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It Was More Than Civil Rights

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on January 15, 2018
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Looking back on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2018, I find myself reflecting on what exactly today is about. Is it a celebration of human rights? Is it a celebration of a man, a father, a pastor, and a teacher? Is it even about the United States of America being the land of the free? In many ways yes it is, but my reflections have taken me to a deeper meaning, a deeper purpose that, I believe, transcends any of that. I believe that today is about more than Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe that today is about more than a dark segment of American History. I believe that today is about more than civil rights and I believe that Dr. King would agree with me.

As a teacher of Civil War history, I could pinpoint the fact that while slavery was almost an exclusively southern practice during the 19th century, racism was rampant all over the United States, north and south. I could pinpoint the fact that while the Civil War was ultimately fought to set people free, the country came up woefully short of establishing equality. I could say that Dr. King’s crusade for Civil Rights was born out of a country who fought for freedom, but failed to establish equality and it would take another 100 years for much of that equality to be established. But, I think today is bigger than that.

As a father, I hear the words of Dr. King echo. I hear a certain part of his speech roll through my mind as if it were on repeat inside of my head,“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for equality, not for himself, for he knew what he was up against. His dream was the future of his children, of all children- to be seen for who they are and who they could be. His dream was for a United States where all could rise and achieve wherever talents and hard work takes them instead of the measure of their success or failure be based on how they look. Yet, even as noble as a man’s quest for his children, I still think today is bigger than that.

You see, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor. As a pastor he understood the enormity of this problem in our great nation. The enormity of this issue stretches further than an one man, further than any family, further than politics and further than a national sense of propriety. Dr. King understood that the fight for equality was a fight for the sanctity of God’s design. This fight, a fight that still rages today, is not about Republican or Democrat, the right or the left, the haves or the have nots. It is not about north or south. Today is about understanding the truth found in Genesis 1:26-27.

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.”

We are ALL created in the image of God. Equal heirs of the Kingdom of God. Equal children of the One true King. J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area of N.C., tweeted some pretty poignant words today when he said,

“Multi-racial harmony is a preview of God’s eternal kingdom, and God wants to display it first through his church.”

I am not naive to think that there will be detractors to this article. I realize some will read this and still hold on to prejudice ways and continue to convince themselves that their piety and obscure twisting of God’s Word somehow makes it okay for them to have such prejudice. But, I’d like to point out, that if you are a follower of Christ, yet still have trouble seeing other races as children of God, created in HIS image, then you are going to have a real tough time when you get to Heaven and see that Middle Eastern man sitting at the right hand of the Father.

Dr. King risked what he did, sacrificed what he had, and ultimately paid the price with his life because he understood God’s design for all of humanity. There is only one race, the human race and anything or anybody treated to contrary doesn’t understand God’s Design for His creation. Today is about more than civil rights. It was a dream, a God-given, God-inspired dream of a Baptist pastor who stood up for scripture and God’s design for all of us. Thank you Dr. King- well done, good and faithful servant.

 

In Christ Alone,

Rev. Bro. Coach.

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No Better Time Than Now

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on September 13, 2015
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Now LaterHey I’m back behind the keyboard and it feels really good. The goal is to write smaller articles, more often, and give myself fewer excuses as to why I can’t write.  Not sure how often, I’ll be writing, but I can tell you that it feels good to be doing this again.

As a pastor, you get to hear why people choose to do their activities, who they dread spending the holidays with, etc.. You also get a lot of questions about why church members act the way they do. This often opens up a conversation about why that person has not been in church in weeks, months, or even years. Whether I am asking a student or an adult, the answers are a lot alike in their nature. I started a practice, just today in my student ministry. I noticed that we had several students who had just silently slipped away and had stopped coming to church. So, this morning, I decided that each Sunday morning after announcements, I would sit down in my office and text all of my students who were no longer coming. On day one, God started to move. Three of them showed up for church today, and I had a quality conversation with one that gave us both perspective on why people are leaving the church and not coming back.

In my conversation today, and coupled with similar conversations I have had in the past month, I learned two things: 1) People leave church for a variety of reasons and many times it was not something that happened at church or to them. It is usually personal, and often deals with basic life getting in the way and the person simply falling out of the habit of church. And 2) Even though the reasons for leaving were wide and varied, the reasons they don’t come back are almost all identical- they are afraid of being judged for being away for so long that it is too uncomfortable to come back. This is a reason and an answer that I have struggled with as I have prayed about it and asked for wisdom. The biggest reason that it is a struggle is the fact that to some degree, they are absolutely right and that is something that all of us who call Christ our Lord need to work on in our daily walk. Yet, after a month of thinking on this, having these conversations, and asking God to grant me wisdom on the matter, I have come to the conclusion that God wants me to deliver the truth- so here it is.

To all of my friends, family, acquaintances, and whoever reads this that is hesitant about returning to church: I understand that the reason you are so reluctant to return is the fear of being judged for being away for so long. Here is the truth- someone WILL do it. I’m sorry- that’s the truth, I wish there was a way around it, but there isn’t. We are always going to be faced with people who are going to forget that God’s Grace extends past them onto us. We are always going to come across people who have forgotten what all they have been forgiven for and they will direct their self-righteousness on us. It is going to happen…….BUT…………..(oh c’mon you knew there was going to be but in here)…………You also endure the same type of hypocritical person at your workplace too don’t you? You also endure the same type of hypocritical person at school don’t you? You also endure the same type of hypocritical person in your family don’t you?  I feel confident the answer is yes. However, we still go to work, we still go to school, and we still hang around and see family. Why then do we tolerate the minority of ignorance there, but not at church? You go to work because you need money, you go to school because you need an education, you see family because we need family- stands to reason that we should go to church because we need Jesus in our lives.

Let me encourage you to get back into church. I am willing to bet that the overwhelming response to your return will be that of excitement and rejoicing; much like I am willing to bet what judgment you will be getting from a select few will be minimal and if you think about it, inconsequential. Now is a great time to return to church and get reacquainted with your savior or better yet, establish a relationship with Him for the first time. I think that once you give it a chance, it will be the best thing you’ve done for yourself in a long time.  There is no better time than now. God is waiting and He is excited that you are coming home.

In Christ Alone,

Rev. Bro. Coach

 

Surviving Bi-vocational Student Ministry- part 1: Understand & Embrace Your Call

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on November 24, 2014
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

bivocational1In the last 7 years of ministry, I have learned a lot. I would like to say that I learned these lessons because I was thoughtful and carefully planned each intricate detail to happen just right; but the reality is that most of the stuff I have learned, I have done so through trial and error- more error than anything. Through this system of trial and error, I have made so many mistakes that I have wondered at times if I would ever get anything right. It is in these failures that my identity as a student pastor emerged- an identity rising out of the ashes of the chaos that often characterizes my ministry. It is through these same ashes that I feel God has called me to share my experiences as a bi-vocational student pastor with others who are in similar situations. In the next few weeks, I hope to highlight what I have identified as 6 major themes or truths in the bi-vocational world. I hope these become a source of help for any bi-vocational student pastor who knows the constant struggle of the world where you are only part-time by title and pay.

So, you have been called to be a student pastor. When I think of the enormity of that calling, I often think of the scene in the Disney Classic, Aladdin, where the genie is describing to Aladdin what his life is like. The genie makes the statement that he has “phenomenal cosmic power- itty bitty living space.” If you have been in bi-vocational ministry for any length of time, you know that sums it up- a phenomenal calling on our lives- itty bitty fraction of time to get it done. In fact we could sit here and talk for hours about how little time we have to get anything done in our ministry. It’s that call, however, that drives us to give up our only free time on weekends, work 40+ hour jobs each week only to come home and put in 20-30+ more hours per week at home, church, and events with our students. It’s that call that forces us out of bed on Saturday to go lead a mission project when all we really want to do is sleep in for one Saturday in the year. Well, it’s this same call that I want to focus our attention on in this first installment.  As bi-vocational student pastors, we need to understand and embrace our call.phone

This is a struggle for me- in fact all 6 of these are struggles for me, that’s kind of why I’m writing this. This may be the first time that I am my own audience. My struggle lies in the fact that I want to be in full time ministry, but God has not revealed many details of His ultimate plan for me. I am perfectly happy at City View and there is no doubt that God has me with this great group of students for a reason, it is this very situation where I am learning to embrace my call. Because of my desire to be full time, I do my best to run City View Student Ministries like a full time student ministry.  Something wasn’t right though. I was constantly feeling like I was failing. We had a surge in students a couple of years into my ministry and we ballooned up to around 30, but since then I haven’t been able to push much past that number- I felt like a failure. Why weren’t we drawing more people in? What am I doing wrong? I eventually realized that my passion for being a full-time guy was getting in the way of my call. My call isn’t about numbers. My call is about ministering to a small church in the inner city who has very little means and resources, but has a heart for the lost of our community. I may never pastor a student ministry of 100 or even 50, but I might- only if God calls me to it. The day I stopped struggling on a regular basis, is the day I realized and embraced my call to minister to inner city kids in Knoxville and stop worrying about the numbers.

What is your call? Is God calling you to lead a certain demographic of student like He did me? Is He calling you to be a minister to a group of students who might get lost in the crowd of bigger churches? Pray and ask God what He has called you to do and then fulfill that call to the best of your ability. Your call is the only thing you need to fulfill. God has placed all of us where we should be, to accomplish a work that He will bless and use. Don’t waste precious time and energy trying to make your student ministry like others. Understand and embrace YOUR call for YOUR ministry and God will do wonders with it.

In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro. Coach

You Don’t Have to Try

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on August 4, 2014
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

First of all, let me thank all of you who follow this blog for faithfully waiting during my summer sabbatical from writing. Sometimes, it is good to get away from the keyboard and allow your creative juices to replenish themselves. During my hiatus, God truly blessed my life. We were fortunate enough to buy a new house, I got to spend 3 amazing weeks of ministry in various places, and in the process got to see 41 people give their life to Christ.  It has been a truly amazing summer. But, now here I sit, writing my first blog from my new office in my new house and tonight, I’m speaking particularly to my girls out there. As a father of two boys, you may think that I am oblivious to such matters as beauty and the self esteem issues that go on in a woman’s life. Let me assure, however, mamma raised me better and I have two beautiful Goddaughters that I treat as my own. So this topic is near and dear to my heart because I think of them when I talk about it.

Now I have been blessed to have a ridiculously awesome career. By day I teach my favorite school subject, history, and I also get to have the coolest job on the planet ministering to teenagers. I have also been blessed in the last couple of years to be a published writer (both a hobby and a passion). Now, while I truly love being the writer of a blog, I would not count self publication. I am actually a writer for a magazine called YLO (Youth Leaders Only) where I am given various Christian songs and I write bible studies for those songs. Youth Pastors all over the country subscribe and use these studies…it is pretty cool to think about.  One of the things that I get to do for YLO is I get to write Re-tunes. This is where they give me a secular song and I write a bible study for it. This latest edition, I was given the song Try, by Colbie Caillat. Not listening to secular music much, I hadn’t heard it. When I did, it hit me like a ton of bricks. self-esteem3

You see there is an increasing problem in our society today. The definition of beauty has been vastly distorted by the Godlessness of the world. The entertainment business has led the charge in giving women and men alike, unrealistic images of what true beauty is. These images, which are often enhanced by today’s computer editing software, paint a picture that is both demeaning of women and misleading to men. That is only half of the problem though. The other half of the problem is that we continually buy into this fairy tale land of what we are supposed to look like. We have abandoned the one source that truly defines beauty in favor of the world’s definition that is practically unattainable, and causes heartache, insecurity, and at the worst case…suicide.

In order to return to a true definition of beauty, we need to look no further than Genesis 1:27 which tells us, “So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.” This one simple verse points back to the true and original source. This verse points to the One who created the definition of beauty when he created us all. God created the Earth and said, “it was good,” but when He created us, He said that it was “very good.” We need not look to the world to define our beauty.

The song, Try, echoes this false doctrine given to us by this world, a world not influenced by God, by the carnal urges of sinful man. The song points out that women should wear certain makeup, dress in ways that are revealing because that is what men want. The song talks about how girls are told that they need to look a certain way, be a certain size, and wear certain clothes. But, the song reminds women that they don’t need to try to please a world that doesn’t appreciate them for who they are. The song points out what many women forget and that is answering the question, do you like you? The God of all creation does not take time to make junk. This includes all of us. This includes even the guys who are feeling increasing pressure to have a certain look. We are told that God made us fearfully and wonderfully in Pslams 139:14. It is time that we start looking to the Father for the definition of our beauty instead of relying on a world where the cultural DNA promotes a skewed version of reality.

The world is a Godless place that constantly preys on our insecurities and our perceived deficiencies. However, we need to take heart in the fact that God does not take the time to make junk. We need to block out what the world tells us is the only way to look. Our focus should be on our Father’s definition of beauty, the way He created us. The only words we should ever concern ourselves with is when our Lord says, “Well done good and faithful servant.” God made you special. He made you who you are, how you are for a great purpose. Do not conform to this world and their thoughts and ways because you don’t have to try, God loves you just the way He made you.

In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro Coach