One of my all-time favorite guitar heroes is Phil Keaggy. He is a phenomenal player who has literally moved me to tears with his artistry and the sheer joy and abandon with which he plays. He was on the rise back in the early 1970s, making a name for himself in secular rock music. But he became a Christian, and to the dismay of many, he walked away from the threshold of rock stardom and devoted himself to Christian music. He has played and sung original Christian music ever since, eventually recording and distributing his albums independently of any record label. He lives in Nashville, TN with his wife Bernadette, still tours, and I have had the privilege of seeing and hearing him play live twice.

   Keaggy has released over 50 albums in his career. On one of his albums released back in the 1990s, at the end of the liner notes thanking various people, Phil Keaggy wrote these words: “After all this time, I still believe.” I think I knew immediately what he meant.

   After you’ve been a Christian for a while it’s easy to get disillusioned. The inevitable difficulties you face in life and the disappointing behavior of some Christian people can make you feel weary and jaded. Phil Keaggy and his wife suffered a series of miscarriages (though they did go on to have two daughters and a son). And he experienced his own frustration and difficulties with those in the Christian music business who emphasized the “business” aspect over the “Christian” part. Heartbreak, disappointment and betrayal all take their toll on your soul.

   And yet, on that album, Keaggy wrote those simple, powerful words. After all the hurt, all the disappointment, all the frustration, and all the times others have promised you something and then let you down–and all the times you’ve been disappointed in yourself–the world is still broken, hearts are still sinful, people need Jesus (and so do I), heaven is waiting, hell is real, and God still changes lives with the Gospel. “After all this time, I still believe.” Amen, Phil! Me, too.

   I want to echo Phil Keaggy’s words, and apply them in a specific way to the ministry and church life.

   Last June on vacation my wife and I worshiped with our sister church, White River Baptist Church of Bloomfield, and heard a fantastic sermon by their pastor, Al Pierce. Later I got on their website and read Pastor Pierce’s philosophy of ministry statement. Honestly, I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read about how to approach the ministry and church life. I believe everything he wrote, but rather than put it in my own words, since he said it so well, let me just quote my friend and colleague, Pastor Al Pierce. Here, in part is, what he wrote:

“My philosophy of ministry is built around what I believe to be the scriptural charges given to all pastors.  I believe my role as pastor is to equip the saints to accomplish the work of building the kingdom of God.  In many ways I am an equipper, a trainer, and a cheerleader.  Although I have strong administrative skills, God has not called me to administer the church, but to pastor/shepherd the church.  …The primary way I accomplish this ministry God has given me is through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.  I strongly believe in expository preaching and teaching.  Although many claim expository preaching, I find that they have a misconstrued understanding of that term.  For me, expository preaching is when I allow the passage from the Word of God to determine my message.  I don’t go to the Bible with a message in mind and look for backup, but allow it to shape my sermons/lessons.  In practice, this usually involves a systematic, verse-by-verse (or thought-by-thought) study through a book of the Bible.  While I think there are times when topical preaching is useful (and you can be expository on a topic), the regular feeding of God’s people is accomplished as you work your way through a book and eventually through the Bible as a whole.  This accomplishes a couple of things. First, it opens the meaning of the text and allows people to see the truth for themselves.  Second, as you work through the Scriptures, people are able to see how God is moving through the Scriptures as a whole and as well, what He is communicating in the specific passage you are studying at that time.  Thirdly, it stops me from ignoring passages that are textually difficult or could step on my toes!”

   Amen, Pastor Al! That’s the kind of preaching I believe in, and that’s the kind of preaching I try to do. And I believe this kind of preaching builds up God’s church.

   But what if it doesn’t?

   I had a conversation last week with Cole Barnett of the fantastic Barnett Trio, who sang for us in the morning and evening services. Frankly, I was embarrassed at the low turnout, but he told me, “Pastor, we never think about those things.” Then he said, “Besides, I don’t know of a church that isn’t dealing with exactly the same situation.”

   Sunday evening after the concert as I was helping them load up their equipment, he added this comment. He looked around at our sanctuary and said, “You know, when we first started singing with our dad (Evangelist Harlan Barnett), we would pack out a place like this on Sunday night. People would come to hear the music and listen to the man of God preach. Nowadays most people would rather stay home.” We talked then of the need for revival across our nation and in individual churches.

   So what do we do about all this? Do we change our basic approach, throw over everything we’ve been doing and try something new? Or do we keep on doing what we’ve been doing, at least in terms of our basic approach? I’ve even had another minister tell me that preaching the Word of God clearly isn’t enough to build up a church. Isn’t doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results the classic definition of insanity?

   Sometimes. But sometimes doing the same thing over and over with no visible results is being faithful to do what God told you to do in a hard time. Just ask Noah, or Jeremiah. Or the Lord Jesus.

 Let me illustrate it this way. The principles of nutrition are sound and essential for good health. If you want to be strong and healthy, you must eat a balanced diet. But if someone doesn’t eat a balanced diet, or if they do eat and yet grow weaker and more sickly, that doesn’t mean the principles of nutrition are wrong. It means there’s something else at work.

   Maybe it’s an underlying condition, like a virus or a disease. Maybe it’s because they filled up on junk food and have no appetite for good things. Maybe it’s just a stubborn, willful refusal to eat, like a small child exhibits.

   Sometimes there is something that affects an entire nation or region: a hurricane, a famine, a breakout of some disease.  Any of these things and more can undermine the health of an entire population. And how do they respond to such situations? They rush in blankets and shelter and medicine…and food. Lots of good, healthy food and water. Because basic needs don’t change, even when there is an underlying condition or an overarching emergency that complicates things.

   The same thing applies to our nation, the spiritual condition of our churches, and to our church. We have a crying need for another nationwide revival like the First and Second Great Awakenings. There is a spiritual famine in our land, coupled with a brazen rebellion against God and the things of God. Until, God willing, we have another nationwide revival, we need to experience revival in each local church. It may be there is something hindering revival in the life of a church. Only seriously seeking God in prayer can answer that question. And it may be that individually we have much more of a taste for the things of the world than we do for the Word of God. Only honest searching of our own hearts before God can answer that question.

   But none of that changes the immense value and need for feeding the flock the unchangeable, wonderful Word of God. I’ve been trying to do just that for forty years now. By God’s grace, that’s what I’m going to continue to do as long as God allows. People, churches and our nation need the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Consistently, faithfully, week in, week out, “in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2).

   So, Amen, Pastor Al! After all this time, I still believe.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor David

I have a confession to make. I hesitate to say it. I really don’t want it to be misunderstood. But here it is:

I dread Pastor Appreciation Month.

Ever since Dr. James Dobson’s Focus On the Family organization started promoting October as “Pastor Appreciation Month” back in the early 1990s, it has become more and more of an annual event on church calendars. Hallmark prints greeting cards just for the occasion (of course). Christian bookstores have big displays promoting it. You can even buy T-shirts that say things like “World’s Greatest Pastor”. (And they look an awful lot like the ones that say “World’s Greatest Dad” and “World’s Greatest Mom.”)

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate being appreciated. I was brought up to honor pastors, and I have expressed my appreciation to my own pastor, and others who have mentored me over the years, more times than I can count.

And my reluctance isn’t from some “Aw, shucks, folks, I’m speechless”, duck-your-head, dig-your-toe-in-the-carpet show of false humility. I’m always uncomfortable when people single me out in public and say nice things about me. I never know where to look or how I should react. (For the record, I’m always uncomfortable when people single me out in public and say nasty things about me, too.)

No…I dread Pastor Appreciation Month because of my absolutely broken heart over the state of our church.

It would be one thing if the church was prospering and the attendance was up. Then at least I could feel a little bit good about things. But I never dreamed our church would be in the state it’s in after I’d been here over twenty years.

I used to go talk to retired pastor Wes Hensley when I needed advice on different situations. Having another older, more experienced pastor to talk with is an immense boon to a preacher, and I have had several men like that over the years that I could turn to. Along with Wes, there has been Jolly Moody, Paul Jones, Bill Ledgerwood,

Dean Hartman, Glenn Lockwood, and others. Invariably, after Wes and I had discussed the problem and he’d given me his best advice, he would always tell me, “Pastor, preach the Word and love the people.” And I thought if I was faithful to do those things, God would work and the church would grow.

  As God is my witness, I have done my best to prepare to preach and teach God’s Word accurately. I have preached my heart out.

And I’ve done my best to see people in their times of crisis, or to talk with them when they come to see me. If I know that you’re going to be in the hospital and you’d like me to be there, I do my best to show up and pray with you. (Sometimes I show up even when I know you don’t want me to be there.)

I thought if I kept my head down and kept plugging along, doing what I was supposed to do, that God would work and He would build up the church. Instead I’ve watched with helpless frustration as the attendance has continued to go down.

We’ve baptized just over 80 people in the last 21 years. That’s an average of about four a year. I wish that it was more, but when I think that there are thousands of churches that haven’t baptized anyone for years, I’m glad we got to baptize eighty-something.

During that same period of time we have welcomed over 170 people into the membership of our church, either by transfer or on the basis of their Christian experience.

But do you know, whether by baptism or transfer, the overwhelming majority of people we’ve received into our church haven’t stayed? Some of them didn’t last much more than a month.

It is a little comforting to know that we are not the only church to experience these things. Repeated studies have shown that there are anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 churches in North America that are either plateaued or declining. No matter what study you pick, that’s a lot of churches. It isn’t so much that “misery loves company”; it’s that you think, “Maybe it isn’t me, after all.”

Twice over the years I have spoken to the deacons and said, “If this were a basketball team, you’d have already changed coaches.” But both times they would not even entertain the possibility.

I had a couple sit in my study talking about the state of our church a few years ago. They said, “It must break your heart.” And I said, “No, loved ones: it has crushed my heart.” Ironically, not long after, that couple left, too.

I get it when some people leave. Sometimes I have to confront people about things. I don’t like it. I never want to do it. It churns my stomach and robs my sleep, sometimes for days at a time. But sometimes they’re sinning, and I have to talk to them about it. The Bible is pretty clear that “reprove, rebuke, exhort” and warning those who sin is part of the pastor’s job description. (2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 2:15). Rarely does anyone say, “Oh, Pastor, you’re right. I shouldn’t be doing this. It’s messing up my life and hurting people I love. Thank you for speaking to me about this!” Most of the time they just get mad and leave the church. And sometimes other people leave because I confronted this person, and I think, “You don’t know the whole story. You don’t know what I know.” And often I can’t really tell them.

But sometimes people leave and I have no idea why. I’ve never tried to breathe down people’s necks about why people weren’t in church. I assume they’re travelling, or on vacation, etc. But then I hear, “Hey, did you hear that so-and-so is going to another church now? Said they didn’t like it here anymore.” And I had no idea anything was wrong.

Or sometimes I’ll see someone in public and they’ll act like they’re mad at me. They frown and glare, turn their faces and walk away. And the last time I saw them they gave me a hug! And I honestly don’t know why they’re mad.

Sometimes I see somebody who has left the church, and I make eye contact and start to wave and say “hello”…only to watch as they look away and act as if I’m not there.

I have a pastor friend, a wonderful, gentle man, who was stuck at a railroad crossing in his car once. He looked in his mirror and saw a young man sitting in the car behind him, part of a family who had left his church. The pastor waved at him, only to have the young man scowl and look away. So my pastor friend got out of his car and went back and knocked on this young man’s window. He reluctantly rolled his window down and the pastor said, “What in the world have I ever done to you that you can’t even wave back at me in public?” The young man was speechless…but I think he finally waved.

I’ve felt like my pastor friend a number of times. When I go into a local restaurant with my wife or family, I’m secretly relieved when there isn’t anyone there who’s going to glare at me or give me the silent treatment. It’s always a relief when I can just enjoy eating out without any background drama.

I’m not alone. I talk to so many other pastors experiencing the same types of things. Different locations, different circumstances, but the same challenges: languishing churches, declining attendance, and people moving from one church to another. (I even had one person cheerfully tell me once, “Oh, we’re church-hoppers. We never stay in any church very long.” Good grief! At least act like you’re ashamed of it.)

Why am I telling you all this? These things are almost always on my mind. After twenty-one years as your pastor, I guess I just want to be as honest as I know how to be about all this. I love this church. I beg God all the time to turn it around, to renew His work in the midst of the years and revive this church again.

What has this got to do with Pastor Appreciation? Let me turn it around and tell you from my heart what this pastor appreciates:

I appreciate all of you who have stayed and helped to face our challenges, instead of bailing and going elsewhere.

I appreciate all of you who work unceasingly behind the scenes, often doing multiple jobs because nobody else will do them.

I appreciate the way you soak it up like a sponge when I teach and preach, even on those (too frequent!) times when I sound more like Porky Pig than Chuck Swindoll.

I appreciate the words of encouragement you speak or write to me, often on those days when someone else has said or done discouraging things.

I appreciate your love for me and my family, even when our faults are glaringly obvious. A real friend is someone who, when you’ve messed it up, doesn’t think you’ve made a permanent job of it. Thanks to all of you who don’t think I’ve made a permanent job of it.

I appreciate those of you who have stood by me and my family during some dark, heartbreaking times. I love you for the grace of God you have shown to us.

I appreciate the friendships that have deepened over the years. The only thing better than a new friend is an old friend. We couldn’t imagine our lives without you.

I appreciate those of you who, when you heard the worst about me, didn’t believe it until you’d talked to me.

I appreciate those of you who, when I did disappoint you, loved me anyway.

I appreciate all the laughter we’ve shared over the years.

I appreciate all the tears we’ve cried together.

I appreciate the immense privilege you have given me of being able to stand in this pulpit and proclaim the unsearchable riches of the gospel of God’s grace.

And I appreciate how those of you who have truly experienced God’s grace have shown it to me and my family. Again and again.

So let me turn it around. This Pastors Appreciation Month, it’s this pastor who appreciates you, First Baptist Church of Linton. My family and I really do love this church.

‘Nuff said!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor David