What is regret? By definition it is something you have done that impacted you or others negatively and now it weighs on your mind. It really isn't something that someone else has done that impacted you in a negative way. That really isn't 'regret.' Maybe someone rear ended you while you sat at a red light. That is something that happened. But regret something you could have avoided.

Having said that, I was asked recently what was my greatest regret in life and in the ministry. 

"Hmmm. Well, let's see. Hmmm. Well........ Nothing comes to mind." "WHAT? Nothing comes to mind? Your life has been perfect?" "Hah! Certainly not! There are things I wish had not happened and there might be some things I wish I had done differently, but no, nothing I regret. The Lord has been really good to me! Not in a material sense, but in a Spiritual sense, which is a lot more important to me."

And that pretty much ended that conversation. The closest I have ever really come to real regret was having to leave the last church I pastored. My health would not let me continue and I became depressed. For about a week. As time has gone by I see it was all a part of God's plan. They now have a pastor who can do the things I had become unable to do. They have the best Elder body I ever worked with and have now brought in a wonderful addition. The people are great. It was just time for everyone to move on. My health is greatly improved, and they are in very good hands, so there is nothing to regret.

In fact, looking back at life I don't see missed opportunities or anything like that. What I see is.....well......weirdness. Not weirdness in a bad way, but weirdness in a weird way.

1982. Hialeah FL. (suburb of Miami) We had taken our Youth somewhere in the church van. We had returned to the church and the kids had exited the van and were standing in a group on the sidewalk talking to Marsha. Recently a strange man had been attending our church. When I say 'strange,' I mean in a frightening way. He was building a spaceship in his back yard so he could go to a planet that was experiencing drought and help them out. His name was Phil. As I came around the front of the van he walked up. "Hey Phil! What's up?" "I've come for Noelvys. Taking her with me to that planet." Noelvys was one of our Youth. "You know Phil, I don't think Noelvys wants to go to that planet." With that, Phil pulled out a pistol and said, "Doesn't matter. She's going and you aren't going to stop me!" I have no idea what came over me, but I grabbed his hand and slammed it against the door of the van. I heard crunching and he dropped the gun and ran off crying. The police picked him up the next day, so I guess he missed his flight.

Now, dealing with a guy with a gun would be weird for anyone in the ministry, but I dealt with three other people with guns over the years, as well. Now that is weird.

2002. October. Different church, different state. The church was going to celebrate 135 years of existence. The church's first baptism had been on the very first Sunday in October in 1867 and had been in Lake Erie. By 2002 the church had a baptistry which we had used for all our baptisms. However, for the 135 anniversary the Elders wanted to have a baptismal service in Lake Erie. We had seventeen people awaiting baptism and I was sure they would say no. Lake Erie is not user friendly in October. But to my surprise, they all thought it was a great idea! So, I grudgingly went along with the plan.

Lake Erie was not friendly that day. Sunny, but cold. Waves very much over our heads. I nearly lost the first person I walked out. A wave crashed over us and he came up spitting and asked if he was baptized yet. I told him no. When the baptizer goes down with the baptizee, it really isn't a baptism. Just a near drowning. Finally, after sixteen people had been properly (more or less) baptized, the last one came splashing out. Twelve years old. I was beat. Couldn't wait to get back. Turned to face the beach just as the biggest wave hit. Because she was smaller, we had moved inshore quite a bit. The wave hit and smashed my face into the pebbled bottom of the Lake. I came up bleeding, she came up choking and I very quickly baptized her. But the real bad one was number eight. She came out wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I had come in to lead her out and I said to her softly, "Why the sweatsuit?" "Cause it is cold and I don't want to get cold!" "That thing is going to fill up with water and it will be heavy and you will freeze!" "No no, I'm good. Let's go!" By the time we got we got to the depth to baptize, the sweatsuit was soaked. She weighed twice as much as normal. Baptized her and really struggled to bring her up. Walked her part way back and then her husband splashed out to take her. When she got up to where she was only about knee deep, her soddened sweatpants fell down. Most of the folks on the beach were drinking coffee and one of the men said to me later, "Wow! Drinks and a show!" At the time I was not amused, but now it is really funny.

Many other things have happened that would be discouraging to some, but to me they have taught lessons and, at times, made me laugh. I mean, I passed out at the wheel once and ran one of our church ladies off the road! Today we can laugh at it (sort of). One day at a funeral home a lady gave me a hug and I didn't even know I needed a hug, and it was awesome. And I suppose that is the point here. When we follow the Lord, He takes care of things. Not always the way we want. In fact, almost never the way we want. But then we see His way is so much better than our way. We think of the great figures in the Bible. They didn't know where following the Lord was going to take them, but they followed anyway.

And if they didn't follow Him, they had nothing but regrets.  

So much to write about today! I could write about the weather. Miserable cold. Supposed to reach all the way to Central Florida. Back in the 1970s they tried to scare us by saying there was going to be so much pollution that the sun's rays would be blocked and we would freeze to death. Then in the 1990s, when we weren't freezing after all, they said we were in the midst of global warming and we were going to fry. But that didn't happen, either. Some glaciers melted, but some also had their ice increase. So, then they said climate change, and we are going to die. Well, I don't see much in the way of change except for the regular seasonal change. Weather has always been unpredictable.

Oh, wait, I know! The National Championship Game! Well, I guess I won't write about that, mostly since I don't really care and didn't even watch the game. But, I do feel it is my obligation to point out that Ohio State beat three Indiana schools by a combined score of 117-38 on the way to winning the National Championship game. And, if OSU can play enough high school teams, their basketball team might play .500 ball this season. 

We did greet a new president. I didn't watch it on TV or listen on radio. When I got back from my morning appointments, I lit up my computer. It was interesting. Fox Online had wall to wall reporting of the day's events. But I always check the liberal outlets for news, too, and then I make up my own mind. One of those outlets carried weather news, information about the Big Game that night and lots of mindless fluff, but nothing about the inauguration. It was actually funny. The first article of the day that they ran was one that said Mrs. Trump was standing next to her husband during the swearing in holding a stack of Bibles and the president didn't lay his left hand on them. The 'stack' was two Bibles (I don't know, but I imagine one was hers and one was his.) Donald Trump is human and I assume in the excitement he simply forgot. The Bibles were there, so they were part of the plan. What was sad was that this outlet has openly made fun of Christians and Jews and then they act offended that the president did not lay a hand on the Bibles. 

I could write about all of that, but another thought has been perking around in my head. 95 out of 190 USA Ambassador posts around the world are not currently filled. Half of all nations that we have diplomatic relations with have no US Ambassador to represent our country. There are many reasons, but those gaps need to be filled. It is not just a matter of putting a body out there, either. The American Foreign Service has to train people. There needs to be serious background checks. They are representing the United States, for heaven sakes! They must present our country in a sterling way. And when they get to their embassy, they MUST be near perfect. I looked up how many Ambassadors our country has had that have been expelled by their host country. Some have been expelled because the host country doesn't like the US anymore. A few have been expelled because their transmissions to Washington reporting about the activities of the host country (which falls within their job) were intercepted by the host country and they took offense. However, I did not come across a single incident of an Ambassador being expelled for committing a crime or acting in a lewd or immoral way. I have to believe that with Ambassadors all over the world and 248 years of exchanging Ambassadors with other countries, someone has slipped up. But if so, it has not happened very many times. Our Ambassadors know how to act!

In 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, we have this; 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are Ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.    

I hope you get the meaning of this passage. God has a ministry of drawing the world to Himself and He has chosen us to do the actual work. You, me and every other believer who lives or has ever lived has the title of Ambassador! What an honor! What a high calling! And yet, over the last week, have you let that office down? This last week I was talking to a lady who says she is a believer. She got caught up in her rant and fired off a couple of sentences that could turn the air blue. She caught herself, dropped her head and said, "Pardon my French." I told her I know a little French and I am certain those words were not French. And then I told her this, "If you want people to treat you like a Christian, you have to act like a Christian." You get frustrated or angry, what comes out of your mouth? If someone badmouths you, do you heap coals of kindness upon their heads? When the world slaps you, do you turn the other cheek? 

Are we effective Ambassadors?    

 

 I enjoyed last Friday's Miss Mary's post about change. If you haven't read it, go to Mary's Moments and give it a read. It won't take but a few minutes and it is much worth your time. 

From a pastor's point of view, change is a nasty thing. Most pastors take change in stride, but it is the church that the pastor is going to that feels change is nasty. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have sat in a Board meeting, Deacon's meeting or Elder's meeting and heard the phrases "We've never done that before" or "That isn't the way we do it here." I was in a church in Binghampton, New York because they had called me for help. The building was massive but the congregation had dwindled too next to nothing. In a meeting with the church leaders on Saturday night I had suggested they do something in particular and one elderly lady spoke right up and said, "That isn't the way we do things here."  To which I replied, "Well, your way of doing things here is killing this church. Trying something new might actually help." This was not well received. Churches hate change even when change is the only thing that will save them.

In school we had a Ministry professor who addressed this issue. He told us that all things either change or die and the way to get a church to change is slowly, with baby steps. "And fellows, never go into that first meeting with the leaders when you are a candidate and tell them what changes you want to see them do. They know their people and they know their history and they know the struggles they have faced. Watch for about a year and then slowly introduce your thoughts." Very sound advice and advice that I adhered too. Until that one church.....

I was contacted by a church to see if I would consider coming to their church. I was already pastoring a church and the church that was contacting me was just a few towns away from where I had grown up. I didn't want to return to my home area, so my first inclination was to say 'no', but then I thought that I should at least go and talk with them. So, a time was set and Marsha and I went. When we got there we were introduced to the group. "Wait, are you all Elders?" The response was affirmative, so I said, "Well, that's not right. There should be regular church folks here, too. I would not be very comfortable in an Elder controlled church." They all looked at each other with uncomfortable glances. Marsha and I were still standing, so we said our good-byes and turned to leave. The Elder chair spoke up and said, "Well, this is just how we do things. First couple of meetings it is just the Elders." Which was just fine. It was their way. But I was going no further. Another Elder spoke up. "Well, OK. Maybe you could just sit and talk with us and we could use this as practice?" Marsha and I looked at each other and communicated by our glance and I said, "OK, that would be fine." So, we all sat down and started our little chat. 

The church had some funds that had been donated by folks over the years. These Elders were very proud of the fact that these invested funds could support the church. I told them that this was not good because it gave folks no incentive to tithe. I asked if they each tithed and they all dropped their eyes. I told them that not tithing was a Spiritual problem and since the Elders, Biblically, were the Spiritual leaders of the church, they should be tithing. Now they were really uncomfortable. I went on and asked them if they, individually, shared the Gospel. The eyes dropped to the floor. Again, that was their primary function. When we were led in we passed through the sanctuary and I noticed a floor to ceiling crack in the plaster. I asked how long that had been there. Someone mentioned a small earthquake from about ten years earlier. Marsha spoke up and pointed out that the crack was a bad testimony, especially when they called the building "God's house." No one was even trying to meet our eyes now. The community the church was in had a grape festival each year and I asked if they participated. (I had no problem if they did. I was just curious.) Oh yes, came the proud reply. Their church was known to have the best grape pies in town! "Is the church known for anything else other than great grape pies?" By this time everyone was examining their shoes pretty well.

I was anxious to leave and I told them that we needed to go. They asked me to close in prayer and we went our separate ways. I told them I would be praying about it, but I showed no enthusiasm. When we got into the car Marsha said we probably shouldn't have been so hard on them. I said that since we would never hear back it was our one chance to point them in a different direction. Looking back on it, we were pretty hard on them.

But I had told them we would pray about it.

A week later, Marsha and I sat down to talk about it. We both said that God was leading us there. However, since we had raked them over the coals, we knew we would not hear from them again. And then they called and wanted to set up another meeting. Folks from the church were there and again I told them that there were things they needed to do to live and it involved change. The secretary had given me a bulletin when we walked in and the order of services was so crammed full 'things' that I asked how long I had to preach. I was told they wanted out in an hour and so the pastor got about ten minutes. I laughed and told them they would have to do away with a lot of stuff or expect an hour and a half service. Still, we moved ahead and one thing leading to another, we accepted the call.

We started out on the wrong foot, but it was just the foot God wanted. Six years later the terror attacks happened in New York on 9/11. That evening we opened the church for any of our folks who wanted to come and pray. The church filled with folks from the community. I asked one fellow why he had come to this church, and he said that he knew that this church would meet for prayer. The next day all the pastors met to plan a community service for one week after the attacks. The first thing brought up was the location. They all wanted to be at our church. I protested. I named two other churches larger than ours plus the Community Center was more than willing to host. One of the pastors said no, this service needed to be in the most Spiritual church in town. I sat down and let the tears flow. In six years we had gone from being a church known for making a great pie to being the church that was known to never fail to stand for Jesus. Then, after eleven years, I stood in that pulpit for the last time. I spoke into a state of the art sound system. The walls and windows and floors were in perfect shape. New pews filled the sanctuary and every seat was taken. In the beginning they needed that gifted money to survive. Just eleven years later we had spent a small fortune and didn't even think of that money anymore. And we had baptized one hundred people in those eleven years, up from the one hundred in the previous century. 

Now, one could say that they would welcome change if they thought that would happen in their church. But that is not how the Lord works. He leads us into change and we may not see any benefit for a while. That isn't the point. The point is to follow the Lord and leave the blessings up to Him.  

Either welcome the Lord's change or accept death.

I knew a gentleman a few years back who was a 'name dropper.' This is a phrase that is not used as much as it used to be, so you may be a bit unclear as to what it means. A name dropper is someone who talks endlessly about the people they know. Now, someone who served in the Secret Service might talk of presidents and leaders that they had the privilege of protecting. This would be expected since they had actually met these people and had known them. Yet, these types of people really don't talk of the ones they have known all that much. But a name dropper will talk of people as though they actually know them well, even though they only had a chance meeting.

My name dropper was a new minister in our town. My usual response to a new minister was to take him out to lunch. If he was someone who had been in the ministry for a while, I wanted to pick his brain. If he was new to the ministry, I wanted to encourage him. This fellow was in his mid-fifties but had spent his working career in business as an accountant. His career change to ministry came late. Going from a business background to the ministry was a huge step. The two are often assumed to be very much alike, but the reality is that they are completely different. One of my goals in this first lunch was to help him bridge the gap between the two worlds.

We had made our orders and had just gotten our salads when he casually mentioned that he knew Muhammad Ali. This was so out of the blue that it took me off guard and I asked him how he knew Ali. He said he had met him the first time at a fund raiser in Cleveland. Then he went on talking about other people he knew and things he had done. In subsequent conversations, it was disclosed that this man knew many people, from Ali to Trump to the manager of the Cleveland Indians, Terry Francona. He knew them so well that he called them by their first names or by their nicknames. For instance, he referred to Trump as Don and Terry Francona as Tito. And he always referred to these people as 'the salt of the earth' and he would assure anyone who was listening that when you really got to know these people you found out they were regular folks.

After that first meeting I came away feeling that he was so unsure of himself that he created this little world to show others how well connected he was to the important people. This is not an unusual trait amongst businessmen. Some of them do know the movers and shakers in business, but when someone starts talking about famous people from all walks of life, they are usually insecure.

People began to ignore him. No one really believed him when he talked like that, but I tended to overlook all of it. He was still in business mode and this was his way of making a temporary connection that was needed in business to close a deal. Ministry, of course, is about long term connections. Because of this habit, people became distant from him. I tried to talk to him about it, but he would switch to something else.

Marsha knew about all of this and she knew how I felt. This pastor was nearing retirement and was then going to move to Arizona. We were going to go to one last lunch. Marsha put a thought to me that morning. What if he really did do all those things and what if he really did know all those people? Actually, I had never considered that. I had made a judgement at that first lunch and never wavered from it. This was something I always tried to avoid, but in this case, I had made a steadfast decision. What if I was wrong? Whoa! I would owe him an apology!

At this last lunch together, I asked him how he had come to know Ali. He laughed and said that it was a funny story. Back in the early 1980s, Ali was going to have an exhibition fight in Cleveland against a popular local fighter. The purpose was to raise money for a hospital that mostly served the black community. The news conference announcing this fight would be at the hospital. Our hero was the accountant at the hospital. Even though the hospital served mostly African-Americans, this retiring pastor was of a Swedish background. When you say someone is white, that actually includes a lot of variation of colors. But Swedes are WHITE. Apparently, Ali had just stepped up to the microphone during this news conference, when our Swede entered the room right where Ali was standing. Our Swede had no idea this was going on and he was taking a short cut. His hands were full of papers as he was going from one office to another. So, here was a snow-white man in a room filled with black men and women, including Ali. The story was Ali's eyes grew large and he took on that comic menacing face he used sometimes. No words were exchanged and our Swede ducked out in embarrassment. That was it. No other meetings. We had a good laugh. And I then knew my original judgement was correct.

Name dropping of famous people makes you look silly. However, there is one name you can pass along happily. The name is Jesus. If you are a believer, you do know Him. His name may draw ridicule, but it is the Name above all names, the only Name that can change lives. However, if you use that Name, make sure your actions do not bring Him embarrassment.

Be the best name dropper this week and pass the name of Jesus along.