Category: Newsletter

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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There’s an old Jewish proverb that says, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” I was thinking about that proverb because, as I write this, it’s the day before Thanksgiving, and I am sitting in my study listening to the pouring rain outside, waiting on my phone to ring.

We’d made plans to go up to my Dad’s tomorrow for Thanksgiving, and share a meal with the extended Tyra clan. However, our daughter is currently in the local hospital, about to give birth to our next grandson. So my wife has called the appropriate family members and apprised them of the situation. Everything is “on hold” for us until the baby is born.

We had all assumed that the new baby would be born before now, and my wife and I could go on to my Dad’s while our daughter and her family spent Thanksgiving at home with the new baby. But apparently nobody told the baby what the plan was, because for the time being he’s still firmly ensconced in his safe, warm place. The Thanksgiving holiday is turning out differently than we had imagined it. And I think I might have heard a chuckle  from heaven.

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Just this morning I was sitting at breakfast with my wife, watching and listening to the news as we always do. When the commercial break came, we were subjected to one political ad after another. I looked at my wife and said, “I will be so glad for the election to be over so we won’t have to put up with these political commercials anymore!”  Or at least for a while.

I understand the importance of free speech as it applies to political discourse. I understand that “mud-slinging” in political campaigns goes all the way back to the earliest years of our nation. I also understand the value of keeping those in office accountable and making the public aware of what they’ve done and said.

But I don’t understand how someone can be a reasonably respectable member of a community and in the public eye, more or less, for years, and then just before an election, suddenly we are told that they are despicable human beings who have done and said despicable things. Until the primary is over; then the accusers link arms with the candidate and tell you why you should vote for the one they had been slandering only a few short weeks before. I don’t know which offends me more: that political campaigns assume we’re stupid enough to fall for such transparent tactics, or that vast numbers of the American public do seem to fall for such transparent tactics. Read More

When our son Josh was just a tyke, one day he announced to us with great conviction: “Oh, I can’t stand change!” My wife and I both laughed and told him he was going to have to get over that.

Turns out, sometimes that’s easier said than done.

Over the last decade our family has gone through some significant changes. These changes began with the birth of our first grandchild just over eight years ago. (Grandkids are more fun; I recommend having them first.) Our grandson’s birth was followed less than three months later by my mother’s death. Then Rae Anne’s mother died two years ago.  And much more recently, my father-in-law got remarried. There are some other things, but these are the most powerfully personal ones.Read More

(This month we have a guest columnist: my youngest brother, Curt Tyra. Curt is an engineer for Allison Transmission in Indianapolis, serves as an elder in Gray Road Baptist Church, and is one of the finest men I’ve ever known in my life. When I grow up, I want to be like him. Curt wrote this article for Gray Road’s newsletter, and I thought it was worth sharing with you. And yes, I got his permission. I told him I might even give him credit. So here’s the article. I hope you find it as thought-provoking as I did. – Pastor David)

The old hymn that my grandparents sang said, “When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”  The roll call imagined in this song would be from a perfect listing of the true followers of Christ.

Contrast this roll with the membership roll of any local church, and you will find yourself confronted with some harsh realities.  While the membership of a given church may be made up of many true believers, the reality of our experience and the testimony of Scripture is that unbelievers can slip into our fellowship unnoticed.Read More

Someone recently said to me: “You used to show pictures and put the Scriptures up on the screen as you preached. Would you please do that again?” I felt very conflicted when I was asked this, and I’d like to explain to you why.

I always have tried to do something a little special, a little out of the ordinary, when it comes to Christmas and Easter services. In part it’s because preachers are faced with telling “the old, old story” without telling it the same old way every year. When those wonderful seasons start approaching, preachers start asking each other: “What are you doing for Christmas?”, or “What are you doing for Easter?” We’re always looking for fresh, new ideas to help proclaim the message of the Incarnation, the Cross and the Resurrection.Read More