The Eyes of Jesus Are Upon Me

When I got up this morning, I had this sensation that I was being watched. As I went to the kitchen to make the coffee...Hazelnut to be exact...I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone else was in the room.

As the coffee brewed I moved to the desktop computer to check news headlines. As my eyes were focused on the screen, I could sense other eyes watching my every move.

Then I went to the living room to begin this morning's quiet time with the Advent devotional guide compiled by our Children's Ministry at FBCP. When I closed my eyes to pray, somehow I perceived that other eyes were opened.

After a few more moments of praying for guidance, offering gratitude, and remembering the poor, the homeless, and those who are grieving during the holidays, I began to investigate the room more thoroughly. Everywhere I turned; there was Mary, Joseph, and a baby Jesus looking my way.

My wife, Amanda, loves to decorate for Christmas. We have four themed Christmas trees: a Santa tree, a music tree, a white ornament tree, and a favorite-ornaments-tree adorned mostly with ornaments given to us by friends, students, and parishioners. We also have an aging talking tree strategically located in the guest bathroom. Battalions of angels are also on display, including a chorus of wooden angels, tree-top angels, porcelain angels, crocheted angels, and a lighted angel atop the kitchen buffet who flaps her wings as if she is ready to launch.

Two fluffy stockings, one red and the other green, hang from the mantle below wooden block letters spelling J-O-Y and N-O-E-L. The other wooden blocks in the entertainment cabinet spell M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S! Assorted Dickens Village scenes are located on the shelves of the Entertainment Center and on the library table...all lighted and wintry scenes depicting a typical English holiday.

The Christmas cards that we receive are hung from doorframes and over the kitchen bar, some containing family photos, others portraying holiday scenes and inscribed with personal greetings. Our pink Christmas cactus is in full bloom on the computer desk and a few over-nourished Santas are scattered around like centurions guarding the Christmas goodies. One jolly ole Santa flips his lid because he is really a cookie jar, which, ironically, is empty.

The central attraction in our Christmas display is the nativity. As I surveyed our house in the quiet of the morning to see who was watching, I counted 13 manger scenes, each depicting a unique perspective on the real meaning of Christmas. Among the notable ones is a clear glass miniature grouping near the kitchen table. Another is a wooden set given to us by a Jewish craftsman in Birmingham. And the largest is a ceramic menagerie designed and painted by Amanda's mother, now neatly arranged on top of an antique sideboard under a spotlight in our foyer.

They're everywhere...thirteen editions of the babe-in-a-manger. It occurred to me that everywhere I go in our home, I see Jesus. But the more important epiphany is that everywhere I go, Jesus sees me. If my eyes are on Jesus, and the eyes of Jesus are upon me, I have no excuse for missing the real joy of Christmas this year.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Advent

by Barry Howard

In early October when I made a quick stop in a local discount store to pick up a few general items, I couldn’t help but notice the strange combination of items in the promotional section near the front of the store. Half of the aisle was fully stocked with Halloween items…bright plastic jack-o-lanterns, various costumes and assorted Trick-or-Treat candies. The other half of the aisle was being stocked with Christmas items including miniature trees, boxes of lights, gift-wrapping paper, and colorful candy canes. To see the decorations of two separate holidays together on the same aisle seemed a little out of place.

Now, a month later, the turkeys have been gobbled up and the dressing has been devoured and we are in the week following Thanksgiving. Christmas music is playing on the radio, Christmas sale ads are blaring from flat panel screens, and bucket trucks are hanging aging ornaments on the light poles on main street.

In our home and on our church campus, multiple trees are decorated, lights are twinkling, and the aroma of scented candles fills the air. Just before our vespers service last Sunday evening, someone who was admiring the beauty of the décor said to me, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” “Not too fast,” I said. “It’s really beginning to look a lot like Advent.” We need the season of Advent to spiritually prepare for Christmas.

At my home church, a rural congregation who helped to shape and form my adolescent faith, we didn’t observe Advent. We proceeded directly from Thanksgiving to Christmas. In that tight-knit congregation, the sacred dates on our church calendar other than Christmas and Easter were Church Conference after worship service on the first Sunday, gospel singing on the fourth Sunday night, revival during the second full week in August, and homecoming the last Sunday in July. Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Passover, and Pentecost were not in my ecclesial vocabulary.

Later, as a young pastor, I was introduced to the colors and candles of Advent and my journey toward Christmas was upgraded and enriched. Today, I am convicted and convinced that as mission-driven Christians who live in a market-driven culture, we need the reflective disciplines of Advent to keep us alert to stealth forces like materialism, busyness, greed, and indifference…those deceptive grinches who would love to steal the real message and gifts of the season and replace them with superficial slogans and glamorous counterfeits.

I love a festive and joyful celebration of Christmas. However, to begin celebrating Christmas in October, November, or even early December, is like a parent trying to skip labor and delivery to go straight to the nursery. For a Christian, Advent is our progressive, devotional journey that culminates in grateful celebration when the Christ candle is lighted and the Christmas Star shines over the manger in Bethlehem.

During Advent in our church, we will prepare for Christmas by re-visiting the prophets, singing the carols, re-reading the gospels, and lighting the candles that re-energize our peace, hope, love, and joy. Then we will be better equipped to empathize with the anxiety of Mary and Joseph, to feel the labor pains of God, to celebrate the birth of the world’s most pivotal newborn, and to recognize both the singing of angels and the sobs of Rachel weeping.

If we take the time to revisit the biblical stories, to reclaim the joyful promises, and rekindle the fires of our faith, we may find that we are more than ready to follow Christ from the cradle to the cross and beyond.

The decorations are in place. The music has started. The Bible is open…and so are my mind, my heart, and my soul. This week it’s beginning to look a lot like Advent.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

Why Teddy Roosevelt Went to Church

by Barry Howard

Some people go to church regularly, some go occasionally, and others seldom go at all. How important is church participation? Are there good reasons that I should go to church?

Actually, the Bible calls on believers to be the church, and not just go to church. But to effectively be the church, believers need to faithfully gather with the other members of the body of Christ for equipping and encouragement.

Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth President of the United States, believed in attending and participating in church. In 1917, in an interview with Ladies Home Journal, President Roosevelt offered at least ten reasons for going to church:

1. In the actual world a churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at or ignored their religious needs, is a community on the rapid downgrade.

2. Church work and church attendance mean the cultivation of the habit of feeling some responsibility for others and the sense of braced moral strength which prevents a relaxation of one’s own moral fiber.

3. There are enough holidays for most of us which can quite properly be devoted to pure holiday making... Sundays differ from other holidays--among other ways--in the fact that there are fifty-two of them every year... On Sunday, go to church.

4. Yes, I know all the excuses. I know that one can worship the Creator and dedicate oneself to good living in a grove of trees, or by a running brook, or in one’s own house, just as well as in church. But I also know as a matter of cold fact the average man does not thus worship or thus dedicate himself. If he strays away from church he does not spend his time in good works or lofty meditation. He looks over the colored supplement of the newspaper.

5. He may not hear a good sermon at church. But unless he is very unfortunate he will hear a sermon by a good man who, with his good wife, is engaged all the week long in a series of wearing, humdrum and important tasks for making hard lives a little easier.

6. He will listen to and take part in reading some beautiful passages from the Bible. And if he is not familiar with the Bible, he has suffered a loss.

7. He will probably take part in singing some good hymns.

8. He will meet and nod to, or speak to, good quiet, neighbors... He will come away feeling a little more charitably toward all the world, even toward those excessively foolish young men who regard churchgoing as rather a soft performance.

9. I advocate a man’s joining in church works for the sake of showing his faith by his works.

10. The man who does not in some way, active or not, connect himself with some active, working church misses many opportunities for helping his neighbors, and therefore, incidentally, for helping himself.

Eighty four years have passed since that historic interview with President Roosevelt. And church attendance and participation is still vitally important to faith development and Christian service. The scriptures advise us “not to give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, even more as you see the day of the Lord approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

Why not go to church next Sunday and learn to be the church in your community everyday?

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

Living the D-R-E-A-M

by Barry Howard

While perusing a vacation and tourism magazine as I waited at the doctor’s office for my name to be called, I couldn’t help but notice the large number of ads for resort and retirement communities inviting prospective residents to “come and live the dream.”

What comes to mind when you think about the dream life? Winning the lottery? Living in extravagant luxury? An easier job? Marital bliss? Early retirement? Perfect health?

Whatever your perspective, most of us think of a dream life as an upgrade in our circumstances, a life with fewer challenges, and a greater degree of comfort and convenience.

Is this really God’s dream for you? What if the challenges you and I face are actually the opportunities we have to participate in making God’s dream a reality?

In describing the “latter times,” the Old Testament prophet envisioned a faith community that is motivated by God-inspired dreams and visions of multiple generations:

²⁸ "And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions. Joel 2:28 NIV

Are you living out God’s dream and vision for your life? Are you assisting your church family in living out God’s dream and vision for your congregation?

The word “dream” has frequently been used as an acronym. When I “googled” DREAM as an acronym, I discovered that in education, DREAM can stand for “Discover the Reality of Education for All Minds.” In communication, DREAM means “Dynamically Reconfigurable Energy Aware Media.” In computing, DREAM can represent “Distributed Routing Effect Algorithm for Mobility.” In local government, DREAM can refer to “Downtown Restoration, Enhancement and Management.” In Orlando, DREAM stands for “Disney Resort Experiences are Magic.”

What does DREAM mean for the church? As we rise to new levels of commitment to confront the opportunities and challenges of our day, I suggest that DREAM means “Doing Risky, Encouraging, and Authentic Ministry.”

Let’s break down the DREAM:

• Doing- Be doers of the word and not hearers only. James 1:22 KJV
• Risky- So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 15:25-26 NIV
• Encouraging-Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11 NIV
• Authentic-Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Philippians 4:8a MSG
• Ministry- But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. II Timothy 4: 5 NIV

Though we are conditioned by our culture to think of the dream life in terms of prosperity, we are commissioned in the Bible to aspire to a DREAM life in terms of purpose and mission. In other words, the dreams and visions that are generated by the Spirit of God give your life and mine genuine significance. Comfort and convenience can lead to complacency. Dreams and visions lead to proactive, mission-driven living.

As a follower of Jesus, you really haven’t lived until you have lived the DREAM.

(Barry Howard serves as Senior Minister of the First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.)

‘Tis the Season

by Barry Howard

How would you describe the season you are currently experiencing? I understand Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 to be a contemplative poem about the seasons of life. Rather than letting the seasons pass meaninglessly and letting life become “vanity,” the biblical writer encourages worshipers to interpret the seasons and maximize the opportunities within each one of them.

In my own time of reflection, I think about the seasons many of us are experiencing right now. Like in ancient times, it is still true that, There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: Ecclesiastes 3:1 MSG.

Actually life in the 21^st century may have more numerous seasons than in previous eras, and the changing of the seasons may occur more abruptly, even concurrently. Perhaps if the poem were being written today, some of the seasons included would remarkably resemble the season you are in right now:

A time to celebrate and a time to lament,

A time to be single and a time to be married,

A time to keep your job and a time to transition to another vocation,

A time to pray for healing and a time for comfort care,

A time of feasting and a time of famine,

A time to be gentle and a time to be firm,

A time of grief and a time of joy,

A time to be independent and a time to seek assistance.

A time to spend and a time to save.

A time to think things through on your own and a time to seek the counsel of others,

A time to plan and a time to implement,

A time to worship and a time to serve,

A time to be patient and a time to be aggressive,

A time to wait and a time to wait no longer,

A time to think and a time to feel,

A time to consider options and a time to make a decision.

A time to lead and a time to be led.

-A personal reflection on Ecclesiastes 3

I can hardly read Ecclesiastes 3 without thinking about Romans 8:28 which reminds us that, In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (MSG).

Remember that no one season lasts forever, including seasons of discouragement, grief, and lamentation. Live life fully and faithfully in the season you are experiencing now, refusing to let the emotions of a change in seasons thwart your spiritual vitality.

Knowing that God is with us through all the seasons of life helps us to confront our challenges and seize our opportunities with courage and confidence.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at First Baptist Church of Pensacola.)

Starting with a Fury

by Barry Howard

Four years ago today, I made my first appearance on campus as pastor of First Baptist Church, a few days earlier than originally planned.

Amanda and I returned from a 24-day visit to China in late June of 2005. We made a few final visits with friends and family in Alabama and hit the road to Pensacola where I had been invited to serve as pastor at First Baptist Church. Our plan was to unpack and arrange our things in the missionary house on Lemmington Road during the week prior to my first Sunday. The church had planned for me to preach my first sermon on Sunday, July 10 and to spend my first day in the office on Monday, July 11.

The fireworks of Monday July 4 quickly gave way to the stormy winds of July 5. After the first day of unpacking, we awoke on July 6 to the howling of Hurricane Cindy, originally forecast to remain a tropical storm. To the amazement of local meteorologists, Cindy arrived as a category one hurricane.

As we were picking up limbs and sweeping the sidewalk awaiting the return of electrical power that was temporarily suspended by Cindy, all eyes turned to the rapidly forming storm cluster in the gulf that was bee-lining for the coast. On Thursday morning July 7, Governor Bush declared a mandatory evacuation of our new hometown. Hurricane Dennis was forecast to hit downtown Pensacola head on some time during Sunday morning.

After hearing the news on Thursday afternoon, I went to my new, yet unfurnished office and study at First Baptist Church and met with staff for the first time as pastor. After conferring with staff ministers and deacon leadership, my first official act, regrettably, was to cancel Sunday services, which to my knowledge was a first in the history of FBCP.

Because the repairs from Hurricane Ivan were not yet completed, there was a lot of work to be done to prepare the church campus for the approaching storm. The sanctuary and part of the music suite was still under a temporary roof and numerous leaks had yet to be addressed. We assembled an ad hoc work crew composed of staff and volunteers and began covering musical instruments, re-enforcing windows and doors, and assembling buckets, mops, and towels.

On Friday, the roadways were bumper to bumper as residents were leaving town. As our work force continued to fortify the campus, I met with officers from the Pensacola Police Department and learned of our church's tradition of housing officers and their families at the Christian Activities Center during storms. Because of its concrete structural integrity and its "higher ground" location, the CAC was utilized as a safe haven and temporary residence, allowing the officers to rest and refresh just a couple of blocks from the police department.

On Saturday, Pensacola was like a ghost town. Stores, businesses, and homes were boarded up but the sky was blue. Strong gusts and a high surf were the only signs that a significant storm was on the way.

After Amanda and I locked down the mission house, we took our air mattress, our sleeping bags, our flash lights, a stash of food, our short-wave radio, and a couple of changes of clothes, and we set up camp in the floor of the unfurnished pastor’s study on the church campus. Throughout the day and into the evening we were joined by 46 volunteers and staff members who were going to ride out the storm with us while trying to minimize further damage to the building.

I awoke around three o’clock on Sunday morning and went to room 220, a large adult classroom where we had set up a television and a few snack items. At that time I discovered that Dennis had intensified and could possibly hit downtown around noon on Sunday as a category four storm, much stronger than the category three previously forecast.

My imagination began to run wild. Having grown up in a tornado prone region of Alabama, I do not suffer from storm phobia. But as I listened to the forecast I was imagining the devastation a category four could inflict on the beautiful beaches of the Emerald Coast. I found myself wondering if the mission house, which was to be our temporary home, would still be standing and if any of our belongings would be found. I thought about the thousands of families who had evacuated the Panhandle and I wondered how many would return to be homeless. And then I thought about the stubborn and the foolish who were riding out the storm in wood frame waterfront homes, structures that would certainly not withstand a category four blast.

I don’t remember ever fearing for the safety of those riding out the storm on our campus. We are well above the flood zone. And the steel and concrete construction of our office space and lower education levels provides bunker-like security. However, I do specifically remember wondering whether the beautiful sanctuary, located atop the highest elevation in town, would survive the impact.

Around eight o’clock on Sunday morning, as our “storm troopers” were finishing breakfast, we began to spread the word that we would have a “come as you are” worship service in the chapel at nine. Six more local residents joined us on Sunday morning bringing our total attendance on campus to 56.

We sang a few hymns and I shared a message on “Listening for the Music in the Storm” from Isaiah 46. We closed with a prayer time for all of the persons affected by the storms.

As we departed the chapel, we were greeted with the face of Jim Cantori of The Weather Channel, standing underneath the “beachball” on Pensacola Beach, giving an updated forecast now projecting Dennis to hit as a category three storm, still aiming for downtown. Because we did not lose power until the eye was almost over us, we watched the approaching storm on radar, and noted the last minute joggle, which eventually re-directed the path of the storm over Escambia Bay. When the storm reached the more shallow waters near the coast, it actually made landfall as a category two. The news was getting better minute by minute.

Though damage to our community and our campus was minimal, watching the storm firsthand was an incredible experience. The first wave produced a fury of winds that shook the building. Utility poles were swaying like tall southern pine trees. Windows were rattling and sprouting new leaks due to the powerful wind gusts and the horizontal bullets of rain. Debris, including tree limbs, construction cones, roof shingles, displaced signage, and assorted garbage, was flying through the air in a multitude of directions. A portable restroom that had been located on the northwest corner of our campus for construction workers went air born like a missile, zooming toward our glass atrium doors before suddenly shifting direction, and landing harmlessly on its side in the east parking lot.

In contrast to Hurricane Ivan, which sat spinning over the Panhandle for hours, Dennis passed in less than an hour, and amazingly, left blue skies and sunshine in its wake. Our storm troopers left campus immediately following the storm to investigate the damage to their own homes, with most incurring minor afflictions. Because of the minimal damage, one news reporter dubbed the storm, Dennis the Menace.

Utility companies had most of the power restored to homes and businesses by Monday or Tuesday of the following week. Cleanup of the church campus began on Monday. By Wednesday we were ready for our Midweek Service. Evacuees returned home from adjoining states throughout the week.

On Sunday, July 17, as a much larger crowd gathered than on July 10, I became the first pastor in the history of the church to have a second first Sunday. And in retrospect, I can confirm that both first Sundays were memorable and significant in getting personally acquainted with the strengths of my new church family.

A Prayer for Independence Day 2009

Good and gracious God, you have given us the privilege and the responsibility of living in the most resourceful land in the world. From sea to shining sea most of us enjoy unparalleled freedom, comfortable homes, nutritious meals, preferred vocations, and unique religious liberty.

Even as we count the many wonderful blessings we share by living in this great land, we also sense that we live in times of heightened concern and anxiety. Our nation is engaged in a multi-national military conflict. Our economy is slowed by a recession. And in the past year we have elected a new president who needs divine guidance to lead our country.

These concerns remind us of our need to confess our sins, personally and collectively, and to embrace your plan for living life with purpose and integrity.

We confess that we have too often taken our freedom for granted and we have too frequently been negligent in fulfilling the responsibilities of our citizenship.

We confess that at times we are too quick to criticize and we are too slow to intercede prayerfully.

We confess that our self-interests have too often taken priority over your best intentions for our nation and for our world.

We confess that we have been negligent in our stewardship of health and wealth, often consuming compulsively when we should be managing carefully, investing wisely, and sharing generously.

We confess that we have too often trusted in our own initiatives and ingenuity more than we have trusted in you.

We pray with the psalmist, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51:1-3)

Therefore, as we prepare to celebrate this Independence Day, we ask you to, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

On this day, we pray for the leaders of our nation, our state, and our community that they will lead with moral courage, bipartisan cooperation, and wise discernment.

We pray for the men and women who serve in our nation’s military that they will perform their humanitarian mission with effectiveness and precision, and return home safely and soon.

We pray for our enemies that their swords, as well as ours, will be “turned into plowshares.”

We pray for the churches, cathedrals, and temples of our nation and our community that we will be lighthouses of grace and mercy, living our convictions with consistency, engaging our discourse with hospitality and civility.

Because you are the freedom-loving and grace-giving God, lead us to exercise our freedom responsibly and to pursue “liberty and justice for all” your children around the globe, especially the “least of these.”

We present our petition in the strong name of Jesus, the one who exemplifies the truth that makes us free indeed. Amen.

Did SBC Action Go Far Enough?

By Barry Howard

As much as I was saddened by the Southern Baptist Convention’s continuing efforts to become more “exclusive” and less “inclusive” as they make headlines for disfellowshipping another church, if I perceive their intention correctly, I tend to think their actions did not nearly go far enough.

If the intention of the SBC is to eventually purge the convention (*I conscientiously object to referring to SBC as a denomination, although the SBC began behaving like a denomination rather than a convention somewhere around 1979… but that’s another story for another day) of churches that accept sinners into membership and leadership who practice open sin, their recent decision to disenfranchise a Texas church did not even scratch the surface.

To fulfill this ambitious task of eradicating churches that are inclusive of public sinners will require a few years, but perhaps the SBC should consider breaking ties with a few more churches that unquestionably and regularly include sinners in their membership and on their staff team. During my tenure as a pastor, I have noted numerous churches, and not just the ones I have served, who have included such sinners in active participation. Though the list of actual sins committed by the guilty person is extensive, for illustrative purposes I will name a few, just to establish a framework:

• Consumption of alcoholic beverages.
• Gossip, backbiting, and rumor-mongering.
• Divorce
• Omitting the practice of the Great Commission.
• Failure to tithe.
• Usury
• Pre-marital and extra-marital relationships.
• Greed, jealousy, envy
• Gluttony
• Proselytizing members from other churches

If the SBC will extend their probing into the daily lives of the membership of their autonomous congregations, they will be astonished at how many sins have not yet been extinguished from the lives of so-called Christ followers. And if the SBC will take their actions to the next level, and just disfellowship the churches who have members who regularly commit any of the sins from my “short list,” all of the problems that have plagued the SBC for years will go away, immediately. Gosh! The SBC would finally be thoroughly and completely purged.

Of course the alternative would be to include a variety of autonomous churches whose membership includes diverse kinds of sinners, fully recognizing that the human tendency toward sin is not eradicated at the moment of conversion, and that progressive, at times gradual, transformation of individual lives occurs within local faith communities that are saturated with grace, not at the convention level. Now that alternative could lead to a genuine Great Commission Revolution.

(Barry Howard serves as Senior Minister of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

The Parable of the Lost Checkbook

At some point last week, I lost my checkbook...literally…and the whole saga has become a real life parable. I’m not exactly sure when I lost it. I only know for sure the moment when I became aware that it was lost.

If you are like me, you may not write as many checks as you did a few years ago. I opened my first checking account when I was in junior high school. Immediately following graduation from high school, I moved into a garage apartment and began writing checks for rent, utilities, car payments, groceries, and tuition.

During the past few years, however, check writing has slowed down. At our house we use "the plastic card" for monthly bills and routine purchases, and we pay the balance monthly so as not to accrue interest. Therefore, we write very few checks. The majority of our checks are written to "the plastic card" company and to First Baptist Church.

Although we could make our church contribution online or in the form of an automatic electronic draft, I still enjoy writing a check for our tithes and offerings, stuffing it in the little pink envelope, and placing it in the offering plate on Sunday morning as an act of worship. I could write a monthly check but I choose to write a tithe check each week because giving is a vital part of my commitment to God. Once a month, I write a check in addition to my tithe that goes toward paying off the ROC (the Paul Royal Recreation and Outreach Center).

Because Sunday is such an important day for me, my Saturday evening ritual is pretty rigid. I usually eat an early dinner, review the sermon for the umpteenth time, get my clothes ready, write my tithe check, read a chapter or two in a novel, and then go to bed early. However, last Saturday evening, I reached for my checkbook, which is usually on my nightstand or in my nightstand drawer, and it was nowhere to be found. The missing checkbook seemed to throw my life off balance. I went to bed without writing my check or knowing the whereabouts of my checkbook. I knew that I was in for a rather restless night.

On Sunday morning, I cleaned off the desk in my study, which was no small task, thinking the lost treasure might be underneath a book or periodical or funeral outline. Still, no checkbook. I went home on Sunday afternoon and searched through drawers, between cushions, and underneath the bed with no success.

Early Monday morning, still compulsively anxious over the missing checkbook, I searched every square inch of my car…under the seats, in the glove compartment, in the trunk, inside the console, and in the door pockets. I found two dirty quarters, an ink pen, an expired discount coupon for an oil change, and four shades of moldy M&M’s (on the passenger side, of course), but no checkbook.

I gave up the search temporarily and arrived at my study on Monday at my usual time. Before beginning my preparation for next Sunday, I gave thanks for the great day we had Sunday with six baptisms, four new members, and a dozen or so visitors. Then I received the stewardship report from Sunday’s offering and suddenly came face to face with a harsh reality: "I must not be the only one who lost my checkbook."

If your checkbook is also missing, my inclination is to offer to help you find it and to ask you to help me look for mine, but I realize that checkbooks are extremely personal items…sort of like diaries of our life priorities…so it might be better if we each look for our own.

At our house, our checkbook is an important tool for making purchases, plotting investments, and keeping records. Revelation 20:12 indicates that in the final judgment "the books will be opened." One book opened on Judgment Day will be the Book of Life, a volume perhaps listing the names of all of God’s children. But when I stand in the final judgment I have a notion that one of the other books that will be opened is my checkbook, and that I will be asked to demonstrate how I lived out my faith through financial management.

When I can’t find my checkbook, and can’t write my check to the church, my anxiety increases tremendously. I worry that a missionary might go underfunded, that a student might miss camp, that there may not be enough supplies for Vacation Bible School, that the air conditioning might be cut off in the middle of summer, that Samaritan’s Hands might turn away someone who desperately needs help, that we might lose a valued staff member, that some important ministry project might have to shut down, or that we inexcusably miss an opportunity for ministry that we would have seized had I found my checkbook a little sooner.

I am determined to find my checkbook this week…before Sunday. I want my life…and yours… to be back in balance again. Search diligently…and let’s make it a good summer!

The Value of Remembering

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May. This important holiday is not just another “day off” but a day to remember those who have lost their lives in the military service of our country.

Remembering is a painful but necessary discipline. Remembering the historical facts should help us to remain consciously aware of the harsh realities of national and international conflict. Remembering the stories of battle may enable us to learn from both the successes and the failures of our national heritage. Remembering the fallen keeps alive the individual and corporate legacies of valor and courage that inspire and challenge us to be responsible citizens of the free world.

To fail to remember is to develop a toxic amnesia that robs succeeding generations of acquaintance with their national ancestry. To fail to remember creates a contagious apathy that leads to a neglect of both freedom and citizenship. To fail to remember may result in a false sense of protection and exemption from future warfare. A loss of memory eventually leads to a loss of national identity. Remembering is a painful but necessary discipline.

What are some things we can do to help remember and commemorate the contributions of those who lost their lives in battle?

· Read biographies of world leaders, military generals, POW’s, and holocaust survivors.
· Read historical accounts of crucial battles.
· View a documentary or movie that realistically portrays the stories of war.
· Visit historic sites such as battlefields, monuments, and military cemeteries.
· Visit with a veteran and listen firsthand to stories from the heat of battle.
· Give thanks for those who have fought for freedom and justice.
· Pray for those who are serving in the military service today.
· Pray and work for freedom, justice, and world peace.
· Practice and preserve religious liberty.
· Exercise your rights and fulfill your responsibilities as a citizen.

In The Roadmender Margaret Fairless Barber proposed that “To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”

Today is Memorial Day…A day to look backward with gratitude and to look forward with determination.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.)

Catching on to the Emerging Renaissance

By Barry Howard

Last week our church family was honored to host author, minister, motivational speaker, and leadership coach, Reggie McNeal.  Reggie led a Missional Renaissance workshop on Tuesday for the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association at the ROC and then joined us for our Midweek Gathering in Chipley Hall on Wednesday evening.

During our Midweek Gathering, in an interview format, I had the opportunity to engage Reggie in a conversation about his most recent book, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church.  As much as anyone I know, Reggie is in touch with what it means to be a missional (or mission-driven) church in the 21^st century. He highlights evidence of how the Spirit is orchestrating a renaissance, an energizing movement calling the people of God to get outside the walls of the church and serve others in Jesus’ name.

As Reggie articulated with wit and unmistakable clarity perspectives that I have been trying to shape into words for the past few years, I took numerous notes on Tuesday and Wednesday. As I continue to reflect and digest what I heard, I have extracted some one-liners that I want to remember, relevant and applicable observations that I will call Reggie-isms:

Ø      The church doesn’t have a mission; the mission has a church.

Ø      The Spirit is running wild in the streets again.

Ø      The fastest growing spiritual group in America is “unaffiliated.”

Ø      Anyone who wants to move into the future by going back to something in the past, I would consider suspect.

Ø      The Spirit doesn’t wait for everybody to get on board to move forward.

Ø      Only church people think a service is service.

Ø      The Spirit is running wild in the streets again and having a different conversation with many people than the conversation that pre-occupies you at church.

Ø      The church is not a what but a who.

Ø      Most of you grew up seeing the kingdom of God through church lenses.  The missional renaissance sees the church through kingdom lenses.

Ø      Redemption means that everything sin has broken, God is fixing.

Ø      Let the Spirit have the joy stick to your brain and show you God’s plan.

Ø      Learn to minister to those who aren’t church-broken.

Ø      The enemy of your soul whispers fear to you all the time and if you listen to that roar you cannot hear the Spirit speak.

Ø      Much like an airport, the church is not the destination but a connector to help people get to where they need to be.

Ø      We are not called to simply go to church.  We are called to be the church.

Reggie contends that “disinterest in institutional cultural Christianity will accelerate.” That makes the old scorecard which seemed to rank churches based on budgets, buildings, and baptisms, completely invalid. 

What should be on the new scorecard?  That may differ as each church customizes its scorecard and its ministry, giving greater attention to people development, life coaching, and a more “external” ministry agenda.  As a result, missional communities will emerge from inside and outside the institutional church, “communities that order their lives around communion, caring, and celebration.”

Some of us have some catching up to do. I’m convinced that the Spirit doesn’t want the church to be left behind.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

Faithful Financial Management Leads To Stability

The market is up one day and down the next. Some analysts believe that the recession is nearing an end and others caution that the recession could linger for another year or two. How do you find personal and emotional stability in an unstable economy?  The only way I know is by practicing the principles of Christian stewardship, and there are no shortcuts.

Christian stewardship is a pragmatic spiritual discipline…a management responsibility which applies to every facet of life.  As believers and worshippers, we are accountable to God for how we exercise that managerial responsibility over all of our resources, especially our time, our spiritual gifts, our opportunities, and our finances.

Although Florida’s economy began to spiral downward in the aftermath of the sequential hurricanes in 2004-2005, the negative trends in Florida have been compounded by national growth in unemployment, a depressed housing market, a depreciating market, and global economic anxiety. Although we do not know how long these recession conditions will last, we do know that God’s economic guidelines bring stability during all of the seasons of life.

God’s plan for economics begins by calling us to a positive and proactive attitude toward managing. A primary step toward managing all of your God-given resources is to present the firstfruits, or the first tenth of your increase, as a tithe unto the Lord.  The prophet Malachi probably has the most emphatic words to say about giving:  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  Malachi 3:8-10 NIV

In his book, Full Disclosure: Everything the Bible Says about Financial Giving, Dave Bell writes, Stewardship is not just an opportunity to enter into God's service but an opportunity for God to enter into you.  I believe that for those who dare to practice biblical stewardship, giving becomes a fun part of our management responsibility. Paul gives us a vivid description of a believer’s attitude toward God’s economic plan when he writes, Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver ( II Corinthians 9:7  NIV).

Herb Mather, author of Don’t Shoot the Horse (Until You Know How to Drive the Tractor), proposes that "The vertical relationship to God and the horizontal relationship to neighbor come together in the act of giving.” In other words, that cheerful spirit of managing and appropriating our resources for kingdom purposes cultivates within us a passion for mission and ministry.

How do you begin, or continue, the practice of Christian stewardship?

• Understand that all resources are a trust from God.
• Prioritize your tithes and offerings.  
• Provide for your family through careful management.
• Adopt a lifestyle of enjoying simple gifts.
• Be ethical and honest in all transactions.
• Limit credit liability and strive to eliminate debt.
• Invest in the future through a savings plan.

During these tough economic times God’s principles of stewardship can bring stability to our homes and our businesses, as well as the ministries of our church.

 

It Takes a Thief

By Barry Howard

If you are on our church campus this week, you will likely notice the reverberating sounds of construction, you will hear the echo of orchestral instruments and a large chorus of vocalists rehearsing, and you will notice men of all ages curiously unshaven, some with a mature beard and others with adolescent fuzz.  This year, for the first time since Hurricane Ivan, First Baptist Church is presenting the Pensacola Easter Pageant.

For many years this annual musical re-enactment of selected scenes from the passion of Christ has been a culminating highlight of Holy Week for our community. The pageant itself requires a lot of work. Volunteers spend countless hours building and assembling props. Members of the music staff are relentless in recruiting the cast and costuming the major characters. The choir and soloists begin right after Christmas memorizing and rehearsing the music.  The closer we get to the pageant date, the more intense and numerous the preparations become.

Our church is blessed with a significant number of retired and semi-retired members who are skilled with both hammer and saw, so we have a dedicated crew to build the set.  We are gifted with an extraordinary choir and orchestra, determined that the music will be presented with excellence.  And typically we conscript an adequate and willing troupe to portray the cast of the biblical passion narrative.

Some of the dramatic roles are easy to fill.  As I compared this year’s cast to the video clips from pageants past, I have noted that Jesus is a carryover from the last pageant.  Although he has married since the last pageant, he is about the same size and though youthful, the guy can grow a beard overnight.

The disciples and the guards are a mix of new volunteers and repeat performers, some of whom are a little grayer and a little more portly than last time.  Mary, the mother of Jesus is a brunette, and Mary Magdalene is a blond.  Nicodemus has lost about 30 pounds, Joseph of Arimathea is a seminary graduate, and Judas is portrayed by an exceptionally honest naval pilot.

Other than the role of Judas, the most challenging part to fill is the role of a thief.  Few who have played the part of the thief volunteer a second time. The role of the thief is strenuous and laborsome, being strapped to a cross for a significant portion of the program…condemned, semi-clothed, exposed….just hanging there helplessly for all the world to see.    

Our cast includes two thieves, one on each side of Jesus, a “good” thief and a “bad” thief.  There is just something about being the thief on the cross that many find a little distasteful or uninviting.  But you can’t have a real Easter pageant or grasp the full meaning of the Easter story without a thief.

In actuality, the thief should be one of the easier roles to fill, primarily because everyone, other than the original Jesus, has at least a little bit of real life experience playing the part. What usually happens when you are confronted with the gospel story is that you become aware of the thief within. To internalize the real Easter story each of us must identify ourselves as the thief before we are able to identify ourselves as a disciple.

Had you rather play the good thief or the bad thief?  The good thief was the repentant one.  

Easter is almost here. And it takes a thief to make the story come to life.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister of the First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.)

 

Finding Your Niche’: A Pastor's Perspective on Church Shopping

by Barry Howard

I admit it. “Church shopping” is a term that I loathe. I think the phraseology just sounds too commercial to apply to a community of faith. I also think that searching for a church home is a crucial life decision that requires a deeper level of introspection and spiritual guidance than can be found by following the usual church shopping guidelines.

Despite my disdain for the terminology, I do understand the popular concept and wish to offer a different, hopefully more pastoral perspective on what persons should look for in a church.

I begin by confessing my own biases. While I think of myself as somewhat progressive in my approach to ministry, many of my basic convictions about what it means to be church are not in sync with what I encounter in the pop church culture. For example, my preaching will probably never be as Lettermanesque as some postmoderns would like, but neither will it be as dogmatic and exclusively expository as some traditionalists prefer. My perspective on worship and ministry is much more missional (I prefer mission-driven) and much less entertaining or performance-based than you might experience in a big screen church. I also perceive that many church marketing schemes, often proffered as outreach strategies, seem to be veiled attempts at proselytizing (encouraging believers to leave their church to come to your church) and I unapologetically believe that proselytizing is a sin. We should be colleagues, not competitors, with other churches in our community. And I so firmly believe in covenantal membership, I contend that, with few exceptions, you should change church membership only when you change addresses.

A few years ago when I moved to Kentucky to begin serving as pastor in a small town rich in Appalachian folklore and history, I discovered that many of the local churchgoers had transferred membership between churches in the same community three or more times in five years. My plain-spoken retired pastor friend, Bob Lockhart, cynically suggested that our local ministerial association should begin offering a church passport so that our frequent church swappers would not have to go to the trouble to keep transferring their membership every time they became disgruntled.

I suppose that his comment helped me notice that “church shoppers” all too often become frequent “church swappers.” Along with other factors, that leads me to propose that when many people go on a church shopping spree, they use the wrong shopping list. In trendy religious magazines and captivating advertisements, typical church shopping tips might include encouraging someone in the market to look for a church where they like the pastor, where their favorite worship style is honored, where their beliefs are re-enforced, where the offering of activities is sufficient to “minister” to the whole family, and where they “feel” a sense of belonging. Lots of other things appear on church shopping lists, but these summarize the basic propositions.

This list may sound appropriate on the surface, but deeper probing reveals motivations that are a little too superficial and ego-centrical to survive gospel scrutiny. I cannot imagine Jesus, the one who spoke so radically about denying one’s self, giving his disciples such self-oriented guidance. I cannot fathom Paul, who wrote with gratitude about the diverse gifts within the body of Christ, encouraging converts to connect with a local faith community simply because others there already have similar gifts, similar passions, and similar preferences.

Perhaps the family or individual genuinely searching to connect with a church that stimulates growth and provides opportunities for missional service, should revise their shopping list. I’ve learned from experience that because pastors are charged with encouraging and equipping their congregations in ways that often challenge the status quo, a pastor’s “approval rating” can rise and fall weekly. Worship styles are constantly changing, as are the menu of activities and opportunities on most church calendars. And a sustained sense of belonging comes through engagement and participation. The immediate emotional appeal created when you visit a church that is new to you recedes quickly if you do not become connected relationally and missionally. In other words, using these popular criteria to select a church could doom you to perpetual frustration or frequent rotation of membership.

When looking for a church home, choose a place where your spiritual gifts are needed. Consider a church that offers diverse styles in worship, expressions that span the generations and the ages. Think about joining a church where your beliefs are going to be stretched and challenged by the preachers and teachers, not simply validated. Choose a church based on the opportunities you will have to serve, not just to be served, opportunities you will have to minister, and not just be ministered to. And cultivate a sense of belonging by getting involved in the work of the church.

I am privileged to serve a great church that has an above average degree of spiritual health, but a perfect church does not exist. Every local congregation has strengths and weaknesses. When you change churches as a reaction to something you disagree with, or something you don’t like, or because you are searching for greener pastures, you will inevitably end up in a church whose strengths and weaknesses differ from your current spiritual family but are not as visible to you; a new church that will enrich you and frustrate you in a different way.

There are a few good reasons to change churches: If you relocate, if you are called to service in another church, or if your church alters its mission and becomes involved in witchcraft, sorcery, or idol worship. That’s about it. I don’t think that differing interpretations of Bible passages, varying styles of worship, new or expanded mission partnerships, or changes in the menu of church services are really good reasons to divorce your church and seek another.

If you are currently “dissatisfied” with your church, perhaps God is revealing ways that you can proactively help your church become a more effective family of faith. Rather than running from the problem, consider “blooming where you are planted,” offering your spiritual gifts and passions to propel your congregation to higher ground.

If you are shopping for a church, make sure to use the right list. Don’t just look for the things that you like, or the things that make you feel good. Connect with people with whom you can grow. Serve in a community where you can make a valued contribution. Find your niche’ and plant yourself firmly in a local congregation to live out your faith covenant in good times and in challenging times.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.)

I Think I'll Give Up Worry for Lent

This year I think I'll give up worry for Lent. The newspaper called yesterday Fat Tuesday, a day where many indulge in gluttonous feasting or revelry. Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a time of intentional preparation for Easter. During this season, believers focus on self-examination, reflection, and repentance.

Traditionally, Christians give up something of importance to them during Lent. I have friends who give up one or more of their favorite things such as chocolate, coffee, sugar, or soft drinks. But since I am all too often compelled to worry, I think I'll try to give it up for at least 40 days.

I don't really like to worry. In fact, it's not constructive. Worry is like spam or junk mail. It just takes up valuable space in my mind, space needed for creative thinking, planning, visioning, and problem solving. And I know I function better when I am not weighted down with excessive worry. But each time I kick worry out the front door of my mind, it seems to sneak around and re-enter through the back door.

Years ago a friend of mind had a huge poster mounted on the wall over his desk that said, "Don't tell me worry doesn't help. Half of the things I worry about never happen."

I think worry is genetic. At least one of my grandparents and one of my parents would sit and worry for hours. It's no wonder that I have a pre-disposition toward this mental distraction.

And I am in good company. I frequently have coffee with CEO's, ministers, business owners, attorneys, physicians, and educators and they all tend to suffer from a similar dilemma. That is not surprising because there are so many things about which a person can worry... your business, your family, your investments, terrorism, the economy, the future. The list seems endless.

Perhaps my friends should give up worry for Lent also. Since Lent is a time of intentional preparation for Easter, maybe we should listen again to the words of Jesus who urged his followers to give up worry:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27

Today is Ash Wednesday, I am going to try to give up worry for at least 40 days...and maybe, hopefully, longer.