If you are still using a feed for this blog, please check out martyduren.com where you can subscribe either by RSS feed or by email alert. If you have a blog or website and you’d be so gracious to add my new site, it would be most appreciated.
Thanks to everyone who has stopped by, lurked or left a comment, but things are a changing…for the better, I hope.
Examiner.com is a new growing online news presence that utilizes local people who write based on their particular areas of interest or expertise. I first noticed it coming through my Google News feeder just under articles from the Washington Post, LA Times or Baptist Press.
Out of sheer curiosity I checked out their writing opportunities and decided to apply. You are now reading the ranting of the “Atlanta Southern Baptist Examiner,” since I was approved at the end of last week. I’ll be contributing between 2-4 articles a week that will automatically feed into the Atlanta region of the Examiner.
This is a “payin’ gig.” It isn’t much, but I do get a little for every page view. Payment is affected by the number of “subscribers” to my articles and the number of comments, since an active comment section means that more people are looking at the pages and staying longer, which affects the ad rates on my pages.
If you have a few seconds and want to help a friend (yes, that would be me), then go to my page and subscribe to my articles. By subscribing, you will get an email alert when I submit a new article. You can delete the email or check out the article (which helps me because it counts as a page view even if you don’t read the entire thing). You can also make me a “Fav” examiner if you are so inclined.
I hope to build readership both locally and nationally since news readers pick up the feeds outside Examiner.com’s local region. That will take a little time, but it will happen.
If you are a writer and decide to check it out for yourself, please contact me before you sign up. There is a referral program and I can get some extra moolah if you name me when you apply.
Today is the first day of participation in a collaborative blog called MissioScapes (found at www.missioscapes.com). I and a number of my formerly trouble making friends are the editors. We are all trying to stay on the “straight and narrow,” so pray that the half-way house doesn’t get too crowded.
I’m joined by David Phillips, the Littleton wonder twins (Todd and Paul), Art Rogers and Alan Cross, all familiar to many readers of this blog and my previous blog, sbcoutpost.com.
Our goal is to avoid SBC politics and most SBC matters altogether (following our first series, “If We Were The GCR Task Force…”), choosing rather to engage from an intentionally missional perspective. We will also be featuring writers from non-SBC (and non-baptist) backgrounds to gain a point of view that we inherently lack.
We all feel that this will be a worthwhile effort and invite you to read along and participate when you have something to contribute.
Five or so hours sleep put the traveler into a stage of extreme fatigue; that’s five or so hours over 42 hours, thousands of miles and twelve time zones. Needing to stay up late, but totally unable to do so, he crashes to shuffle on his iPhone around 7:00 PM local time and, despite a high-volume conversation in the hallway, he falls into a deep sleep convinced that 6:00 AM will come too early. Unfortunately, 11:00 PM comes first and time zone insomnia with it. He opens the window and listens to the sounds of the city.
Some things are the same no matter where you stay. Cars in motion all night, car alarms, police sirens, conversations, and the thumping sub-woofer of local dance clubs. Tonight there is also some poor sap trying unsuccessfully to get a woefully out of tune car to remain starting. He guns it and gets a few feet before trying again. Over and over. Finally, it catches and he guns it in what can only be a cloud of smoke and an engine begging for oil.
Thoughts of the day come to mind.
Sheremetyevo airports. Any air traveler through Moscow has experienced the insanity that is Sheremetyevo 1 and 2. “1” was built in 1959, about the time that eight people a day would fly while “2” was built in time for the opening of the famously boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics. While safety is rarely an issue, convenience always is. There are not enough seats for waiting passengers, not enough restrooms, not enough line space at Sharometyeva 1 and entirely too many assertive taxi drivers and both. The traveler wonders why both aren’t plowed under or completely renovated. He wonders if landing in an open field would not be better.
The international airport (“2”) is pretty clean and has designated smoking areas outside the main seating areas. The domestic airport (“1”) was built for about 1/10th of the traffic that it currently handles. The smoking area is pretty much gates 8-17, where the lingering blue gray second hand haze waits as a carcinogenic welcoming committee. By the time the flight leaves the traveler has smoked a pack without lighting up.
The traveler also never quite gets accustomed to the fact that lady custodians clean the men’s restrooms without ever fully closing them. This time was better, though. A mop across the doorway refused a goodly number of anxious men, but did not completely solve the issue. At least one fellow stepped over the mop handle to take care of business anyway, while even those who waited for the obstacle to be removed (like our faithful traveler) found themselves hearing the “swish, swash” of the mop whilst standing at the urinal. She never spoke and neither did he.
The drunk. Aeroflot is the official, though certainly not only, airline of Russia. With a significant number of Soviet era aircraft still in service (a few seem not to have been painted since Brezhnev), it always is a crap-shoot as to whether the plane looks and acts airworthy. Thankfully this was a Boeing 767, the plane secure and the flight smooth.
Alcohols tends to flow freely on Russian flights with many of the smaller bottles that Americans are familiar with giving way to flasks. The traveler remembers another Russian flight where flasks gave way to fifths before the plane ever left the runway and in-flight luggage rustling for another when the first bottle of vodka went dry.
About four hours from Moscow, one particular lush missed his seat by about twenty rows, settling beside a woman of about twenty who was playing video games by the seat light. Behaving as friendly drunks are wont to do, he made a boor of himself until two flight attendants herding him and his stupidity back to his seat. At landing the traveler was amused to see two green uniformed Russian policemen enter the plane and meet our friend Otis in the back. He was escorted, quasi-sober, to a waiting police van that surely had been used in the old M.A.S.H. TV series. No one really seemed to car since public drunkenness, though a problem, is not a crime in Russia.
The ticket exchange. The travelers’ companion had need in the afternoon to make a change on a return flight, thus both experienced the undeniable inefficiencies of Russian business, learned, no doubt, from Russian government. With the advent of the internet, heck, with the advent of the telephone, these type changes take fifteen minutes back home: call the airline or the agent, ask for another flight, put charges on the credit card, print out the new ticket (or have it sent to one’s PDA or smartphone) and live the rest of your day. Oops.
Russia is a cash society–no checks and not a lot of places that take credit cards, so few people use them. They two men arrive at the S7 office to find just four people in the “line” to be served, most for ticket changes or purchases. Two and a half hours later they were leaving. One lady behind the counter serving every customer. Three copies of this, two copies of that, “Do you have a passport and your birth certificate?”,”Can you sign here?”, cut this paper with scissors, tape these two pieces together, walk to the copier/printer/fax (the one for the entire office). If one did not know better, the temptation would be to think the entire process was intentionally designed to delay. A second lady in the “travel agency” section of the office who was incapable, unwilling or incompetent to help, spending only about thirty minutes of the total time working. The rest of the time she was talking or walking through a mysterious door just off the lobby which, ostensibly, housed more employees who were doing nothing.
The lobby waiting area was entirely too small, so people were constantly going outside to smoke (for which the traveler was thankful), make phone calls or go buy something to drink at the corner store. There being no actual queue or “Please Take A Number” gizmo, each new arrival simply asked, “Who is last?” and then assumed his or her place in the proceedings. The traveler noticed that no one ever got mad, ever stomped out, or cursed out the employees contrasting starkly with his homeland where threats would have been made, promises of a class action law suit would have been offered, constant, loud complaints would have been leveled and the only helpful employee would have likely been equated with her gender of canis familiaris. But, since there is no expectation of efficiency, there is no problem when none is experienced.
Traffic grid. The traffic in Krasnoyarsk cannot touch the traffic of Novosibirsk, another Siberian city several hours away by air, but is trying to match it in spirit. Lane cutting, poor street layouts, make-it-yourself parking and bold-beyond-brains drivers combine to make it an strange experience. The street layouts are such that you must constantly be watching the signs, rather than the road, in order not to miss your left hand turn. If you do miss it, there might be several blocks before the middle line breaks open to allow the correction. Inexplicably, the names of the roads are not on road signs, but are on the sides of buildings creating a situation in which drivers have to constantly be looking sideways for street information rather than straight-ahead for the automobiles, trucks and buses. Adding to the chaos is the strangeness of their only being one traffic signal facing the driver and it isn’t overhead, it’s on a sign post where the street sign should have been. The lighting sequence features yellow light in all directions with each change from red to green or green to red. The yellows are supposed to encourage caution from all drivers that the traffic flow is about to change. Instead it encourages those going from green to red to accelerate and those going from red to green to leave the line early. The traveler also notices an almost equal number of left and right hand cars, learning that Siberia is the used car lot for Japan.
12:46 AM. Eyelids are getting heavy. Perhaps sleep will return after all.
The Slovenian Choir, Perpetuum Jazzile, perform a storm and then Africa by Toto:
Rick Biesiadecki is a good friend. I met him in Georgia prior to his move to Missouri to work at the state Baptist convention. He hinted at a series of posts having to do with pastoral life. This series will be loosely based on the points of this post.
Most pastors know that God rested on the Sabbath and that man was commanded to do the same, yet somehow we find ourselves running, like a hamster on a wheel, going and going and going, but, unlike our coal-eyed, whiskered friends, rarely stopping for water or a nap in the cedar shavings. This post is to encourage you to rest.
God knew what He was doing. Every seven days, there should be one filled with, well, thoughts of Him, attention to Him and not much else. Heck, in God’s economy even the land got an entire year’s rest every seven years! Unfortunately, in our “success by the numbers” society any amount of rest tends to be correlated with laziness. This should not be so.
There are a significant number of pastors who are just as workaholic as other people are alcoholic and both are deadly. Both kill relationships, sensitivity, passion, and ability to function well. Not to mention longevity. I recently visited with man who’s Dad had passed away at an early age. The son spoke of his Dad’s drive and overwork saying, “Marty, my Dad thought the Marines were too slow.” Not good.
So, will little fanfare, here are a few suggestions to help pastors get the rest that they need.
1. Admit to yourself that the continuing existence of neither the kingdom of God nor your church are dependent on you. I know pastors who carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, feeling that if a single opportunity for ministry is lost that in some cosmic way God has been let down. This is simply not the case. The kingdom existed before us and will continue in power after our earthly sojourn is over.
While Jesus did affirm that the gates of Hell would never prevail against the church, this was not a promise of the eternality of each local assembly. Even if, perhaps especially if, you are a church planter success does not lie on you alone. A worked-to-death church planter is hardly a benefit for the kingdom or his church. Fatigue, born from fear of failure, has caused many pastors to neglect their homes, fall into sin or suffer physical problems and even death.
Pastor, it does not depend on you. Get some rest.
2. Learn the rhythm of your own body and work from it. Some people are early risers and some people are night owls. A few have their body change in mid-life. Some people need 10 hours sleep, some eight and some only four or five. I’m personally an early riser and need 7-8 hours normally to function on any level close to humanness. But I also know that I have a 2:00 afternoon run down almost each day, nodding at my desk with eyelids at half-mast. Hardly productive, but I’ve learned that no amount of guilt over that mid-afternoon slowdown causes me to have more energy. Sometimes I can do a few rounds of push-ups in the office floor and get a burst of energy, but other times I just need a nap.
My Dad should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for napping. The man can fall asleep and be rattling the windows in no time flat (but it usually follows a hearty lunch). Even when he worked for Ford and could not take a nap at work, it was the first thing he did when he got home. My Dad worked night shift when I was a kid and I remember him taking a shower to get ready for church, going and singing in the choir wearing sunglasses so he could sleep sitting up during the sermon…in the choir loft. I don’t think most people ever knew.
Other than the sleeping in church part (though, admittedly, some of my sermons can have that affect on me, too), I’ve inherited that particular rhythm. I function better if I have a nap several days a week. Sometimes I put the office phone on do not disturb, put my feet up on the desk, set my phone alarm and sleep for 10-20 minutes. On days when I can’t catch a nap in the office I take one when I get home. On the whole, sleep when you need to as much as you need to. If you find yourself needing inordinate amounts of sleep, go to the doctor or check your exercise or diet.
Pastor, get some sleep.
3. Try to orient your office schedule around your body rhythms. This can be difficult sometimes, but is great if you can make it happen. Many times it is a matter of simple communication as to why you don’t keep normal 9:00-5:00 office hours. If you are an early riser and dread the afternoon doldrums sitting behind your desk, then come in at 7:00 and leave at 3:00. Do studying and other individual stuff before the office opens, schedule appointments when you are still alert and return phone calls after lunch.
Don’t have evening meetings unless it is necessary to meet the availability of someone who works 8:00-5:00, but use every possible lunch engagement to avoid having late meetings. Reserve your evenings for yourself and/or your family.
If you are a night person, try to do all of your people interacting during office hours and save your study time until everyone else is asleep. Come to the office at 10:00 and stay until 5:00. Simply try to configure your day, as much as it is within your power, to play to the norms of your bio-rhythm.
Pastor, know thyself.
4. Exercise and eat right. An entire post will address this.
Pastor, put down that fried chicken leg.
5. Work from your strengths and giftedness. Pastors will always have to do things that are “busy work,” since ministry involves interacting with others, but you will drain yourself dry if you are continually being loaded with things that you are areas of weakness. Behavioral experts tell us that we actually are energized when we are living according to our own personality (introverted vs extroverted, for example). When circumstances force us to behave differently than we are wired we can quickly grow frustrated or fatigued.
While life does not afford us the luxury of always being able to dictate this, learn to design your life and ministry from your natural strengths and your spiritual gifts; this is the way that God has designed you to operate, so work with Him on it. I do not have the time to go into all the facets of leadership development that can affect this, but determine to move in a direction so that you begin to intentionally work from how God has created you.
Pastor, be who God created.
While certainly not an exhaustive (sorry) list, these things will help you to live in a more restful state, avoiding the fatigue that leads many to failure.
I’ve had my iPhone for about 18 months now, having purchased it at the time of the first price break. Having never had an iPod or Crackberry prior, I felt the spending of the money was justfied as it was time for a new phone anyway.
With the new 3G S coming out in a week or so, I know there will be a truck load of people wondering if they should buy an iPhone or any one of the number of “buy-one-get-one-free” phones that seem to inhabit every retail shop.
Here are a few observations from my months of use:
First, the iPhone is extremely durable. The glass-like appearance of the screen belies is ruggedness. It is not that the screen cannot be scratched; it can, but not with normal use. Mine has no screen nicks at all and only a minor screen discoloration from the mistake of leaving it in direct sunlight in a closed truck on a very hot day.
Second, it has a great interface. It is important to remember that the iPhone is really a computer with a phone, instead of a phone with some cool applications or even an iPod with a built in phone. It has a complete operating system with regular software updates, just like your computer. Since it has a Mac style OS it is very intuitive, even to the point of being fun. Commands are simple and straightforward. It is almost completely idiot proof.
It works well. The touch screen works amazingly well even through layers of grime and skin oil. Only when truly dirty will it cause screen commands to jump or falter. A dry cotton cloth or shirt tail will take care of this quickly. Though I have dropped mine a few times, it never fails to work. I did jar the SIM card loose once from a direct hit on a concrete floor, but a quick hit to my palm in the other direction reset it immediately.
It is durable. Not only does it stand up to normal dropping and jostling, the battery still works as well as when new. An early concern was over the owner’s inability to change the battery; it must be sent to the factory. However, I have charged mine literally hundreds of times and the battery is still good. I do follow the age old advice to let it run down pretty far before recharging.
It’s just plain sexy. The thing just looks good and feels good. It has the perfect weight, not too heavy and not too light. You’ll never leave Chili’s and get three miles down the road before remembering that you left it on the table. I carry mine in my back or cargo pocket and it is easily missed. You’ll forget your sunglasses a hundred times before you forget your iPhone once.
I do recommend, without hesitation, that you activate your password protect feature. If you do not, then anyone who were to pick it up would be able to access any email account that you have tied to it. This could be a disaster. It takes 5 seconds to “clear security” and it is worth it.
Ricky Smith of RB Smith Grading in Buford is a great friend and discipleship partner. He and I meet almost every Wednesday with 2 or 3 other men at a Waffle House, the same place where Jesus met with His disciples. He drives large dozers, low-boys, tractors, etc in doing site work for gas stations, schools, and commercial buildings. A while back he bought an iPhone, but he drops it a lot. A lot. And since he rarely works over carpet, his drops really have impact.
Recently he dropped his iPhone screen down on a concrete curb, creating a spider web of cracks all across it, but short of shattering it out of the frame. Below is a picture of the screen after the EMTs got through with it. It is completely covered with Scotch tape. The cracks and tape are easily seen. The second picture is proof that it still works. The screen you see is after logging through security. The touch screen feature still works. [Note: The fuzziness is photographer error, not phone display problems.]
Get one; I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Saw it again last night: a pastor admits to committing adultery, repentant and broken, but out of the ministry nonetheless. I’m not sure that there is anything that weighs on me like hearing that news. This particular pastor led a dynamic church that has seen 100 people saved in the last three weeks, yet he still succumbed to the same temptation that has torn down the mightiest of warriors.
Having been married for more than twenty-five years and having been in the ministry for twenty (next month), I thought it would be appropriate to review some of the things that I think about when I hear such news. These are in no particular order, but should be considered well when desiring to avoid marital infidelity.
1. Get enough rest. Mental and emotional fatigue are open doors to bad decisions, even sinful ones. Many a man “burns the midnight oil” for the kingdom, or so it is supposed, only to find himself in the hotel room or church broom closet with a woman not his wife having lost the will power to say “no,” or even to think it. Pastors, you are not superhuman and while each of us need differing amounts of rest, listen to your body and rest when you need to do so. You cannot push the envelope of energy continually lest you run the risk of mental or physical adultery.
2. Stay true to the Word. This one should be obvious, but there will never come a time that we do not need the Word. Early in ministry we are afraid to even attempt to live without it, but often in later years coasting becomes the norm. “If I can just make it to retirement,” becomes the mantra for too many pastors who’ve long ago lost passion, but are trying to ride out the wave. Don’t become a hireling! The only way to remain a faithful shepherd is to be guided by the Word every step of the way.
3. Be careful. Don’t allow the thirst for adventure to cause you to become careless in how you relate to women. There will never be a time when flirting becomes acceptable or when lingering looks become godly. Internet filters or tracking software (X3 Watch or Covenant Eyes) may be necessary to keep your mind where it needs to be and out of the gutter. Have the TV removed from your hotel room if necessary or at least disconnected from the cable. When your wife says, “Stay away from [a particular woman],” then stay away from her. Somebody else can take her phone calls and do her counseling or she can go to another church.
4. Love your wife always and make love to her as often as possible. Make sure the passion that brought you to marriage does not get swept away in the busyness of life and ministry. When Paul instructed Timothy that a man who ignored the needs of his family is worse than an unbeliever, are we to believe that he was only talking about groceries?
Continue to pursue your wife as if you are still trying to convince her to marry you. Don’t take the attitude of Ward Cleaver: “What’s the use in chasing the bus after I’ve already caught it?” When your kids are young, get them accustomed to early bed times so that you and your wife can spend time together and when they are old, lock them out of the master bedroom for the same reason. Have date nights and don’t apologize or feel guilty.
Keep sex on the leading edge of your marriage. I think we’d be shocked at how many pastor’s wives go to bed with a book because their husband wants to debate online whether or not sex is “gospel-centered.” I think marital sex is God-given, God-blessed and God-expected. Paul wrote to the Corinthians couples that they should only abstain in times of prayer and fasting “with consent” and then resume their normal activity so that Satan did not find a way to tempt them due to a lack of self-control-a lack of self-control that resulted from a lack of sex. I hardly think that once-a-month passion is what he had in mind. Regular sex with one’s spouse is self-control.
If you are a pastor, teacher or evangelist and you travel so much that you have to reintroduce yourself to your wife and children each time you return home and you have such infrequent sex that you have to get the manual out each time, then you are living in a state of foolishness that borders on outright sin before God. Did you miss the part about being tempted for self-control? It amazes me how many guys would pass up a woman in need (with a broken down car, for example) for afraid of “causing a brother to stumble,” but cause their wives to stumble regularly due to the lack of attention and affection shown by her husband.
5. Live your heart. If you are in the middle of a career of ministry and come to the recognition that your passion is no longer for pastoring a local church, then change. A friend and I were discussing this very thing at lunch today. Guys get wiped out, lose their heart, lose their passion and then, it seems, it is easier to commit adultery than to get out. GET OUT OR GET HELP. One or the other. I’m aware that the Bible says, “The gifts and callings of God are without repentance,” but honestly, does that mean a specific job? I could go today and work at Chili’s and still fulfill my life’s calling.
If you find yourself in the midst of a career-crisis as a pastor and you, deep down, know that you’ve no more to give as a pastor, then plan an exit strategy and start following it. Read Wild at Heart if you haven’t already.
6. Do not let your church (or religious culture) force you into a way of ministry that destroys your ability to minister to yourself and your family. Every pastor is different in structure, personality and function. As soon as you understand how you function best (early morning, late night, mid-morning) you should organize your schedule around it, then communicate it to your church. If you need to be in the office from 6:00 AM until 2:00 PM, then come in early, leave and go fishing or to the gym or whatever. Or go home and help your wife with dinner; or cook dinner so she can go to the gym. Or vacuum the curtains…I understand that is the sexiest thing a husband can do.
If all of your local associational meetings are at night (y’know, when the wife and kids are home and help is needed) then skip them. I see no biblical admonition to attend, but I see multiple biblical admonitions about being a husband and father. As a pastor you are on call 24/7 and often are doing work related to ministry while at home or up early. Don’t feel guilty about calling another pastor and going to the movie after lunch. He needs it and so do you.
7. How about let’s dispense with all the “rock star” talk? John Piper wrote a book called, “Brothers, We are Not Professionals.” Perhaps someone should write one entitled, “Brothers, We are Not Rock-Stars.” Our current star persona promotion of good speakers, exceptional church planters and mega-church pastors borders on idolatry and calling people “rock star” or something similar does not help. In fact, what we have created and continue to promulgate makes mental or moral failure probable if not inevitable. Jesus said, “He that would be the greatest among you must be the servant of all.” When James and John’s mother wanted to know if her sons were going to be rock-stars in the kingdom, Jesus asked about their ability to endure suffering and sacrifice. I’m sure that ticket sales would drop dramatically if torture were the promoted result.
God has called us to one primary calling and that is to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. This can be done from an office or Starbucks, from a house or a boat, from a seminary or an urban center. When we lose that simple focus, rather than following wherever and whenever it leads, then downfall becomes, all too often, the norm.
A couple of months ago while trying to find a song on a Harley Davidson ad, I stumbled across Amiestreet.com, an awesome site for downloading indie music as well as a few better known bands. There is some really good music here and many of the downloads are much less than iTunes or Amazon, some as cheap as $.20 with none over $0.98. Each week also features a number of free downloads.
The site has a few outstanding features, not the least of which are most music previews are longer than a minute each-much better than the 30 second clips on iTunes, many of which aren’t even the best parts of the song. Amie Street also has a cool music player that opens on the bottom of the page and plays the samples in order (either whole albums, top 25 or genres) while you check out other pages, artists and reviews. Amie Street, along with most everyone else, has a Facebook page.
Community reviews tend to be a little skimpy, with many of them resorting to “Great song!” type announcements just to bump up a rating history; but if you prefer to be your own judge this is not problematic.
The song I eventually found from the Harley ad is Brother John by Middle Distance Runner. Their Monochrome Boys is also outstanding. A free download today Pulling on a Line by Toronto based Great Lake Swimmers, a really good song. Power chick of the day is Molly Jenson with the rocking The Edgy 8 Ball Song which features, I think, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot on guitar. As with much indie music there are some really creative albums covers and names such as The Low Anthem’s project, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.
Purchases are done by putting money on account via credit or debit card and then buying from the account. A recent special gave a 25% bonus so that a $7.50 deposit was given a $10.00 value for purchases. (Am I wrong, or is that really a 33% bonus?) As with any other mp3s, these play in iTunes or other player of your choice.
If you like indie music or are just looking for stuff you haven’t heard before, check out Amie Street.
This is not a Christian music site; language can be an issue periodically.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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