It Takes A Church...

Faith Amidst Trials: A Word of Encouragement for Church Leaders I Know

"Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God’s strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too."

Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Mayors and Pray-ers

This morning, I was privileged to speak at the Kiwannis Club's Annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast in San Clemente.  Here is a manuscript of my remarks...

Mr. Mayor, City Council, members of Kiwannis, fellow San Clementeans, thank you for the privilege of being your keynote speaker this morning.

Allow me a pastoral shout-out to my friends from San Clemente Presbyterian Church.  That Community of faith has certainly taught me what it means to be good friends, neighbors and civic leaders.  They really are a Community for the community.

Will you also let me acknowledge the presence of my good friend, my cycling buddy, a member of my church, a veteran of three tours of duty in Iraq and the commanding officer of the 2 Battalion/ 5th Marines, preparing to leave next month for yet another tour of duty abroad, Lt. Col. Todd Eckloff.

While I am extending thanks, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight the pastors’ fellowship in this town that is so remarkably generous, gracious and hospitable.  They know, far more than the Kiwanians or Council Members that I am the least worthy candidate to be giving this address this morning.  Because of my schedule and duties, I am almost never able to participate in their gatherings and planning sessions, yet I am always, always welcomed with open arms and full support whenever I am able to join with them.  Can I also just mention the tremendous leadership and service that is consistently offered to all of us from Pastor Ron Sukut.  Ron was the very first pastor in this town to welcome me to San Clemente Presbyterian almost 11 years ago, he was hands-on involved around the clock partnering with our church’s relief efforts during the wildfires last fall, and he continues to communicate, pray, serve and bless humbly and generously. Ron, you truly are the pastor of this town.

It is also a privilege to join with you in thanking God for the blessings of living in this town.  And indeed, like most of you I am sure, I consider it one of God’s greatest joys of in my life.

Last week I had the privilege of hosting and spending time with the wife of the Bishop of Durham of the Church of England.  She spent nearly a week here in San Clemente and Dana Point and just loved it.  When we were driving down the coast to go pick up the Bishop at the airport, she looked out the window at the sun glistening on the ocean and this women who has traveled the world, lived all over the world, lunched with the Queen and hosted dignitaries said to me, “If anybody lived here, I would guess they would never leave.”  To which I replied, “If they can help it, mostly they don’t.”

When a pastor moves to a new church, the religious term is that we are “called” by God to the new position and new place.  But when I first moved here eleven years ago, I was reluctant to talk about God “calling” me San Clemente.  For most pastors a “call” implies at least some sense of being willing to be  inconvenienced or possibly "suffer and sacrifice" for the Lord.  Depending on your perspective, you may be "called" to Fresno, or Fargo, or Fairbanks, but you aren’t “called” to San Clemente, you GET to go to San Clemente and when you do you consider yourself either very blessed or very lucky indeed.

This morning, I hope to express my gratitude for the privilege of living and serving here, by hopefully serving you through some thoughtful remarks.

So…

A priest, a rabbi, a parrot, a blonde and a seeing-eye dog all walk into a bar, and the bar tender says, “Is this some kind of a joke?”

Well, in a similar way following that opening, the question I want to pose may seem like one: What do politicians and pastors have in common?

Or to put it more accurately, What do people of faith and public officials share?

Or once more, What do Mayors have to do with Pray-ers? (And by that, I mean the people doing the praying and not the praying itself.)

This morning, I would like to venture a public answer to that question.

Faith, Business and Serving the Creator

This quote from a recent post by Fuller Seminary President, Richard Mouw grabbed my attention:

...we certainly need more messages about business activity as an opportunity to serve people in ways that please the Creator....

Mark D. Roberts recent series on the history of the Faith at Work movement is saying some similar things. And tomorrow, I am doing my first seminar specifically for a business on Being Powerless Agents of change.

Now, I usually find that when I go somewhere to speak, I am the one who ends up learning the most. So, while in my mind, I know that Monday Morning on Wall Street and Friday Mornings on Main Street should have everything to do with what happens on Sunday Mornings in the pews, I am sure my messages don't say it nearly enough.

I am drawn toward entrepreneurs and business leaders, I love reading books about new models of business and organizational leadership often gleaning insights for leading in churches. I love encouraging groups like "CauseDEPOT" that are trying to make a difference in the world through the market place.

In short, I have been so encouraged in the practice of my faith by business thinking,  perhaps I need to think more and more about how to return the favor.  Any suggestions?   

"I am dying and I am still having fun..."

As a young Christian, walking the high school campus with a bible under my arm, all-so-serious, looking for someone to convert, someone said to me, "Don't take life so seriously, you are not going to get out of it alive."  They probably meant that I should lighten up on my faith convictions, but I took it another way, that in my faith convictions, I should live more lightly, more winsomely, more open to the moments that our absurd and laughable and filled with fun.   Today, I have a Road ID anklet that reads "Pack a lot of life into living." That reminds me that the abundant life that God has for us starts here and now

This WSJ video is a follow up to the one I posted last week, (HT: Steve Norris) revisiting the legacy that is being left behind by Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying of pancreatic cancer, and how much the world is "dying" to hear messages with this kind of perspective. (The entire lecture is found here.)

Last Lecture

Thanks again to my friend Bill Rice for another thoughtful video piece from the Wall Street Journal.

This time it is about Randy Pausch, professor at Carnegie-Mellon. As the WSJ reports, a packed house full of students "had come to see him give what was billed as his 'last lecture.' This is a common title for talks on college campuses today. Schools such as Stanford and the University of Alabama have mounted 'Last Lecture Series,' in which top professors are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and to give hypothetical final talks. For the audience, the question to be mulled is this: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? It can be an intriguing hour, watching healthy professors consider their demise and ruminate over subjects dear to them. At Carnegie Mellon, however, Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an academic exercise. The 46-year-old father of three has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months."

My favorite line came when he talked about setbacks in life: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things." Dr. Pausch and I probably don't share a common faith, but I'd like to think we share a common view of living.  As one who in faith has "died with Christ", I believe it is healthy to ponder from such a perspective.

So, what would your "last lecture" be about?

Very recently, two of my friends have written posts that offer similar reflections as they go through other transitions of life.  Almost as touching and certainly as thought-provoking,  Steve Norris writes a reflection about a man in a wheelchair who has seen a lot of life and what it means to him to be sitting next to the wheelchair, and Mark D. Roberts writes a retrospective about leaving a 16 year pastorate for a new calling.

To Them, Labor Day is a Religious Holiday

"All life is sacred.  If we just see it, all of life is sacred... The Christian life is not to do sacred things, but to do all things in a sacred way."--- Howard E. Butt, Jr.

For the past couple of years, I have enjoyed being associated with Laity Lodge and the Howard E. Butt Family Foundation.  I have spoken at Laity Lodge twice and will be returning to attend a conference in November and will speak there again next summer.  I have also been asked to contribute to their website ministry "The High Calling of Our Daily Work" and my friend, Mark Roberts is becoming their new Senior Director and Scholar in Residence.  For "The High Calling" and Laity Lodge, everyday life is holy life, and our daily work is holy work.  They are deeply committed to the ministry of the laity and the transformation of society through equipping Christians to see their occupations as part of a larger vocation.

This video tells even more of the story of the lodge.  This blog and this website give resources for helping every Christian see his or her life AS ministry.

Moon or Star?

I have been asked to contribute articles to "The High Calling of Our Daily Work" website and here is the most recent.  This is one of those ministries that can really make a difference in the lives of Christians who somehow know that they are as called to their "ordinary life" as we pastors are called to "THE" ministry. 

I am glad to partner with them and encourage any of you to become more connected to this ministry.

Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment… 1 Ti 6:6

The teenagers at my church like to play a game they call “Would you rather?”  Some of them are gross (Would you rather sweat cheese or have a permanent brain freeze headache?), some of them are silly (Would you rather be Paris Hilton’s dog or Donald Trump’s wife?) and some of them are more thought provoking.  Like this one that I want to offer you.

Would you rather be a star or a moon?  The initial response seems easy: Star.  (Maybe even BIG Star.) Why be a lifeless floating rock that orbits around something bigger when you can blaze in glory, give off light and be the center of your own universe?  But think again.  Many of us spending our whole lives trying to be “stars”.  (And I don’t mean just in the entertainment field).  We want to be the center of attention, the most important, and the one that everyone else has to revolve around.  That is until we realize that we weren’t really made to be stars. 

Click here to read the rest of this essay at

Visit TheHighCalling.org for more articles by Tod Bolsinger