to just "chucking it all". But then I remembered the words of Peter in John's Gospel when he resists the temptation to reject and leave Jesus Christ, saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go, for You have the words of everlasting life?"

The trainer did not chase the colt who ran away. If we reject the Lord and reject His calling on our lives, He will not chase us, either. But in times of spiritual famine, we will not fare well! We will not have grown! The smart Christian is the one who submits to the Lord's discipline (see Hebrews chapter 12) and who then experiences many privileges of ministry and close fellowship with God.

I am not just horsing around sharing this story! I felt impressed of the Lord to share it today. I hope it blesses and helps you!