the reluctant leader

Thx Dad, See You in Heaven

Here's my annual Father's Day post. It was originally published in Evangelicals Today magazine. I am also posting it on my 'accidental missionary' site.

On January 28, 2002 at 9 PM, my dad breathed his last breath and slipped from time into eternity. He was seventy-four years old. He had been in and out of the hospital several times since August of 2001. His tired lungs just stopped working.

He died peacefully because he finally was at peace with God, after a lifetime of resisting the gospel.

His journey to God hit warp speed when his heart stopped on October 11, 2001. The doctors were able to revive him, but more importantly, the Lord visited him. While laying on his back in the emergency room, he came face to face with the God of eternity and lived to tell about it. In fact, he later told my younger brother that when his heart stopped, he had a vision that God was giving him one last chance. In the vision, as he watched the doctors frantically trying to revive him, he suddenly saw a whiskey bottle, a pack of cigarettes, a handgun, and a Bible floating around his lifeless body in the emergency room. He knew he had a choice to make. He told my brother he decided in that moment to choose the Bible rather than the things that were destroying his life.

Three months later, he would face God again, this time forever. But this time, he was ready.
Providentially, I happened to be in New York City ministering in our new church when my brother called saying that I better get on the next plane to Mississippi if I wanted to see Dad alive. While on the plane, I wrote what would be my last words to Dad. I read them at his funeral a few days later. Here’s what I wrote:

Thanks, Dad, for never missing a baseball game, basketball game, football game, track meet, birthday party, or anything else that mattered as I was growing up.

Thanks for being there for me . . .
. . . every time I crossed the finish line at a high school track meet,
. . . when I fell through the frozen lake while duck hunting when I was nine,
. . . when Mike Croswell’s easy grounder rolled under my glove at second base, costing us the Little League championship.

You were always there for me, and I’m glad the Lord allowed me to be there when you crossed your final finish line.

Thanks for trusting me, accepting me, and supporting me especially when I . . .
. . . grew long hair in the ’70s,
. . . quit the football team in tenth grade,
. . . became a pastor rather than your business partner,
. . . moved to the other side of the world to be a missionary.

Thanks for teaching me . . .
. . . to ride a bike and drive a car,
. . . to throw a baseball and hit a golf ball,
. . . to fly fish and quail hunt,
. . . to work hard and save money,
. . . to write a check and pick a mutual fund
. . . to be a real boy and a real man,
. . . to be a good son and a good father.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you and will see you in a few years.

The Bible says to:
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Ex20:12)

So, how are you honoring your father this weekend?

Pastor's Priorities

A young pastor recently asked me to help him with his sermon prep skills. We met at Panera Bread, across the street from my office.

The more we talked about his 60-70 hour work week, the more i realized that sermon prep was not the pressing issue in his life, and our conversation shifted to priorities.

To help make my point, I wrote 4 words on the back of my Panera Bread receipt: Christian, husband, father, pastor.

I then pointed to the receipt and said, "This is WHO YOU ARE. What you DO flows from who you ARE."

Then I scribbled this on the receipt:

    Because of who you are, this is what YOU have to do:
        1. follow Jesus
        2. be a good husband
        3. be a father to your 3 sons
        4. lead the church

Pointing to the list, I explained to my friend that no one can do the first three, except him. If he does not do them, no one does.

No one can follow Jesus for him.
No one can love his wife for him.
No one can father his sons for him.

This stuff can't be delegated.

Number 4 is totally different. Number 4 can be delegated and staffed. In fact, the more number 4 is delegated, the more successful the pastor (and the church) will be.

The first three demand a one-man-show. The last one demands a team.

Not sure if i helped my friend, but I think I helped me. I always need to remind myself who I am and what my priorities should be.

--------------
- Also on this topic - from the archives - something I wrote at least 10 years ago for Evangelicals Today mag -  "Succeeding at Church, Failing at Home"

- Now playing on my accidental missionary site: "If I Had Millions, I'd Be Generous"

Baseball Games and Mission Trips

It was one of those events where we laughed and cried - happy and sad at the same time. Relationships and transitions will do that to the best of us.

It was a farewell lunch for Sam Hawkins, who has faithfully served as Every Nation's missions director for the past seven years. The Hawkins family is moving from Nashville back to the New Orleans area.

As we ate lunch, pictures of Sam in Sierra Leone, Peru, Afghanistan, Mongolia and other exotic places flashed on the screen. In one pix Sam is surrounded by tribesmen in the Amazon jungle, in the next he is hugging African orphans at a medical clinic and in the next he is with armed Mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Sam's heart beats and bleeds world missions. And, the more difficult the mission, the more Sam likes it. While Sam is no longer officially Every Nation's international missions director, he will always be involved with missions in every nation.

During Sam's going-away lunch, one by one people stood and talked about how Sam impacted them. I hope one day people will say nice stuff like that about me - while I am still alive.

Here's what I said about Sam: "What I love about Sam Hawkins is that he is just as passionate about his son's baseball games as he is about world missions, and we all know how passionate Sam is about missions."

I went on to explain that being passionate about your son's baseball game or tennis tournament is just as spiritual as being passionate about reaching the unreached or planting a new church.

May God help pastors and missionaries be just as excited about their kids as they are about their ministry!

(For more on this topic, click HERE to read my "Succeeding at Church, Failing at Home" article that was originally written for Evangelicals Today magazine.) 

Thanks Dad, See You in Heaven

On January 28, 2002 at 9 PM, my dad breathed his last breath and slipped from time into eternity. He was seventy-four years old. His tired lungs just stopped working.

He died peacefully because he finally was at peace with God -- after a lifetime of resisting the gospel and running from God.

His journey to God hit warp speed when he flat-lined while in the ER on October 11, 2001. The doctors were able to revive him, but more importantly, the Lord visited him.

While laying on his back in the emergency room, he came face to face with the God of eternity and lived to tell about it. He told my brother that when his heart stopped he had a vision that God was giving him one last chance. In the vision, as he watched the doctors frantically trying to revive him, he suddenly saw a whiskey bottle, a pack of cigarettes, a handgun, and a Bible floating around his lifeless body in the emergency room.

He knew he had a choice to make. He decided in that moment to choose the Bible rather than the things that were destroying his life.

Three months later, he would face God again, this time forever. This time, he was ready.

While on the plane trying to get to Mississippi to see Dad one more time, I wrote what would be my last words to him. I read them at his funeral a few days later. Here’s what I wrote:

Thanks, Dad, for never missing a baseball game, basketball game, football game, track meet, birthday party, or anything else that mattered as I was growing up.

Thanks for being there for me,
    - every time I crossed the finish line at a high school track meet,
    - when I fell through the frozen lake while duck hunting when I was nine,
    - when Mike Croswell’s easy grounder rolled under my glove at second base, costing us the Little League championship.

You were always there for me, and I’m glad the Lord allowed me to be there when you crossed your final finish line.

Thanks for trusting me, accepting me, and supporting me especially when I,
    - grew long hair in the ’70s,
    - quit the football team in tenth grade,
    - became a pastor rather than your business partner,
    - moved to the other side of the world to be a missionary.

Thanks for teaching me,
    - to ride a bike and drive a car,
    - to throw a baseball and hit a golf ball,
    - to fly fish and quail hunt,
    - to work hard and save money,
    - to write a check and pick a mutual fund
    - to be a real boy and a real man,
    - to be a good son and a good father.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you and will see you in a few years.

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)

(Check out Ferdie Cabiling's Father's Day blog called "What does it Take to be a Real Dad?")

(Watch this short vid for a pix of what a father is really like, especially our Father in heaven. He is there for us when we hurt, when we fall, when we need help finishing the race He marked out for us.)