“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9. NIV
Don’t you love that promise from Joshua 1:9—especially at a time like this when the headlines are full of bad news, threats, violence and continuing uncertainty about the future of our country and our culture. But it’s also important to remember the condition God himself gave to Joshua in the previous verse, on the very brink of his crossing into the Promised Land and all its dangers and uncertainties: “Keep this Book of the Law [God’s word, the Bible] on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” (Joshua 1:8)
We can be strong and courageous as we transition into this New Year. We can be confident and hopeful when we are faithful to God’s Word. Whatever transition you may be facing, like Joshua you and I can move forward with strength, courage, and hope in the goodness of God as we walk into new challenges and new opportunities every day. All we have to do is be faithful to God’s word and his promises—“to be careful to do everything written in it.”
Of course, that’s not always easy. Our family is in the midst of preparing and packing for a possible ministry move to California. We’ve had the privilege of a “time out” to gather ourselves, reflect on what God has done and where he is calling us, and to listen for his promises. Distractions and anxieties abound. But during this time the LORD shared a few words with me that I would like to share with you.
Revelation 2:1-7 To the Church at Ephesus. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance… Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the Love you had at first…Repent and do the things you did at first.”
I am so very thankful for the opportunity the LORD gave us to plant a new Anglican church on St Simons Island GA beginning in 2021. We have seen this church grow from a small group Bible study to a growing congregation of adults and children. During this time, in the midst of the great Anglican geo-political “reset” of the Communion through GAFCON, the Global South Covenantal Structures, and all of the work that the AAC did to raise up and encourage leaders in both movements, I had the opportunity to recover the very first love that led me into ministry—sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and his transforming love, with people who are not yet fully committed to him.
Julie and I recovered the joy of leading people into God’s Word through inductive Bible study, to slow down and take time to listen, and to pray with them. We had the joy of seeing lightbulbs of understanding flash before us as people discover who Jesus really is! What a privilege to be allowed to enter into their lives—their joys, their challenges, their losses, and to walk with them to Jesus! I’ve recovered the discipline of being present and listening with the ears of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing that before people will study God’s Word and begin to ask questions about Jesus, they must know that we love them as persons and not as projects. I wish you could see what we see every Sunday: a congregation of Jesus-followers warmly welcoming newcomers every Sunday. We will miss them dearly and deeply.
God’s plan A for the salvation of the world is the local church. There is no plan B. Everything we do at the AAC is to help local churches become healthy by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his transforming love with those who do not know him. May we always seek and recover our first love, wherever He calls us!
Jeremiah 31:14, God’s design for leaders and churches: “I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD.”
This verse came up twice in the last few weeks: in the Daily Office Lectionary and in the lessons this Sunday. Both times these words recalled my own observations from almost 40 years of ministry. When clergy are healthy they can lead their congregations into a place of health. But if the clergy are not healthy, if their souls are lean and malnourished, the congregation will not grow, however well-intentioned they may be. It seems God’s design is for shepherds to be well fed in their souls so that their flocks will not be impoverished—or worse, preyed upon by the shepherd.
Since 2009 the American Anglican Council has turned its attention to clergy soul care and wellness. “How goes it with your soul?” is the main question in every one of our clergy care groups. I am in a clergy care group with three other clergy from Texas and Pennsylvania. We share our lives, our hurts, our fears, and our hopes weekly. We pray for each other. We text each other and call often. We support each other as we work on a “Rule of Life” : habits of the heart and spiritual disciplines that will enable us to live our lives as Jesus would and to guard our hearts, “for everything we do flows from it.” (Prov. 4:23). This commitment enabled me to be a better husband, father, priest, coach, leader of the AAC, and a faithful pastor to the people of St Simon’s Anglican. I am so thankful for the gift of brother and sister clergy who are together watching with you over each others’ souls.
Daniel 1:20-21, Raising up extraordinary leaders to engage an increasingly pagan culture with God’s Word. “In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found [Daniel and his companions] ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.”
This week I have the privilege of hosting our seven Anderson Trane Fellows for a week at Epworth Conference Center to continue their readings, studies, and discussions with two prominent Christian scholars on how we can engage our North American culture at a time when we are closer to Babylon and exile than we are to Jerusalem—and may well be for generations to come. The American Anglican Council is committed to raising up next generation leaders like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who will not bow down to the cultural idolatry of self, success, and power (see Daniel 2), who will speak God’s Word faithfully to the powers, and who will do so with both courage and respect. This is why we have released the AAC Daniel Declaration and its supporting videos, along with small group study guides as teaching resources for the WHOLE body of the Anglican Church in North America.
Transitions always mean leaving something behind in order to get to the next place we are called to be. We have to relinquish 2024 in order to enter 2025. I am reminded of Richard Foster’s remarks about the discipline and prayer of relinquishment:
“The Prayer of Relinquishment is a bona fide letting go, but it is a release with hope. We have no fatalist resignation. We are buoyed up by a confident trust in the character of God. Even when all we are able to see is the tangled threads on the backside of life’s tapestry, we know that God is good and is out to do us good always. And that gives us hope to believe that we are the winners regardless of what we are being called upon to relinquish. God is inviting us deeper in and higher up. There is training in righteousness, transforming power, new joys, deeper intimacy. Besides, often we hold so tightly to the good that we do know that we cannot receive the greater good that we do not know. And God has to help us let go of our tiny vision in order to release the greater reality he has in store for us.”
Whatever the backside of your life’s tapestry may look like to you right now, God is weaving something beautiful—you and I can count on Him and his loving weaving of our lives in and through Jesus Christ!
