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The Pastor’s Corner is written by the pastor of Coronado Bible Church.
 

Running Out of Gas?

I grew up amid the Kansas natural gas fields. Refineries gleamed in the dark night like distant metropolises. Their waste fuel stacks blazed with eternal flames celebrating superfluous abundance. Abandoned salt mines stored gargantuan reserves; supply lines snaked off in every direction through the waving fields of wheat.
 
When I bumped up the thermostat on a frigid Kansas night or filled a tub with hot water, I never gave a second thought to the reservoir somewhere at the other end of our gas pipe. My father, who worked in the industry, undoubtedly had a different perspective … but limits to the reserve never entered my mind.
 
It’s a different perspective being hooked to a tank rather than a pipeline. You realize, that you have no idea how many hot showers, loads of laundry, meals or sinks full of dishes are bottled up in that little can. It just doesn’t look like much … it looks like scarcity.
 
This a microcosm of the difference between relying on God’s resources and my own. For … going against the immoral grain of society, for persevering in marriage, for resisting my own fallen tendencies, for fighting off emotional fatigue … my resources are limited and exhaustible. But there is a pipeline of grace that was opened by the cross of Christ. It leads to an inexhaustible reservoir filled with God’s sustaining power for life and obedience. When I burned through resources in my youth, I depleted a vast, but finite supply of gas. That is not true with God’s power for living. In fact, as we learn to rely on his supply, our ability to access it grows. Turn up the heat, bathe your life in God’s abundant grace, wash every aspect of your character clean, drink in His blessing … taste and see that the Lord is good. There need not be scarcity in your relationship with Him.
 

2 Peter 1:3  His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

(see also Ephesians 1:3; 1:17-18; 3:16 and Philippians 4:19)
 
 

 



End of the Line:

Have you had the fine dining experience at PriceSmart? The food’s not too bad and the price is great …but those lines! The first trick is to get in the correct que. Stand in the line leading to the sign, “Ordene Aqui.”   Make sure you in that line … otherwise you’re waiting to pick up food you haven’t ordered yet. Every time I’m there, someone discovers they’re waiting in the wrong line and shuffles sadly to the back of the ordering line with a look like they’ve just been held back a grade.
 
When you’ve finally ordered your food, you’re handed a ticket and pointed to the line where you wait to receive your food. When there are two food pick-up lines, that’s when it gets super tricky. If you see me waiting for my food, chose the opposite line. I always pick the slow one.
 
Why does it matter? Because … they’re not handing out the food in the sequence it was ordered. They don’t begin working on your order until you hand them that magic little receipt. All sorts of things can thwart your progress in this endeavor. Once I was behind a group of guys and noticed their friend was just ordering for all of them. When he was done, he handed the receipt across to his compatriots. He ordered after me, but his receipt for sixteen chicken dinners slid across the finish line before mine. Am I complaining … YES!
 
Last time I was enduring this smoldering purgatory, I was nervously eyeing the other line. My mind was gauging the fairness of the process and I was in full internal grumble. Suddenly, a thought came to me very clearly, “You have never stood in a line and not received food.” It’s true. Every time I have been in a line waiting for food, I have received food … and usually in quantities most of the world only dreams of. I was ashamed .. then repentant … and then deeply grateful. What a privilege to wait in line for food and actually receive some.
 
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Timothy 6:6-7
 
 


Humbled and Encouraged

 
… those two words describe my feelings after the U.S. Missions Conference which I just attended. The meetings were held at the Chicago area church that I served prior to pastoring at CBC. Over twenty of the missionaries and international pastors that they support gathered for the week of meetings. The missionaries represented, the United States, the Navajo Nation, Guyana, the Philippines, several Southern African countries, Egypt … and Panama. The way these men and women serve and who the serve varies greatly, but they are all spreading the good news of Salvation in Jesus Christ. Their testimonies not only humbled me, but encouraged and incited me to persevere in the ministry of the Gospel. Here are some snapshots:
 
Richard John who pastors four churches in Guyana, South America, regularly removes his socks and shoes, rolls up his pant legs and slogs through mud to preach the gospel in a local village. One of his fellow pastors, James Garraway, routinely ministers in a crime infested slum from which you’re lucky to return. Elmer Surigoa, from the Philippines, visits one church under this care that requires a flight, a boat ride, a bus, a motor cycle and finally a horse to get there. Most of the missionaries from South and Southern Africa have invested twenty to thirty years of their life in God’s work. Tim Kuehl told me that he taught and preached for four years before he saw the first sign of life among his hearers. Now, after twenty-eight years of ministry he’s seeing such rapid growth that he almost can’t keep up. It’s easy to get focused on what you’re foregoing for the sake of your ministry. It’s good to be reminded of the struggles that face other missionaries. Their level of sacrifice and commitment to proclaiming the good news of Jesus is refreshing and humbling. I feel privileged to be numbered among them.
 
I appreciate the CBC Elder’s encouraging me to attend the conference. We also appreciate everyone who pitched in to cover our absence. Sue and I return a little over-fed and under-rested, but humbled, encouraged and inspired for future ministry.
 
 
 

 



Familiar Strangers

As I write, a pastor I’ve known for probably fifteen years is still missing. All indications at this point are that he’s taken his own life. I’ve known his father and mother, grandparents and cousins … but I didn’t know him. The energetic, enthusiastic, gregarious, confident person I saw really was him, but it wasn’t always him … it wasn’t all of him.
 
None of us is up all the time. We all experience mood swings. Thankfully most of us have been blessed with bodies that can regulate, compensate and adjust. Others experience euphoric highs and crushing lows. I don’t understand bipolar disorder, but I know that people who love Jesus suffer from it … and I know those same people are dearly loved by him.
 
Would it have made a difference if the suffering pastor was as acceptable as the energetic go-getter? I hope so … and I believe it’s a place where God’s people need to grow. The pressure to always have the answers and be “up” is withering in ministry. I think that’s true for Christians in general.
 
We, of all people, should be open to those who suffer. Otherwise, we’re not much like our Father who is … “Close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18. Neither are we much like our Savior if we neglect to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2. Again we’re told, “Encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14.
 
At any moment I might be talking to a person who is discouraged to the point of death. I’m not saying that realization will give me special insight, but it’s a push towards loving unrestrainedly. It’s a reminder to be in the moment and not so hurried. It’s reason enough to practice Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Maybe we can’t totally be the solution … but we can cease from being part of the problem.
 
 


Minute Praise

Miniatures impress me. Making something small and detailed requires great skill. To build it small, detailed and functional requires an artisan. Building small means non-stock, special materials and tighter tolerances. I’ve built quite a few things in my life, some that have had family and friends amazed. But then I get around my friend Chris and I feel like a total amateur. He used to have one of his masterpieces sitting under the window in his living room. It was a one-twentieth scale working steam tractor and it was not a kit. He personally machined every pencil-lead-size brass bolt himself. The oilers are made from cut-down glass automotive fuses. It all works, the throttles, the gears … everything. If you saw it and weren’t impressed, I’d be shocked.
 
In modeling, miniaturization is one of the highest expressions of skill. In the everyday world it is one of most advantageous displays of mankind’s ingenuity. We experience its marvels all around us. Here’s a comparison that I found between the Apollo Guidance Computer and the average smartphone. Your smartphone has 1,000,000 times more Random-Access Memory (RAM) than it and that RAM is 800 times faster. Your phone is 3,000 times lighter and 300 times cheaper without compensating for inflation. It is 50 times more energy efficient and … those statistics are already three years old. Gone are the days of swapping out tubes or even transistors. Today’s electronic devices are so miniaturized that to most of us they seem impossible … almost magical.
 
Modern society looks at a smartphone and praises the genius of its designer … and looks at a hummingbird and assumes it is the long compilation of random chances? Just the other night, a frog smaller than a grasshopper visited, perched near out door. Its skin was so thin that you could see its miniscule heart beating. And yet … this fragile creature could jump and cling and eat and reproduce. It even seemed to study me as I studied it. I thought, “So tiny, so detailed, so functional … what an awesome Creator we have.” Some would denigrate my musings about a creator as a backward and primitive superstition. I will not return the favor … I have no room to boast in recognizing the handiwork of God. Even that faculty is a gift of my Creator’s grace.
 
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11:3
 
(credits: https://superuser.com/questions/747202/how-do-modern-smartphones-compare-to-apollo-mission-computers)