Author: David Tyra

Recently my doctor told me that the only exercise he wants me to do is swimming. Based on my age, wear and tear on my joints, etc., he said that swimming was the only option. And he told me that it would make me feel much better. Apparently even just being in the water is beneficial. “It’s like a massage all over,” he said.

There are much worse things a doctor can say to you than “I want you to swim.” In fact, I like to swim. I love being in the water. The problem is, I haven’t done much swimming in a long time.

We used to go all the time when I was a kid. To me, the best part of our family vacations was when Mom and Dad would take us back to the motel after a day’s sight-seeing, and we’d change into our swimsuits and go to the pool for a couple of hours. Eventually my parents realized they didn’t have to drive all the way to Colorado to keep us entertained, and we started going on weekend trips to exotic places like Jasper, Indiana, to stay in their brand-new Holiday Inn and swim in their pool. That made us kids happy. Back then, we were way more impressed with a swimming pool than Colorado.Read More

Our church is going to hold revival services this September 17^th-20th, from Sunday morning through Wednesday evening. It is the first revival meeting we will have had in twenty years. Let me tell you why we haven’t had a revival meeting in twenty years, and why we are having one now.

When we first came here, my wife and I were immediately struck with the beauty of the building, especially the sanctuary. In fact, the sanctuary, platform and pulpit reminded me an awful lot of the auditorium of the church I grew up in. So in one sense, I immediately felt at home.

But after we came here, I realized that the size of our sanctuary was impressive and beautiful, but it could also be an obstacle to overcome in our worship services. Read More

I recently read something that absolutely astonished me and filled me with joy.

A friend recommended I read a book called Fusion by Nelson Searcy. Searcy is a pastor and author who has written some wonderful things about outreach and how to connect with people in the 20-teens. (It’s a lot different than it was in the 1960s and 1970s.)

What he wrote let me see with new eyes what God is doing in churches all across our country. We’ve all heard so much bad news, some good news is sorely needed. In order to give you the same glimpse I got about what God’s Spirit is doing across our nation, let me quote from Nelson Searcy’s book. He writes:Read More

I thought we could all do with this poem again! – Pastor David

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he’d stuck it out.
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are –
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

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My wife and I once visited an old college classmate of mine on vacation. We stayed with him and his wife for a few days and had a grand time with them. He’s a pastor, too, and so we had a lot in common. And as an added bonus, he plays guitar, so we had that in common, too.

He had a couple of wonderful guitars and an amplifier. But he told me he was disappointed in one of the guitars, and the amp, too. He said the guitar, which originally was a beautiful pearl color, had become discolored with age, and was now a dull off-white. He said he was thinking about getting rid of it. And the amplifier made unpleasant sounds like static, and the volume would drop unexpectedly.

I asked him if I could take a look at them. When I saw the guitar, I could see what he was talking about. Its former beautiful white was now a sort of yellow color. But as I looked at it closer, I said, “Can I try something? Would you bring me a damp rag?” He brought me one, and I proceeded to rub the front of the guitar, applying a little “elbow grease” as I did. And lo and behold, after a few moments of rubbing, the beautiful white pearl finish began to shine through.

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There’s scarcely a week that goes by that I don’t think about how wonderful our buildings are, and how grateful I am to be able to minister in such nice facilities. I feel very much my place as a steward of these resources, and I want to do my part in taking care of them for the next generation. I feel a responsibility for our buildings, and when I’m here by myself I take extra care to make sure that doors are locked, lights are off, and things are put back in their place.

Having said that, I have never been someone who had to have everything looking like a picture from a catalog in order to be happy. Sometimes people will point something out to me and comment on how worn it looks, how it needs to be repainted, or repaired, or re-carpeted, or redone in some way. Sometimes I’ll look at it and think, “Yeah, I hadn’t noticed that, but it certainly needs attention.” Other times, I’ll think, “I don’t know that it looks that bad.” It certainly doesn’t bother me like it seems to bother the person who pointed it out to me.

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Every now and then something comes our way that is just too good not to share. This story comes from Cindy Miller’s sister Jill Quick, and her husband Gary. I think of it as “The Powdered Sugar Donut Incident,” but they call it A Story About Powdered Sugar Donuts.

Several years ago, my wife and I were part of a coffee ministry at our church.  We had two services on Sunday, 9:00am and 10:30.  One Sunday a month we arrived at church early to prepare the coffee table with large carafes of coffee, hot water for tea and cocoa, and most importantly donuts holes; chocolate, glazed and powdered sugar.  The coffee table was the center of attention prior to each of the services as folks of all ages stopped by for a beverage and a donut. 

One Sunday morning, between services, we were visited by a frequent guest to the coffee table, a 5-year-old boy named Colton.  Colton was a member of a family with 6 kids whom where long time members.  Everyone knew the family and all the kids.   Colton always filled a Styrofoam coffee cup with donuts and then off he would go.  This Sunday, Colton stopped by the coffee table and asked my wife, “Where are the powdered sugar donuts?”  This Sunday we were out of the powdered sugar donuts holes, but had chocolate and glazed.  My wife told Colton that we didn’t have any powdered sugar donuts today, but there were plenty of others to choose from.  The situation didn’t sit well with Colton, as he got that “pouty” face that most 5-year-old are famous for when they don’t get their way.  After hearing the bad news about the donuts, Colton was off. 

The Coffee table is set up right outside the church offices.  Soon after Colton had left, the Senior Pastor came out of his office to tell the story of his recent discussion with Colton.  You see the Senior Pastor was a favorite of the small children, as he kept a large jar of jelly beans in his office and the kids would visit him from time to time, in his office, to get a jelly bean.  So it wasn’t unusual when Colton appeared in the Senior Pastor’s doorway that morning.  The Pastor assumed Colton was looking for jelly beans.  But today was different.  Pastor greeted Colton, “Good morning Colton, are you here for some jelly beans?”  Colton, with a look of disgust on his face, and putting his hands on his hips, told the Pastor, “There are no powdered sugar donuts today!”  Pastor was a little taken a back, and responded, “Well, I’m sure there are others you can have”.  Well, this didn’t satisfy Colton.  He wanted the Pastor to go, then, and get him some powdered sugar donuts.

As the Pastor related this story to my wife and I, we all kind of laughed it off and went about our tasks, ours to continue to keep the coffee flowing and the Pastor was on to the platform to start the second service.

I began to contemplate the situation and began to ask myself.  What is my “Powered Sugar Donut”?  Is there something about the church, or that the church does, that upsets me enough to step into the Pastor office and demand he fix the problem immediately, regardless of his priorities?  And if I have something that bothers me that much, such as the music, length of sermon, people in the choir, people on the board, money spent on fixing the church, etc. etc., is it really just as important as the lack of Powdered Sugar Donuts at the coffee table?  I think all church members, at times, have their pet peeve with the church.  Some will voice those grievances with the Pastor directly, or indirectly through an email or board member.  But I would submit that the vast majority of the grievances folks have with the church are as important as the lack of Powdered Sugar Donuts. 

I would ask each member when they encounter an issue they have with the church to ask themselves, is this my Powdered Sugar Donut, or is it a real issue?  Because, the church has time to fix real issues, if it isn’t off at the store buying more Powdered Sugar donuts.

I can only say: Amen, Brother and Sister Quick!

And the Apostle Paul said:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:4–7

Amen, Brother Paul!

Now let’s go find some powdered sugar donuts.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor David

P.S. – I don’t have jelly beans in my study for the kids. I have M&Ms!

Whether you realize it or not, we have just passed a very significant milestone in the life of our church.

I’m sixty years old. God willing, I shall soon turn sixty-one. I have been Pastor of First Baptist Church of Linton for over nineteen years now.

And I can’t count how many times over the years I have told people, “Our church organist has been playing the organ for longer than I’ve been alive. She’s been on that organ bench since the year before I was born.”

Doris Thornton and I are separated by a couple of generations, musical tastes, choice of instruments, and levels of expertise (she has far more knowledge of music and music theory than I will ever have). But I have always been amazed at how long and how excellently she has played the organ for our church.

Her son Mike Thornton recently told me that he remembers going with his mother to the old First Baptist Church building, so she could practice the hymns for Sunday’s services. He said while she played, he explored every nook and cranny of that old building. (I don’t think I can get him in trouble for that now.) And the reason he got to know that old building so well was because Doris was so dedicated to preparing for the Sunday services.

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